Has anybody actually dinged their board with the end of a hard handle/mini-boom?

People are concerned about the hard plastic ends damaging the board from impact, or from dragging it over the deck using various small board starting techniques. I guess damage would include scrapes and cracks and dings to the board and wear and tear on the deck pad.

I use a few wraps of self-augmenting silicon tape on mine. A $15 roll does the 4 ends on a wing. Can be easily replaced or discarded without marking the handle.

I'm using Duotone Slicks and SLS for 2 years, over 200 sessions - no dings so far.

I ding my handles with the board, not the other way around.

I have concerns over using hard handled wings especially in strong winds and waves .
I'm surprised no one makes a soft handle option that could replace a hard handle as all of them unscrew .
surely it wouldn't be that hard to construct .

I'm pretty sure the 2023 Slingshot wing, which has the option of hard handles has handles that have a protective pad at the edge of each handle to protect both boards and people. The new NP Fly I believe also has this feature. The Duotone Slick's boom is covered with a protective grip and the ends of the boom are also covered once secured in place -- there is a soft protective layer between boom and board.

See the orange bumper to protect the board in this video about the Slingwing V3:


The front corner of the handle of the NP Fly is well covered:

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Britfoil360 said..
I have concerns over using hard handled wings especially in strong winds and waves .
...

I have "concerns" too, but I don't know if they are realistic or not. I vaguely remember some talk about booms damaging boards in the early days. I haven't read anything recently about people actually damaging boards with hard handles. There's lots of people using hard handles. All the hard chargers in my area are using hard handles.


Given that almost all the major manufacturers are using hard handles you'd think they would design out the risk of damage to gear. It can't be that hard to include decent bumpers and padding.

I have a demo wing with hard handles and the improvement in control is considerable, particularly wave riding with the wing semi-powered. The noise of the handles bumping off the board during starts was alarming but no damage happened.

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Britfoil360 said..
I have concerns over using hard handled wings especially in strong winds and waves .
I'm surprised no one makes a soft handle option that could replace a hard handle as all of them unscrew .
surely it wouldn't be that hard to construct .

Ocean Rodeo come with soft handles and you can quickly swap to the super light carbon handles or carbon boom - works great - love the boom

The Cloud IX wind wings are the best kept secret in the business. Soft handles that work well.

Heard of but not seen damage. Victims said problem seems to be front of front handle, and some brands put padding there that helps.

I haven't had any handles dings, but they do leave scratches. No biggie for me.

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Britfoil360 said..
I have concerns over using hard handled wings especially in strong winds and waves .
I'm surprised no one makes a soft handle option that could replace a hard handle as all of them unscrew .
surely it wouldn't be that hard to construct .

Vayu make a wing that does just that. You can choose soft handles or boom.

My friends are all on Units with the hard handles and so far no complaints on dings to their boards. I use the Slick and no dings, not really worried as the boom ends are tucked under the velcro so no real concerns there.

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Gorgo said..
Has anybody actually dinged their board with the end of a hard handle/mini-boom?

People are concerned about the hard plastic ends damaging the board from impact, or from dragging it over the deck using various small board starting techniques. I guess damage would include scrapes and cracks and dings to the board and wear and tear on the deck pad.

This can happen as a result of impact or from dragging the board over the deck using certain starting techniques. This can result in scrapes, cracks, dings, and wear and tear on the board and deck pad. I always handle the board carefully, especially during starting and landing. Some people may also choose to use padding or protection for their boards to reduce the risk of damage from the handle or mini-boom.

Yes. Went out on a strong day getting smashed. Plenty of dings etc. Im a beginner. Swapping the small wing to bar less.