Durable and plastic do not go together. Urethane is the most durable when compared to reactive resin and plastic.

The Mix and Arctic Sniper are closest to plastic

Find an old rubber ball.  They are basically indestructible. 

For 11 years I threw a Roto Grip Spare Tire which held up great.  Just this year purchased their new red Own it spare ball.  Will never understand why they stopped making the Spare Tire.......

agreed my spare tire is a trooper. best spare ball ever. but unfortunately you canr get one of those unless you wanna fork out 500. i suggest a plastic ball with a weight block like the hammer ones ore the spare+ by track.

Unfortunately you won't get the longevity from plastic like you would with urethane.  Good news is plastic costs less so you can get 2+ for the price of one urethane.  Not a bad investment for people who don't bowl a lot.

However, if you bowl multiple leagues plus tournaments, I would recommend a urethane spare ball, especially if you throw the ball kinda hard.

With all due respect to Charlest, I recommend Storm's Ice for your spare ball. I have used mine for several years with no problems.

spmcgivern and SVstar's points are well stated. I am not a high speed bowler, and I use the Ice only for spares in the right corner: 6, 10, and 6-10s. If you are high speed and plan to throw your spare ball on every spare, you may want to consider urethane.

Quote from: spmcgivern on September 22, 2015, 08:52:41 AM

Unfortunately you won't get the longevity from plastic like you would with urethane.  Good news is plastic costs less so you can get 2+ for the price of one urethane.  Not a bad investment for people who don't bowl a lot.

However, if you bowl multiple leagues plus tournaments, I would recommend a urethane spare ball, especially if you throw the ball kinda hard.

With all due respect to Charlest, I recommend Storm's Ice for your spare ball. I have used mine for several years with no problems.

spmcgivern and SVstar's points are well stated. I am not a high speed bowler, and I use the Ice only for spares in the right corner: 6, 10, and 6-10s. If you are high speed and plan to throw your spare ball on every spare, you may want to consider urethane.

Hey, Pete, it's perfectly fine to disagree, when our personal experiences are different.

All I can say is mine chipped quickly but my T-Zones, before and after the Ice Storm (About 3 years each), never did. Still using my 2nd T-Zone.

Heck, I'd still recommend urethane if one's ball speed were high enough or one's release is flat to insure it doesn't hook too much. I tried Urethane for a short while but even a pancake cored urethane hooked too much or too little.

Over the years, I've tried about every plastic spare ball on the market. They all do pretty much the same thing -- go straight on most conditions. And without fail, they all ended up cracking around the middle finder and/or thumb within 6-12 months.
 
That's partially my fault because my ball roll with plastic tends to clip the ring and thumb. I'll plug and re-drill a cracked area around the thumb 2 or 3 times before tossing the ball and getting a new one. Plastic is relatively cheap, so no big deal.
 
I'm using the Hammer Carbon Fiber polyester right now. I'll see how their "Tough Ball" marketing campaign holds up in the real world.