New Kneeboards with deck pads. To wax or not to wax ?

[davmo]

I have a new Ron Romanosky rounded pintail quad that my wife got be for christmas. I have yet to have it in the water but I an ready to hit the water with it soon.

I have always owned kneeboards that didn't have a deckpad so I always had a real nice build up of wax on the deck for traction.

Now I have a nice Romo with a really nice deck pad and I am wondering what the heck am I supposed to do now? Do I go surfing without any wax
/ Or do I put on just a little bit of wax.

I know you guys have already been through this a million times and perhaps you can enlighten me in the proper ways of wax and deck pads.

Dave

[skansand]

PADDLE OUT WITH HALF A BAR OF STICKY in your wetsuit sleeve....
....if you think you need it ...rub it...

[DarcyM]

you probably will want to wax places where your hands might go for grip. The pad may require a little wax too, but try it without first to see how it goes. Once you start waxing the pad you pretty much have to keep waxing it because it doesn't come off very easily and ends up dying there.

[Beeline2.0]

..

[KenM]

DYNOMITE!

[weirdo]

Dave....
I usually fill in the gaps with wax.... you might need some where your hands go for duck diving (nothing worse than a hand slipping off when your duck diving a big one)...
If you only have pads where your knees go you will definitely need wax down where your feet go!...other wise you will turn an your feet will slide off with the force....

W

[stemple]

I have had to wax all of my pads blasts and romos. Both types of pads would slide around on my chest when paddling especially wearing a 4/3 wetsuit. Wax away. I think the stickier the better.

[surfhorn]

I've gone back to all wax. I experiemented with a full deck pad, sticking it on in December. Little did I know that we were going to have over 21 days of macker surf.

So I was able to surf test my KB with a full deck pad (it was the camping pad type) in large waves in Santa Cruz and then a week in SoCal including waves in the 15 range at Rincon on Weds. Jan 4.

The pad just didn't do it for me. I still had to use wax on the pad and where my hands struck the rails- so why not just wax eveything? Most of my KBing is in S'Cruz so I'm always in a wetsuit.

I guess its one of those 'old dogs' things.

[ocean7847]

i was repairing a ding in my blast and left the deckpad in the sun for 2 minutes - it heats up really quickly to say the least. i put my hand on the pad and nearly burned it on the hot wax.

so i cleaned off the wax with a paper towel and now there is just a slight residue or stick to it without the glumps of wax. i still wax the rails up to the nose, but i no longer wax the pad.

[K-man]

Tried various pads,some alone some waxed,which I didn't like.
Been using parkes pads,with the knobbies?No waxing,no problems.The knobs are squishy,so they conform to the knees and feet,and there is no sliding,or abrasion on the body.
Nice if that stuff was available in sheet form.Stuff comes from oz,so maybe one of the cousins knows something.
Don the site admin.stocks them.Haven't been able to get him to part with another set.HEY don,three's the limit
Also pads do extend the life of wetsuits.Nothing worse than worn out suit kneepads when the water temp goes down,especially in the groin area


cheers

[davmo]

I think the waxers have it. I will add some wax everywhere I think that I might need to grap or hold onto. Maybe a little on teh pad woun't huirt either.

For all these years I have only ridden boards that had no deck pad and you had to wax everything.

I guess the pad will be good on the old knees.

Thanks for the info.

[TC]

I agree with K-man. I been using the same pads from Parks no wax no problems (with a 4/3). He also makes a set for the back of the board where your fins lay. You may want to try them out in stead of wax back there, if your interested Don is the man here in the states. I also wax the rails as many of us do to help with duck diving and surfing in general. I personally would not wax the pads, as DarcyM mentioned, once you start waxing you’ll always have to. I tried it once messed up the pads and was a pain. Have fun with the new board mate. Cheers, TC

[SFKneelo]

Parkes pads are nice. I sometimes wax them, but find your really don't have to.

I do wax the gaps, particularly the tail. Waxing the rail for the hands for duck-diving is key. Like said b4, helps to avoid painful slips. Then again, I tend to wear gloves for extra warmth and grip.

There's another spot... just back of the hand hold wax, and in the middle. It would roughly be where you'd put your hands when kicking in low-2 gear (off the board a bit.) That's a place I sometimes place my hand while riding.

[kneelingBROTHA]

I just wax if neccessary. Paddle out without wax first, and if needed, wax it. That's my philosphy. I know that the beautiful aesthetics will suffer from waxing, but funciton before fashion is my motto!

[stemple]

Most of the pads on my boards are Parkes and I don't wax them. I like to wax a thin strip about 12 to 14" below by the nose on each side. I like to grab here when I duck dive (which you do alot of at OB). I also use the Parkes back pads. I typically wax between the pads because it is where I tend to sit on my board. The wax makes it a bit sticky so the board doesn't slip embarassingly from you while waiting for a set. Don borrowed one of my boards and thought it was way too sticky for him. I remember a comment about having to peel the board from himself when he got out of the water.

Appearance does matter though I will change the wax after its starts to look to too dirty.

I have found that it is the closed cell foam pad material that has no texture or contours that is the slippery stuff when wearing a wetsuit. I think that material works better when its waxed. To each his own.