Hey all,
Im a beginner on a foildrive. Havent managed to pump but efoiling around easily.
I have been using protective gear as im worried about injuries.
The only reef booties i have are decathalon water shoes at the moment.
While popping ( or slowly standing up ) ,
My booties keep getting stuck on the traction pad. Sometimes missing the pop up. Even while im standing i feel like its sitcky.
I went for a session without the botties today and it was a world of a difference.
Im concerned about going into without booties.
So im consdering removing the front traction pad ( keeping the rear ones on)
I tried searching through the forum , it seems everyone likes to use a front traction pad as it may help with understanding your postioning better.
What would your advice be to me ?
Foil without booties ( leaning against it )
Or
Remove the front traction pad , maybe add them later at some point ?
There is a third solution: get a new pair of booties.
Decathlon ones are fairly terrible.
I moved to Billabong 3mm Furnace, and it’s completely different.
Thinner, warmer, much better feel on the board.
They would probably solve your problem.
A few other notes.
Foildrive itself has close to zero risks for your foot.
The few accidents that occur are people cutting their fingers manipulating the device, often outside of water. Turning the device off before any manipulation is a must.
The main risk remains hitting your foil when falling.
Hitting your head is uncommon, but it can be a death sentence.
Hitting your foot is more common (especially the stab). Booties help a lot reducing the impact.
Riding bearfoot is the best for board feeling and control.
I personally ride bearfoot as soon as the weather allows, except if I’m testing a new foil, as I know I will fall more often.
What are you afraid of for your feet? Removing the traction pad and using wax is just going to get wax everywhere and you’ll still drag your booties on the wax. You just have to adjust your pop up technique to avoid dragging your foot.
So the last two days i have been going without the booties ,definitely feels great.
My concern with foiling without the booties is the if the wing hits me. I ready got small hit to the shin , which could have been bad. I have had way too many injuries the last few years, really dont want to deal with anymore.
Regarding getting different booties , the soonest i could get some is the end of march , a freind will be flying down from australia. No other booties availabe here at the moment.
I thought i wouldnt need wax if i remove the traction pad , since the booties seem to give so much grip. ( i might be wrong )
The front of the foil will not cut your feet. The rear of the stabilizer will. So just be careful not to kick it when getting on the board. Other than that your feet are quite safe.
I find that especially in boots my front foot gets hung up too far back on pop-up if I have a full front pad. What I like to do is trim the front pad so it ends right where my foot is in my stance so that there’s nothing behind where I need the traction to catch my foot on pop-up. I’ve even gone so far as to come in mid session and trim and inch or half an inch off the back edge of my traction pad to make it easier to get in position
Decathlon 3mm booties have minimal tread, work well for being able to reposition feet. We wear booties year round. I injured my knee due to aggressive bootie tread carching on track top during pop up…ouch.
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