Just applied RSPro clear to my new JL Striker 9'5, wished I had not. I followed the Vimeo instruction on Railsaver Website, being an X board maker I thought it would be easy, wrong! It was difficult to get the tape to bend to the contour of the rail, even after following the instruction I finished up with unwanted bubbles which I had to pin prick and squeegee out, some left a mark. Worse still I peeled back the tape to realign as per instruction and the tape took out a small piece of the rail, board looks poxy, so much for my new Jimmy Lewis Striker. I will never be able to match the yellow colour for repair. Any had this problem?

You might require a can of htfu.

I have put this on all my boards without a problem. I didn't follow any video instructions but still managed to get it right without any issues.
i think if you have had paint come off, it's more an issue with the board, not the tape.

Here is a vid you may want to watch before you try it again.

I found it very easy to apply, especially when I misted some water on the rail. The product looks fantastic and the distributor was very helpful and provided me with excellent info before I did it. I know plenty of other people that have applied it without issue.

Granted it's not as easy as the more flexible 3M product, but I have to say it was still relatively easy to apply and I think overall a much better product, though time will tell. I would have to agree with Chris on the paint issue.
All the best with you next application

cheers

It's very odd.. I had no problem at all.. The first board that I did [my 9'5'' Mana] and I pealed a whole side off and repositioned it without any problem.. and I know of two people who've transferred it from one board to another without a problem.. I've heard of people taking it off to have a ding repair and put it on again after.. You can't do that with normal rail tape.. I think if you lift it off and remove paint there must be paint problem or damage there first..

When I did my Nalu and made this vid I hadn't seen any other vids showing how to do it and I found my system worked great.. I used a few pieces of duct tape to hold the ends and the middle to get the possition that I wanted it to be first.. Then just starated at the front and worked my way along just lightly pushing the center part of the tape down and re lifting it if I got a bit wrong.. and pealed the backing off as I worked my way along.. Then went back and pushed from the center out to the edges removing and wrinkles and preventing bubbles.. It didn't take very long at all and turned out perfect.. Having work stands must help heaps.. I'd hate to be doing it on the ground..

If anyone here in Melbourne needs a hand applying it to their boards I'm happy to help them if their not confident doing it themselves..

I have applied Rail Saver Pro to more boards than I can remember [all brands, styles and varying rail shapes] and providing I don't rush, find it hands down the easiest rail tape to apply.

I've sold and applied quite a few different brands of rail tape and can't recommend the RSP highly enough.

I do use my trusty old 3M squeegee which I've been using for the past 5 yrs, so maybe that's what you need?

If I've ever needed to partially remove any tape, I've always gently heated it first.

Cheers

Am I wrong or are there 2 products named Railsaver Pro? The one DJ is applying in his video and the one made by Pukapatch seen in the video going on the Jimmy Lewis board

Hi Coastie,

Yes the one DJ refers to is NOT the Puka Patch branded rail tape.


The one Jimmy Lewis is applying IS the Puka Patch Railsaver Pro....Jimmy is using the supplied 50mtr roll but it also comes in pre-packaged retail kits as per the attached image.
I've been distributing the Puka Patch brand for 4yrs now, both the 50mtr roll & retail pack through-out that time have & still continue to be widely stocked nationally across Ocean Ski's & SUP manufacturers & retailers, honestly I can't recall ever having a single complaint & everyone who uses it continues to.

Jimmy prefers to apply it on a wet surface but it is very easy to apply dry also, to each their own comfort factor.
Puka Patch is the thinnest on the market making it very easy to apply bubble free, ......due to the flexibility of it, you can stretch it which eliminates bubbles & once applied it is every bit as effective as the thicker tapes....only without the drag or hard edges that can be experienced with a thick tape.








Cheers
Rob

We have used the Puka Patch Railsaver Pro on all our boards in our Sydney hire using the same method as JL (as above) and have found it super easy to apply, just make sure you take your time and make sure all surfaces are nice and wet before applying.

Thanks for all the tips guys and the videos. I took my complaint to Railsaver and Dean was very helpful, he advised the manufactures in Spain of my issue and they said the trick was to leave the tape in the sun for an hour before applying, this makes it supple and easy to follow the rail curve. It also is easier to eliminate bubbles and peel back to reapply if necessary . I applied it on a cool day, the tape was quite stiff. The tape is being replaced with a non transparent colour, so thanks also to Railsaver for the customer service. Cormie

Good to see a happy ending..

Seems Jimmy Lewis has switched brands to the original RailsaverPRO and had custom graphics done ;-)

Just applied Rail saver pro to my new Carbon Widepoint and found it a breeze easy to apply and and works well.

Great video and advice DJ. I have one more little tip that helped me through the process.
I applied a guide consisting of a full length strip of masking tape located at the top or bottom of the desired edge of the RSP. That way you can rip it off and reapply it countless times to get exactly the line that you want. It was much easier for me to follow the masking tape with the RSP. It took one of the tricky variables out of the task.

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LarrySilvia said..
Great video and advice DJ. I have one more little tip that helped me through the process.
I applied a guide consisting of a full length strip of masking tape located at the top or bottom of the desired edge of the RSP. That way you can rip it off and reapply it countless times to get exactly the line that you want. It was much easier for me to follow the masking tape with the RSP. It took one of the tricky variables out of the task.

Great idea..

Lifted the clear coat straight off my Nalu with just a slight touch when trying to reposition it.

However this is a fault of the board, not the tape.

Next time, I'll put water under it.

Otherwise I got a reasonable result.

Yeah ripped my paint up trying to reapply a crooked first effort. They offered me a free roll of their blue tape to try cover the now dodgy looking patch. Wasn't worth covering up, so just said send me another clear batch for my next sup purchase. Will be more careful whenever I get around to using the second lot!

Good customer service.

yep same thing but i don't care, ill wreck the board in no time at all anyway, its for using an abusing anyway! i won't bother putting it on my next board anyway

I found it very easy to apply to my new Sunova style,all told took about 30 minutes start to finish.
Now i just need to get the new girl in the brine.

I just put this vid together.. It shows how using masking tape can help get it right the first time..

Thanks DJ, will use this method tomorrow night when my new Sunova Style arrives :)

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Cormie said..
Just applied RSPro clear to my new JL Striker 9'5, wished I had not. I followed the Vimeo instruction on Railsaver Website, being an X board maker I thought it would be easy, wrong! It was difficult to get the tape to bend to the contour of the rail, even after following the instruction I finished up with unwanted bubbles which I had to pin prick and squeegee out, some left a mark. Worse still I peeled back the tape to realign as per instruction and the tape took out a small piece of the rail, board looks poxy, so much for my new Jimmy Lewis Striker. I will never be able to match the yellow colour for repair. Any had this problem?

Man i really feel for ya..ive just got a JL 9 5" Striker in the ice blue and fitted the RSP clear..had to lift and reapply couple of times (perfectionist and lucky did not have your rail lifting issue at all) but it was on a cool day so got out th heat gun on the lowest setting but only touched it up very quickly like 2 secs till you see it physically soften a tad laying about a foot off the paper at a time (its only slight but completely changes the stiff characteristics of the tape), then applying was a breeze. Do NOT ah say do NOT overheat or drag too much tension!. Tape looks great, took her for a spin all good. for me it was better to lay just using the rail itself as a guide..chinagraph pencil or tape for me was messy so i pissed it off and went by eye..

Hi Australian SUP Community —


Seabreeze always has some interesting SUP stories I like to keep up to speed on. I came across this topic & just wanted to clarify on some confusion that seems to be going on in the Australian marketplace. I founded both Puka Patch & Rail Saver Pro, a Puka Patch product.

Despite what some might hear, Puka Patch is Rail Saver Pro & is why we have kept the name whilst the other like-branded name has since been changed to RS Pro…

I hope this helps with the confusion & integrity of the original Rail Saver Pro, a product that has been widely accepted through the Australian marketplace, launched many years ago by my Australian distributor Watershack Pty Ltd. On the subject of Jimmy Lewis -

Jimmy has been a supporter of our product since the beginning & still supports the Puka Patch Rail Saver Pro exclusively to this day.

The pictures posted earlier stating Jimmy apparently switching to RSPro were from one of Jimmy’s international distributors without the support of Jimmy himself.


There’s a saying in the innovation world that the greatest form of flattery is when someone copies you, so I guess for many years now we’ve been doing something right by providing a quality product that continues to evolve. Confusing a market by copying your name to build another product is not flattery & definitely not innovative.


If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my Australian distributor : rob@watershack.com.au Thanks, Jon Mosher - Puka Patch & Rail Saver Pro

Thanks Jon.

A question to you and everyone - I have a board with the "rubbery" 3m rail tape on it, but I would like to replace it with RSPRO.
I'm a bit scared of putting the heat gun near the board to get the old rail tape off, in case it just lifts the paintwork as well.
Anyone had experience in removing rail tape to replace it with RSPRO?

If the tape has been on for a while and you're as bad a rail whacker as I am, you're likely to be lifting some paint no matter what you do. I find the RSPro can be lifted years later without a problem because even my clumsy hammering doesn't transmit through the tape. It's got these little pillows that seem to work really well. I have one set of RSPro tapes that have been on three boards--an SIC F18, the Bullet 17 V1 with the Kevlar deck that JC bought from me, and a Chinese production F16. But your 3M tape is probably going to lift some paint. So get colored RSPro that will look good with your board, get all the loose chips off, and feather the edges of the paint divots by hand sanding with some 220 backed with hard sponge (cut a square our of some grom's bellyboard). Wash it nice with alcohol, set the RSPro in the sun for a little while, and off you go. You'll probably never have to take the RSPro off, and it lasts forever as far as I can tell.

I just put RSP on my 10'6 Alana.
Last time... I followed the Jimmy Lewis video suggestions..... took a long time and worried me.... "is this ever going to stick?"

Did the creek "quick and dirty approach tonight.... took 45 seconds a side ..... perfect!
Eezy Peezy

Tape front of RSP to the rail in the finished position
Spray rail with light film of water/dish soap mix (1/4 teaspoon of dish soap in a spray bottle of water)
Peel the tail end of the RSP.... peel 1/2 way to the nose and press to the rail... starting midway and Squeegee toward tail with a cupped hand
Keep tight from the front taped position

undo tape to front end and pull forward.... Squeegee with cupped hand, from middle towards the front.... the whole tape sticks perfectly.... no bubbles

Whole job took 3 minutes

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supthecreek said..
I just put RSP on my 10'6 Alana.
Last time... I followed the Jimmy Lewis video suggestions..... took a long time and worried me.... "is this ever going to stick?"

Did the creek "quick and dirty approach tonight.... took 45 seconds a side ..... perfect!
Eezy Peezy

Tape front of RSP to the rail in the finished position
Spray rail with light film of water/dish soap mix (1/4 teaspoon of dish soap in a spray bottle of water)
Peel the tail end of the RSP.... peel 1/2 way to the nose and press to the rail... starting midway and Squeegee toward tail with a cupped hand
Keep tight from the front taped position

undo tape to front end and pull forward.... Squeegee with cupped hand, from middle towards the front.... the whole tape sticks perfectly.... no bubbles

Whole job took 3 minutes

Boy STC, you dodged a bullet. I am pretty sure Jimmy Lewis is talking about Rail Saver Pro, not RSPro. Who knows what could have happened! But you may want to delete your post before the Puka Police read it

I too have been thinking about replacing my rail tape and had considered using the RSPRO. I find this forum to be most helpful and it gives the pros and cons of every bodies experiences. I was considering buying a new surf SUP, as opposed to my Nalu GT 10'6, but think some new rail tape and a new paddle will do the job. Cheers to you all for your insight into a great sport

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cantSUPenough said..

supthecreek said..
I just put RSP on my 10'6 Alana.
Last time... I followed the Jimmy Lewis video suggestions..... took a long time and worried me.... "is this ever going to stick?"

Did the creek "quick and dirty approach tonight.... took 45 seconds a side ..... perfect!
Eezy Peezy

Tape front of RSP to the rail in the finished position
Spray rail with light film of water/dish soap mix (1/4 teaspoon of dish soap in a spray bottle of water)
Peel the tail end of the RSP.... peel 1/2 way to the nose and press to the rail... starting midway and Squeegee toward tail with a cupped hand
Keep tight from the front taped position

undo tape to front end and pull forward.... Squeegee with cupped hand, from middle towards the front.... the whole tape sticks perfectly.... no bubbles

Whole job took 3 minutes

Boy STC, you dodged a bullet. I am pretty sure Jimmy Lewis is talking about Rail Saver Pro, not RSPro. Who knows what could have happened! But you may want to delete your post before the Puka Police read it

Good call cantSUP....Puka Police, I like it, can I use it