The traction pad on my pump board is separating on me upper traction layer is peeling off. Iʻd like to replace the whole pad, but was wondering if anyone knew of a better replacement than the standard surf board traction material. It has so much padding to it. I need the traction, but not the padding.
I’ve use anti skid powder mixed with epoxy and then squeegee to the deck. It was rougly a 2:1 volume ratio (epoxy : antiskid). The powder was a Rusteoleum polymer antiskid.
Its perfect, not to rough, not to slippery.
I hope it help!
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This is super cool.
I used EVA foam boat flooring. It’s not super thin but it’s been really grippy and I’ve had no problem with the 3M adhesive unsticking.
Something along these lines was an idea I was having. Would it still be comfortable to paddle on? What kind of epoxy were you using? Iʻm only familiar with the two-part JB Weld you buy in small tubes. Iʻm curious what type and dry time would be the best for this. Think this is a bad idea for things like drop starts?
I just looked into this. Itʻs about a quarter inch thick, which is probably double or more what I was hoping for. Too bad nobody makes grip tape thatʻs not straight up sandpaper. The epoxy pour sounds like a great idea. Just worried about ruining my board.
How about the Hexa traction pads? they’re sold as an alternative to wax, providing traction but not cushioning.
Gibbon,
Blue Planet has the Surfco 6 in by 6 Hex pads. It is so good, the same stickness of wax, but doesn’t wear off. It is the stuff people put on the bottom of their boards for paddling out. I would think it would be great for a pump board.
you could do a sugar-coat.
very thin layer of epoxy on the deck. cover with Caster sugar / Baking sugar. Let epoxy cure. Rinse well so all sugar dissolves. leaves a perfect grip.
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i’ve used a thin layer of epoxy and peel ply. That left me a perfectly structured surface, and i’ve never missed a pad in any way.
Works great for dropstarts btw.
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If you don’t want to mess with epoxy, you can buy the Hex pad. They should be better than the foam pad.
If you want to try epoxy, do some test panel on scrap pieces. I’ve never tried the sugar trick but it will probably work and be a less expensive then the Rusteoleum Antiskid Powder (20 CAD$).
All I do is drop start and don’t have any problem with my Antiskid technique. Because I pump foil with booties when the water is too cold, I find that a peel ply finish is too slippery with booties. The peel ply finish is ok with bare feet. I haven’t paddled it bare chested yet because the water is still cold but it should be fine.
Here’s a picture from yesterday.
Ok, wanted to give a quick update for this topic. I got some cheapo hex traction pads to replace on my pump foil board.
on on these is…fine. Iʻm kinda glad I didnʻt go with expensive ones. I learned some things from this.
- Total pain to install. My board has little channels for holding it on the top and a lot of areas I had to trip and shape the hex pads. Not fun.
- The grip was good, not great. Probably due to the cheap versions.
- They do not hold up well to flipping the board upside down and loading it back onto the dock from the water, something I have to occasionally do. I donʻt think any brand of these would hold up well to that.
- The biggest problem was when I tried catch some little nearby swells. I realized I do not like the zero give on the board feel. The lack of grip was really bad for this, but I also missed the bit of sink I get when I dig my feet in.
These seem good for the hand-hold areas of the board, but Iʻm about to test some very thin corduroy surf traction pads for the foot area and see how it does.
Man I hate foot strap inserts. Anybody have a good way to find their placement when youʻre trying to lay down a large traction pad over footstrap holes? Iʻm guessing it would be a bad idea to just cover them up. Iʻm never going to use them.
Out of sight, out of mind. It should be fine to cover them up
Wouldnʻt the recess of the bolts under the traction pad collect water and take much longer to drain/evaporate? Iʻm just thinking it could cause the adhesive surrounding it to loosen and spread.
little magnets in the holes.
I do this for finding them under carbon when building boards.
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I don’t see why water would get in under the traction pad.
Traction pads arenʻt water-tight, so once submerged, Iʻm guessing it will soak through and fill the bolt holes, then be slow to drain. The magnet idea is a good one though. I Might just poke some drainage holes and call it done.