Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

I have an 8mm pad on on my Flashpoint, I like the cove pads and I am looking to get 1 for my Fish - I was wondering if most people like the 5mm or the thicker 8mm pad? I surf East Coast so our water temps range from 42 F to about 75 F
I would like to hear reasons for choosing 1 over the other. I think the thinner pad would give a better feel for the board, but don't know if there would be a downside ?
Thanks Jimi

I have one of each. I bought the 8mm because the foam used on one particular board was so light I was afraid I would delaminate the deck in a week. Downside- the 8mm retains a lot of water. More so than the 5mm.

I went thinner. Love it.
Thicker ones will retain a lot of water, but be more comfortable and give more cushion.
I prefer less weight. Still plenty of cushion, and the thinner pads allows natural knee wells to form. That way, you start to get contact from knee through shin.
I also found waxing the pad repeatedly eventually keeps the pad from retaining as much water.

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there are closed cell, cheaper options available.

I agree with EQ.
Wax the hell out of them and they won't rash you as bad when skinning it.
I use the thinest pad Casey makes, I think it's 3/8" thick.

The nice thing about what Casey is doing is the fact that he can customize anything for any board, that's key. He's also reliable and more often than not turns pads for me in hours becasue I have a fresh set of boards and am usually leaving in a couple of days.

Thnaks Casey.......

I actually switched to the Cove Pad because of Big Tony.
Had one of his boards and loved the pad. Especially super waxed. Gets almost tacky.
Got the same one with the Diamond Fly.

Good info,Thanks for the tip about waxing the pad. I'll go with the 5mm

Jimi

I have an early "thin" cove pad about 4yrs old without any texture (smooth surface) and a new thick 8mm "Diamond Fly" textured pad. Both are closed cell and hold no water that i can see. I tried to squeeze it and no water "sponged" out.
The older pad feels fine; I've never slipped off on my belly taking off or while up kneeriding. It still looks brand new.
The new thicker Diamond Fly feels plush and adds little weight as far as I can tell.
I've never waxed them and like I said never slipped. Big Tony's observation regarding rashes being eliminated waxing them is interesting. I've yet to ride them without a wet suit, but third degree nipple rash is always a concern. I've ridden the Parkes pads for years without a rashie and have never been chafed by his pads.

Bottom line: Cove Pads are excellent and look way COOL too.
Thanks, Casey

I use Casey's thinner 3/8" pad, I like the feel of the board on the water. Bottom line I think Casey has the best.........

I have one of Casey's thinner pads on a smaller kneeboard and love it. Been thinking of ordering some of the thicker ones ( maybe the JT Diamondback pattern ) for some boards that need it; would like to better protect my aging knees as well as some lightly glassed decks. For those who have used both , what's your take on the thick versus thin , do you find you lose much of the '' feel'' with the thicker? Been riding a board with the black Parkes pad, love the adhesion but I tend to fight with it on the pop-up, and when it's time to eject from the vehicle, it's like I'm surgically attached to it, can't really ever reposition my knees much either. How is the thicker cove pad in that regard ?

Good technical unbiased feedback. The rubber we use at Cove Pad is closed cell (not open cell). Only the top of the deck, has 1/2 concave mini spheres (cut in half when cutting to thickness order on a roll). So the only water retained is what is in 1/2 of a micro sphere on the deck only = you cant tell. Yes you can wipe some water off the pad, but it the same water that is on your board anyway. Really not negligible to even gage. The 5mm vs 8mm thickness is really a 1/8 inch difference. The thin pad 3/16- 5mm, will compress to the deck and you will feel the deck on hard G turns. The 8mm-5/16 will add comfort on hard air landings and add a "nest" around the knee for a bit more grip. I dont use wax. Some do, some dont. Either way you get a magic carpet ride. No snags, easy un-weight release and re adjust stance re sets on the fly, clean tapered one edge on one piece of rubber. Simon and Chayno seem to be surfing pretty good lately too. The most common remark is "I dont even know its there". That's a good thing.
Thanks guys for the feed back! Very cool. Casey Patelski, Cove Pad Guy.

Well said Casey ! It's a great product. BTW, does the thinner version have enough material thickness to do the JT Diamondback, or is that best only on the 8mm pad ?
Thanks, Robert

Robert I have the JT diamond back in 8mm on my big wave F2k and love it highly suggest it. Works very well on steep late drops. GET ONE!

Thin for the win.

thin pad with a bit o wax