Hey all

My old deck pad has started peeling of my kite surf board, so I decided to remove it as it was starting to get a bit ugly and annoying

Now it just got me thinking, and trying to decide if I should just put wax on the board, or if I should get a new deck grip/tail pad for it again?

If I only put wax on it like a "normal" surfboard, would it make a difference at all? Its a 5'5 and ride the board strapless.

any advice?

Cheers
elise

I'm starting to wonder about deck pads as well, wax just doesn't grip for very long :/ anyone have special tricks or brands of wax they use?

austin said..

pads all the way, spreads the weight from the toe and ball of the foot, prevents much damage from heel dents. I ride an Almerick Flyer and did try using wax to start with however having to rewax every half session is a pain in the arse, plus messy hot wax in the car is a red thumbs

x2

thanks for the replies guys

Took my surfboard out today as the seabreeze at the start of the session was a bit light (but turned out to be an awesome session). As I had obviously already stripped it from the old deck pad, I put some wax on it as a temporary solution.

Now I have ridden it with the wax, I can see where you are all coming from, definitely more grip with a deck pad compared to the wax.

Just a question though, what is the best stuff to remove wax with, and what tail pads (i want one of those that covers most of the board) would you recommend??

Thanks again

elise :)

i use wax. so when im in mangrovey mud and stand in it. then i get back on the board its mega mega slippery so i gotto like shake each foot trying to free some of the mud before i put it on. injury imenent i decided to only twintip at these spots. if i had sticky foam pads i imagine this wouldnt of been an issue so +1 for deck pads from me. unfortunatly i cant put any on as mines a towboard :(

I love wax, but only on the front foot. As stated, youve just gotta have a back pad when kitesurfing. I find, because we put our feet all over the back 2/3 of the board, 1 front foot pad is not enough, you still have to wax between.

To get wax off the board, ive found the scrape down and then rub with kitchen roll, using your wifes hairdryer gets rid of 99%, then steal her nail polish remover.
Now heres the trick. If you use it all, put it back in exactly the same place, with the lid slightly loose. If she asks. Its her fault, it evaporated......

To clarify. Using acetone based nail polish remover is pretty harsh. But it gets off the last remainder of wax and your deck grip will never fall off.

The scrape with a hairdryer, then rubbing the remainder off with good old kitchen towel, gets it in showroom condition. Applying a deckgrip is another story.

A good tip. When applying deck-grip, get a texter and draw around the corners when lined up before taking the backing off.......

The nail polish remover will get any marks off

Puetz said..

... the duty cycle on wax with surfboards to kiteboarding is very different, much higher on the kiteboard, in that, your standing on the board alot longer while kiting than surfing so wax just doesn't last long enough.

It took only 5 minutes for me with wax to wear out and get all slippery so becomes a pain in the neck and don't get me wrong, wax feels great but just doesn't last, pads is great.

cheers for now,

Robbie

Scrape off wax, then boiling hot water and mineral turps to finish off

great tips thanks all:)

pearl, that deck pad looks good and is the kinda shape im after
may have a look at the shop here locally though to make sure it looks/fits right, prefer to support the guys here in Adelaide when I can

vendeavours said..

Puetz said..



... the duty cycle on wax with surfboards to kiteboarding is very different, much higher on the kiteboard, in that, your standing on the board alot longer while kiting than surfing so wax just doesn't last long enough.



It took only 5 minutes for me with wax to wear out and get all slippery so becomes a pain in the neck and don't get me wrong, wax feels great but just doesn't last, pads is great.



cheers for now,



Robbie

Scrape off wax, then boiling hot water and mineral turps to finish off

... yeah boiling water did the trick for me too, clean as a whistle in seconds, couldn't believe how quick it came off and how clean it was after, no turps either for me!

Wax is the way to go "E"
Once you remove the wax you can recycle it and do the bikini line

high as a kite said..

Wax is the way to go "E"
Once you remove the wax you can recycle it and do the bikini line

hahaha never fail to make me laugh this time ill be taking my kite sb (with or without wax) when I come to see ya in january ;-) there better be wind cause Im hanging for another valley session hehe...

have you had a seabreeze down there yet?? we had a few good ones this week, yeeeeeeeeooooww!!

Kozzie said..

i use wax. so when im in mangrovey mud and stand in it. then i get back on the board its mega mega slippery so i gotto like shake each foot trying to free some of the mud before i put it on. injury imenent i decided to only twintip at these spots. if i had sticky foam pads i imagine this wouldnt of been an issue so +1 for deck pads from me. unfortunatly i cant put any on as mines a towboard :(

wah...?

heres a tip for young players...
wax, the best you can buy is Sticky Bumps.
Get the base, warm and cold water wax and apply in that order.
Go kiting and you will be punting higher than Ian Alldredge...
No worries...

Cheers guys yep, ill probably go a tailpad cause of raised ends on them, and then get something to go on the rest of the board that ill buy by the meter if I can find it. Wax just will get too slippery I've noticed ;-)

depends how much you ride rowdy and style, 3hrs a day 7days a week would keep the wax company's very happy!