Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

As I get ready to cut out a couple new KBs, I've been putting thought into trying out deck pads. The last time I used a deck pad was back in the mid 1970's........made out of Insolite, which was used as a sleeping bag pad for backpacking; crushed easily and looked like heck.

What are your recommendations/complaints/ideas? What material? Scooped out deck...or not? What type adhesive?

Wax has always worked well for me but I keep having these thoughts of the warm water tropics and not having to wear my 5/3mm suit....

I've had both, and I prefer wax.

I never like a really scooped deck, either. I found it too confining, i.e. "put your knees here." I find that my knees tend to be positioned in a lot of different ways on the board depending on the wave and how I'm going. Pads are less confining and can be a nice cushion. They take some getting used to, particularly for paddling. Still, I'd end up putting a little wax on the pad and on the front of the board where I put my hands anyway. The only board I ever had a pad on I ended up after about two years taking it off anyway.

I'm also an old fart and just like the ritual of waxing up the board before going out. Sort of like a meditation.

dm

I hear ya, DM. I'm from the old wax school and, back when I tried a pad, I alawys hit the rails with wax where I grab with my hands- and on the tail. And on the pad!

I'm probably going to try pads. One board is going to be a experiemental board where myself and other team riders at Freeline will have a chance to ride the board and make comments. I'll tear off the pads and try other types of pads.

I've always kept one "golden" board for real riding that was dialed in and I wouldn't let anyone ride it. But I also had a board or two that were proto types: we'd add fins, grind fins off and reposition them, etc. Ride them for a couple weeks then throw them in the used rack and cut out another experimental one.

I'm still interested in hearing what materials everyone's pads are made out of.....

Hi surfhorn

This subject has been covered before on the forum but things get buried under more recent info with time.
Parkes full deck pads [covers front area for knees & separate area for tops of feet or swim fins] are self adhesive so you just peel the back & attach.
These are grippy, non water absorbant & light.
The best I've found to date & available from Don at www.kneelo.com

Deck pads are one of those things that have kept me kneeboarding for so long... The first couple of sessions I remember on a kneelo I remember having to get some ice packs and putting them on my knees because of the pain. From there I got some knee braces from the drug store, used those till I heard about pads. Since then I have made an effort to try every type of pad there is out there, since I tried Parkes' pads, I havent looked any further. The pads are light, they dont soak in any water, and it takes me about a year of riding a board furiously for me to crush them in enough to the point where I can feel fiberglass under my board... I have seen that all the top Aussie kneeboard shapers have their own pads, I have seen most of them and think they all do the trick, I ride Parkes' boards so its just easier for me to get his pads also.

Hope this helps.
Albert

I took a look at Don's new Parke's KB and the Parke's pads. I'll probably start there.

Man, what a nice looking KB - a really sweet template that looks like its going to fly.

Regarding pads, personally I can live with or without them. I like the pad on my Romanosky. My Blast does not have a pad (Buddy offered me a pad but I passed). I have a Pavel fish with nearly the entire deck padded! If I am to use a pad it has to be inlaid (which is part of the reason I declined the Blast pad as they are not inlaid). Overall I prefer no pad but there are good reasons both pro and con, such as:

1) Pads protect your knees somewhat, not so much from torque stresses but mostly from pressure. However, if you’re wearing a wetsuit with padded knees you’ve already got some of that protection built in so the pad may or may not be overkill. If you are pulling off and landing big airs then you definitely want a pad! In the tropics the board and wax are somewhat softer and so not as hard on your knees so a pad is not as critical (unless you are doing airs).

2) Pads do protect the surface of the board, but then you’re loosing contact with the board and along with that some sensitivity as well. Also some pads lift you almost an inch or so off the surface of the board, so you may lose some of the advantage of a lower center of gravity. On my Blast (no pad) there are now two shallow depressions that my knees fit into perfectly, the so-called sweet spots, so my center of gravity is even lower!

3) Pads decrease not only your connection with the board, but also dampen its natural harmonic or vibratory tendencies and thus its sensitivitiy! This may sound a bit esoteric if not farfetched but think about it, how could you glue a large piece of rubber to your board and not have it dampen its natural vibrations to some extent or another? Now this may actually be a positive (in large, bumpy, or bouncy surf they smooth out the ride), or it may be a negative (in small, clean, surf they deaden the board to the point that it is slow to react) but it is still something that you should take into account when deciding upon whether or not to use a pad.

4) Even the best pad will do a number on your bare chest. The longest I’ve ever been able to surf bare-chested with a pad (in the tropics) was maybe about 45 minutes, and even then I acquired a really bad rash, worse even than the worst wax rash I’ve ever had!

5) There is just something about waxing up a board that is rather romantic and part of the mystique of surfing. The sweet aroma and the meditiation while waxing up. Of course, wax also tends to get dirty over time and melt in the sun making a mess, but oh well...

In the final analysis, like anything else, having a pad is an entirely personal decision. If possible try to ride the same board design with and without a pad to see which you prefer or have at least two boards, one with and one without a pad to use in different conditions and under different circumstances.

Why not use both?..and take the best of both worlds.

I've been using pads for around ten years now. I'd never go back to a waxed-deck board.

I find that they don't slip with or without a wetsuit, don't mess up everything like wax does, protect the knees ( as an old finish carpenter my knees are a little tender in spots ) , protect the board from those zillion and one knee dents....... and they don't rip out the chest fur that I come equipped with.

They're a win, no doubt about it. Give 'em a try. You can get the Parkes pads as has been mentioned, or you might try some of the people like Eaton who make paddleboards for some of the material. Installing the peel and stick variety is easy and the others ain't too tough either- the 3M spray adhesive ( 3M #99 if I remember right ) or a contact cement will work just fine. Don't roll the rubber and install it sorta like you'd install Formica, if that's any help.

Hope that's of use

doc.........

..

We used to go to the Scott slipper factory and buy sheets of rubber. They were tough and-non absorbent, but not that soft. They were about 1/4 in thick (or less). Cut a piece the shape that you want, a little contact cement and bye-bye sore knees. This is what replaced my waxed decks back then. As for now, I prefer Bud's pads, they are soft and grippy. A little wax on the rails and tail and there's a fusion of the old and new.

If you make your own deck grip from camping pads or other closed cell expanded polyethelene or similar products, remember that the pad will "grow if you use contact adhesive (the solvent allows the rubber to stretch, I think), so you have to allow for a bit more glue on the board than the marked outline of the pad.

You can also fine the edges of the pad using sandpaper. My pads are 10mm in the centre, but 1mm thick at the edges for better water shed (and more comfortable under the chest, since I use 2 small knee pads, rather than a single big one

I started researching and trying out deck pads in the 70's after one too many incidents like Headwax describes - it got to the point where I was worried about a bit hit, in case I damaged my board or my knees. Before I used pads I used to snap at least one board a year - probably due to the weakened state of the top deck from all the circular dings.
My knees used to get cut up, too, as the edges of some of the dings could be quite sharp. Tried a kevlar deck patch once. Nearly destroyed my knees!

I've used pads for 20 years and have only snapped one board in that time.
I think my pads are at the point where grip is better, I can feel the board adequately and they add less weight than the wax would. I use two textured 10mm thick rectangular pads about 20x40 cm for under my knees only, so I can still feel the board directly through my snins and feet.

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