Has anyone ever tried removing the deck pad completely?

I wonder if it might be lighter and just as grippy to put Hexatraction across the whole deck.

Any thoughts?

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surgingsurf said..
Has anyone ever tried removing the deck pad completely?

I wonder if it might be lighter and just as grippy to put Hexatraction across the whole deck.

Any thoughts?

I like my hex on the front of my Sunova Steeze but I'm not sure how much I would want to stand on it for 4 hours. I was actually thinking the cork hex-traction would be a good option. And the cork tail kicker. I haven't used them, but my deck pad is getting quite beat up, and might need replacement by the spring. Does anybody know how well the cork hexatraction lasts?

I would use Wax Mat for the paddle position at least, to have a more comfy feel and some shock absorbing for saving the deck. Heels and knees can put a beating on a deck.
Or a front pad for prone surfboards. Or cork.

Disclaimer: I did not (yet) do it personally.

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surgingsurf said..
Has anyone ever tried removing the deck pad completely?

I wonder if it might be lighter and just as grippy to put Hexatraction across the whole deck.

Any thoughts?

I can't see any reason why you couldn't do that.In fact I will be doing this once the granny flat gets built.If you can't stand on the board for hours on end without feeling discomfort then I would suggest you need
to address some feet issues.

On the bare feet, it's pretty slippery. I only use hex or Waxmat on the front of the board. Maybe if you're using booties that grip it better, but for bare feet, it's not even close to the pad or regular surf wax.

What Oki said. I did it a few years ago, alright to start with but was only grippy for a few months, even the booties I had failed to make it grippy. In saying that, it's great stuff for the extra areas imo

My custom boards are wax only. I definitely prefer it. I do recall someone removing a deck pad from an 11'6" board and it took a loooooong time and a heap of effort!

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OkiWild said..
On the bare feet, it's pretty slippery. I only use hex or Waxmat on the front of the board. Maybe if you're using booties that grip it better, but for bare feet, it's not even close to the pad or regular surf wax.

What is the benefit of putting it on anywhere on the board if it is as slippery as you say.

I have it too on some boards.Benefits: It is more grippy as a on gripped nose and not as messy as a waxxed nose. It is lighter as a full deck pad and not as permanent as a grip paint job.Works well for aereas you want to stand on once in a while, but not that often like a nose :).

To remove old grip put a towel over the old deck grip and soak in turps and leave it for 4 or 5 hours, it breaks down the glue , if you want to speed it up wrap in black plastic and put in the sun. Just make sure you have no dings the turps can get into the foam. Done it heaps of times is safe it does not afecct epoxy or std resins. You will be left with some glue residue which just rubs off.

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Piros said..
To remove old grip put a towel over the old deck grip and soak in turps and leave it for 4 or 5 hours, it breaks down the glue , if you want to speed it up wrap in black plastic and put in the sun. Just make sure you have no dings the turps can get into the foam. Done it heaps of times is safe it does not afecct epoxy or std resins. You will be left with some glue residue which just rubs off.

+1

... and a word of caution: you can use any "mild" solvent like turps, Solvent F, but never acetone, which is very toxic and can affect resins by dissolving additives and creating micro cracks.

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Piros said..
To remove old grip put a towel over the old deck grip and soak in turps and leave it for 4 or 5 hours, it breaks down the glue , if you want to speed it up wrap in black plastic and put in the sun. Just make sure you have no dings the turps can get into the foam. Done it heaps of times is safe it does not afecct epoxy or std resins. You will be left with some glue residue which just rubs off.

I agree with Piros, I have used the same method removing a few full deck grips and no probs. Use turps on a rag to get the left over glue residue or a soft plastic paint scraper. No the most fun job but does work.

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ghost4man said..

OkiWild said..
On the bare feet, it's pretty slippery. I only use hex or Waxmat on the front of the board. Maybe if you're using booties that grip it better, but for bare feet, it's not even close to the pad or regular surf wax.

What is the benefit of putting it on anywhere on the board if it is as slippery as you say.

It's a lot more grippy than your bare foot on nothing for the one or two times per session that I may have to step forward of the deck pad to get weight on the nose of a shorter board. It's much more practical than having a deck pad that covers the whole top of the board. It has sufficient traction on the front of my longboards to stand/walk, but not for the rear, where shear forces are greater. And one of the best benefits is that it's not surf wax.