What They Have in Common
Both use Fiberbuilt's Performance Turf and let you tee up anywhere on the surface using a real tee pushed straight into the fibers. Both cover the same full-surface hitting position — no separate hitting panel, just one continuous turf. And both carry a one-year limited warranty on the turf itself.
Where They Differ
Size, shape and weight
The Hourglass Kit is 60 in × 36 in — longer but narrower, and shaped with an hourglass cutout that traces your swing arc. The Tee Box is 49 in × 49 in, a square. Neither shape is objectively better; it depends on what you're training for and how your hitting bay is laid out.
Weight is where these two pull apart sharply. The Hourglass Kit weighs 19 lbs — and that's the whole kit including the ball tray and rods. The Tee Box comes in at 72 lbs. That's a 53-lb gap. If you're picking either mat up off the floor more than once a month, that difference matters in a very practical way.
Foundation and thickness
The Tee Box sits on a modular rubber foundation and measures 2 in thick. Fiberbuilt doesn't publish a thickness for the Hourglass Kit. That 2 in is the finished height of the Tee Box off the floor; on the Hourglass Kit there's no figure to measure against. The Hourglass Kit rolls out flat with no rubber base underneath, so whatever floor you're on is your foundation.
Portability and storage
The Hourglass Kit rolls up. That's the whole pitch. You can stow it in a closet, take it to a range, move it out when the garage is doing garage things. It's also reversible, so you can flip it when one side starts to show wear. The Tee Box doesn't work like that — 72 lbs on a modular base is a permanent or near-permanent installation.
What's in the box
The Hourglass Kit includes a rubber ball tray that holds 50+ balls and four alignment rods. Fiberbuilt doesn't publish a parts list for the Tee Box, so it's hard to say what arrives with it beyond the mat itself. Worth confirming before you order.
Warranty
Both carry one year on the turf. The Tee Box adds a five-year warranty on its rubber base — a meaningful extra, given that the base is doing the shock-absorbing work. The Hourglass Kit has no rubber base, so that second warranty tier simply doesn't apply.
Who Should Buy Which
Get the Fiberbuilt Hourglass Kit 5×3 if:
- You want to stow the mat between sessions or move it between spaces
- You're buying your first mat and want alignment aids included without a separate purchase
- 19 lbs is a feature, not a footnote
- You'd rather spend $349 and see how the setup works before committing to something heavier
Get the Fiberbuilt Performance Turf Tee Box 4×4 if:
- You're building a dedicated hitting bay where the mat lives permanently
- You want the confidence of a rubber foundation under every shot — and the five-year warranty to back it up
- A square 49 in × 49 in footprint works better for your space than a long-and-narrow layout
- The $499 list price fits what you're building
The Bottom Line
The Hourglass Kit is the more flexible buy: lighter, storable, cheaper at list, and it arrives with accessories that the Tee Box doesn't mention. Two inches of mat on a rubber base is a meaningful difference if you're building something permanent — but permanence is $150 more at list and an extra 53 lbs. For most people, the Hourglass Kit gets out of the way when you need it to and does the job when you don't.
Get the Fiberbuilt Hourglass Kit 5×3.