Having [played with as many covers as I have over the years, I can say a few things too.
Coverlon, Heavy duty springs with a horrible attachment system. Royal PITA to adjust. Solid covers use vinyl which weighs! Improperly adjusted solids may form two or more ponds. This causes the material to stretch if the cover pump isn't moved or requires adjusting the spring tension so water drains toward and drain panels. Only mentioned here because they were referenced by LinerMgf. I put them in the same category as rest of the non mentioned, 2nd tier manufacturers.
Merlin: Smart Mesh weighs as much as most solid covers. The staff doesn't understand what no center strap means or reduced overlap. They want more overlap on their free forms than most. They force the use of a dive stand kit which costs extra and requires an additional hole to be drilled. Moving the web/strap over 12" to one side so it doesn't interfere with the dive stand or require a dive stand kit isn't that hard. The raised wall treatments are poor and can let someone's foot slide between the cover and cable. Last time I did a rock wall with them(2 years ago), they required 1/2" holes that used a spread leg design that lets go. Others use 3/8" designs that are stronger, hold tighter, and last longer. Solid covers are vinyl so the Coverlon and Meyco peeps have company.
Meyco; I don't like the people there. They remind me of the used car lot. Decent quality cover. Decent wall treatments and hardware. There is a lot history between Meyco and Loop Loc. A lot. I hate their Pop Up anchors.
One glaring miss is Anchor. They are famous for their use of the black rubber straps. Every tech I know hates installing them, storing them, dealing with them. They are the only manufacturer I know that uses a 1/4" hex to raise and lower the anchors. Everyone else uses a 5/16" hex head. This allows a tech or homeowner to use a standard screwdriver bit turned backwards (point end in the chuck) in a cordless drill. More 1/2" holes in the rocks or raised bond beams. Holes are drilled every 18". They don't even ship a tamper to set the anchors. They do more solids than mesh. The solids rest on the water. Any holes and pool water comes through and gets pumped off. I have seen unchecked covers fall in to an emptied pool because of this.
Loop Loc: Mesh II and Meyco's mesh are comparable. Wall treatment forces the foot or other falling object toward the cover so it can't get stuck in the cable. The cable and turnbuckle are the strongest I've seen. Solid cover is polypropylene and weighs about 1/4 to 1/3 less than anyone else's solid offering. The zipper treatment for going around objects above the water line works! The built in flaps for raised spas to block debris works better than the wedge bolsters others use to fill the gap. They use stronger thread for their sewing and they aren't stingy with it either. Every cover comes with a long cover attachment/removal tool and a long Allen key that frees dirty anchors when the drill won't. The support and build team listens! They stand behind the product they manufacture.
Any hammer drill that doesn't at least accept at least an SDS bit will be under powered. The Bosch Bulldog is the minimum when drilling a cover's 3/4" or 1" holes. When space is confined, a Hilti TE6S or similar will do it but I wouldn't use it for an entire cover.
Others may offer different opinions. Thats OK. My reputation and my customer's kids safety depends on it.
Scott
