Slick Deckpad

[SUPerman]

Hey all,

I just bought a new board and I love it but my deck pad is made of foam, smooth, and a little slick.  Do you know of any way to add some more grip to it without having to replace the whole pad?

-Kane

[J-Bird]

Wax it.

[mrbig]

Sand it wet or dry paper..

[starman]

Wax can work but it's messy. Sanding is rather worthless. Booties can help. But in the end you will be best served replacing the pad. I say this from experience as I've almost ripped my groin slipping on a smooth deck pad.

[SUPerman]

Sounds like a new deck pad is the best way to go.  Bummer.  I definitely have had some close calls with doing the splits and I am not that flexible.  Thank you for the input.

-Kane

[mrbig]

Starman, I saved a slippery pad by sanding, did you have a bad experience? Inquiring minds want to know. I suspect the type of pad material would have an effect.

[StandinDan]

Just brush it with a wire brush. I keep one in my beach kit, works great, lasts a along time, and saves you the monumental ass ache of a pad change.

[starman]

The pad that came with my 4 year old Angulo Surfa was a gray pad that had been "roughed up" using some kind of course sand paper or wire brush. It pretty much looked like a racing slick with some track time. Flat water or knee high waves no problem. Anything bigger and it didn't work worth a crap. Sanding, wire brush, scrubbing with detergent and booties made little difference. Any quick step back cause my foot to hydroplane on the pad and I'm very lucky not to have torn anything. I even tried waxing the bottom of my booties. Roughing up the surface doesn't let the water drain away. There is always a thin sheen especially in salt water. Pads need treads just like tires to allow the water to drain away. I did not want to wax the pad as it would just be a mess over time and impossible to clean

Yes, removing the pad was a pain until I figured out there is a trick on some of these pads. If you lift off a section and stretch the material close to the deck of the board, the glue will stretch and release it's hold. Much like those 3M wall hangers that you can stick to a wall but can also remove by stretching the adhesive strip parallel to the wall. The adhesive on the pad stays with the pad when stretched leaving a clean deck. You just need to section off the pad with a razor blade so the strips are narrow enough to get a good stretch without tearing.