RealSurf Surfers' Forum

I pulled out one of my old Simons from the early nineties the other day to have a look. It also inspired some reminiscing based on the fact it had full deck grip.

Why did full deck grip fall out of favour? Tailpads are common these days, but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a front foot pad - can you even buy them anymore?

Is it a fashion thing, or a function thing? (these days I just stick with wax).

Cork deck.

Full deck grip and cork deck eat holes in your flesh. Prob ok if ur suited up the whole time

Would also cause havoc with smooth wetsuit chest panels....

I've passed this link on to a few crew seeking not to cover over the artwork, though I have'nt tried it myself -

http://shop.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au ... p-463.html

JD

I got some of the Versa deck grip from Riley surfboards for exactly the reason Josh talks about to see the artwork!
The grip is good I have had it on for over a year in Indo and here at home, no problem whatsoever!
A couple of tips is the board needs to be thoroughly cleaned and degreased and then cleaned again.
No nipple rash but I wear a rashy and no no leg rash like the old stuff used to do.
Only area where I have some doubts would be with the extra friction of booties and the fact you might get black scuff marks defeating the show the artwork purpose.
There was a hexagonal patch system a couple of years back it was moderately OK but had a much shorter life span and the board and kept requiring re-glueing.

Wet suit OK with it all through winter.

And one more thing a lot thinner than any of the old deck grip!

I have put it on all my boards.

oh its still around. just not very popular with surfers

ANDY technically that is not a full deck grip, since none of the SUPurating crew ever get past the halfway point as you can see .
AGREED however not popular with surfers!

otway1949 wrote:I got some of the Versa deck grip from Riley surfboards for exactly the reason Josh talks about to see the artwork!
The grip is good I have had it on for over a year in Indo and here at home, no problem whatsoever!
A couple of tips is the board needs to be thoroughly cleaned and degreased and then cleaned again.
No nipple rash but I wear a rashy and no no leg rash like the old stuff used to do.
Only area where I have some doubts would be with the extra friction of booties and the fact you might get black scuff marks defeating the show the artwork purpose.
There was a hexagonal patch system a couple of years back it was moderately OK but had a much shorter life span and the board and kept requiring re-glueing.

Wet suit OK with it all through winter.

And one more thing a lot thinner than any of the old deck grip!

I have put it on all my boards.

I bought some of it but have not stuck it on, yet. Good to hear you like it, maybe that will help me pull out the finger and scrape the wax off etc...
Have you any experience with this deck grip getting hot, as in when the board ends up temporarily in a car in the sun?

MrMik;
I have had the stuff on my board in a sock on the roof of my car for a couple of hours, no issues and sometimes in my car for similar periods, haven't seen any problems.
An issue than would blow it literally,would be if your application left air cells under the stuff, heat would delaminate the grip easily.
The only thing I have noticed is some slight pull up on corners under foot traffic so I just trimmed the rough bits off with a stanley knife.
I figure maybe three years at the current rate of wear. Funk how many blocks of wax would that be on a mal

I wonder if the top SUP dudes wax their entire deck grip like the hot rippers do with their tail pads. I'd like to think so

otway1949 wrote:MrMik;
I have had the stuff on my board in a sock on the roof of my car for a couple of hours, no issues and sometimes in my car for similar periods, haven't seen any problems.
An issue than would blow it literally,would be if your application left air cells under the stuff, heat would delaminate the grip easily.
The only thing I have noticed is some slight pull up on corners under foot traffic so I just trimmed the rough bits off with a stanley knife.
I figure maybe three years at the current rate of wear. Funk how many blocks of wax would that be on a mal

I got around to sticking the VersaTraction deck grip onto my favourite board and went for a surf on it.

It was disastrous! I almost drowned due to the stuff.

The problem occurred because I was wearing a custom steamer, made entirely from the thinnest super-stretch neoprene that they had at the factory. It's purpose is to keep me in the shade, not to keep me warm.
This custom wetsuit turned out to be extremely slippery on the VersaTraction deck grip. Feels like freshly greased, and the board continuously slips out in any direction while paddling. Maybe they use something else on standard steamers for that reason, or maybe the VersaTraction is slippery with all wetsuits, I don't know.
I have however surfed many session with the same steamer and the same board, but waxed, and there were no problems.

The waves were 1.5 to occasional 2m tradewind swell, messy, bumpy with onshore winds and backwash waves reflected from rocky cliffs. By the time I realised that it was not going well, it was too late and I was being swept in front of steep cliffs. Instead of getting deep strokes in between the waves, I had to grab the board repeatedly to push it back under my chest. I guess the wave period was around 7sec and I was not making any progress, but instead was getting pushed backwards toward the cliffs.
After maybe 5 minutes of futile struggling. I twice touched submerged boulders with my paddling hands, and eventually I had to jump off the board and swim / dive through the waves to avoid further exhaustion and reduce the risk of being thrown onto the rocks. For the first time ever in 18 years of surfing, I was considering to wave for help, but swimming while pulling the board as an 8ft drift anchor did the trick and I eventually got away from the rocks and out the back.

No damage was done to the board and I decided to "get back on the horse" and continue to surf.

I had no problems with the traction once I managed to get to my feet, but certainly missed many waves due to the dramas whilst paddling.

I'm not sure if the slipperiness actually reduced or if I just got used to it over the next 2 hours or so, but the board seemed less slippery under my belly. Maybe the VersaTraction is roughing up the neoprene over time and they start to make better contact with each other. The same problem occurred when sitting on the tail of the board to swing it around in order to paddle into a wave: It tends to suddenly shoot out from between the legs.

When dry, VersaTraction feels very slippery under hands, but once wet, it feels about as grippy as wax.

I'll have to try it out in board shorts before coming to a definite conclusion.

http://www.covepad.com/order-information.html

any size you want, made-to-order deck grip, favoured by kneelos.

Bought a used Mal 7 yrs back which has full deck grip
Found it seemed heavier when wet
Think it was re fastened with liquid nails as I have lots of fun removing it

[quote="MrMik] The same problem occurred when sitting on the tail of the board to swing it around in order to paddle into a wave: It tends to suddenly shoot out from between the legs.
[/quote]

I hope that "surf bully" doesn't read this - he could use it as a defence if ever he goes to trial.

haven't used any deck pads on my boards in years