Those marks do look pretty cool.

I think these would be good for small boats, but like Matt said, if they're hit by something large enough, they're probably going south pretty quickly. And, if someone decided to mount one with a cat (between the hulls), I'd expect the same result.

We also have a zero-tow policy, but the worst damage is actually caused by dragging a mark on the ground, especially pavement.

The best inflators I've seen are Black&Decker cordless leaf blowers. No gas/fumes/starting issues to deal with, and since the blower tube can be removed and left ashore, they take up very little space on a boat. More power than you'd ever need. We always take spare batteries, at least for the weather mark boat.

Mike