RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Soon to be released...durable ,lightweight surfboards....with a guaranteed trade in price.

Loved the read on sways about em mate, specially the blanks. Well done kayu

diggerdickson wrote:Loved the read on sways about em mate, specially the blanks. Well done kayu

Cheers Digger......are you still doing a few composite boards ?

The test board is ready to go back out , after a quick haircut and shave , and a small ding repair.....Trying an experimental traction pad on the tail.......2mm cork over 2mm of rubber..... if the feedback is positive , I would like to try it as an inlay .

No kayu, i never got to devolop my shaping that much at all as i ended up hitting the road. I ride one of hueis shapes and its like a magic carpet. Pink blank, cork, vac bag, you know the deal. I cant go back and am always dreaming of my next one, im officially an addict of the things though the step up will be a bit heavier this time as they are so light. I like the idea of the tail patch mate, will be interesting feedback u get

kayu wrote:The test board is ready to go back out , after a quick haircut and shave , and a small ding repair.....Trying an experimental traction pad on the tail.......2mm cork over 2mm of rubber..... if the feedback is positive , I would like to try it as an inlay .

That cork pad is ugly as Fcuk when its on such a great looking board.
Why not use Versatraction?

Cuttlefish wrote:

kayu wrote:The test board is ready to go back out , after a quick haircut and shave , and a small ding repair.....Trying an experimental traction pad on the tail.......2mm cork over 2mm of rubber..... if the feedback is positive , I would like to try it as an inlay .

That cork pad is ugly as Fcuk when its on such a great looking board.
Why not use Versatraction?

I had the same idea, and because I have one of these boards on order, with Kayu putting finishing touches on it at the moment, I decided to try out the Versatraction on another similar board (8ft Nugget) before risking it's use on the wooden one.

Result: Never again! Versatraction is good on skin, i.e. if you surf naked, but it causes next to zero traction when it touches a wetsuit, rashy or even board shorts. I almost drowned due to the stuff when I paddled out with it on the board for the first time. The board repeatedly shot out in any direction while I was trying to paddle out against chaotic head high waves in front of rocks. Scary shit.

With a bit of wax on it where belly, bum or chest touch the Versatraction, it's OK. The grip is good underfoot even without wax, so it is an option to use as full deck grip. That's what I did, because I can sometimes get a cheater 5 happening on that board.

However, the Versatraction is not as invisible as they would like you to think, particularly when dry.

My plan is to use beeswax. I have been making my own for a while from beeswax and coconut oil, but I recently found "Treehugger" wax. It's more grippy than my home-made wax but also wears off and transfers to the wetsuit much more easily. I think that will blend in much better than white paraffin wax.

I would not like cork on a board of this kind, because it will wear quickly. For me this type of board is all about longevity and therefore reduced environmental impact.

What about the clear deck grip Riley Balsa sells.
http://shop.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au ... p-468.html

Here is a photo of the older board with full Versatraction next to the almost finished wood composite version. Not a good photo, but you can see how the rail in the nose area is much more red than the area covered with the Versatraction pad.

This might show it a bit better:

Hey Kayu, do you shape Mcoys under licence?

Cuttlefish wrote:

kayu wrote: That cork pad is ugly as Fcuk when its on such a great looking board.
Why not use Versatraction?

Just an experiment Cuttle , to see how it feels...it can quite easily be removed if the feedback is negative , with no damage to the board. If it feels ok , I would try one with a proper cork inlay , and maybe extended to the front foot area. Not a good photo , I know , but it's not too bad in the flesh.The board pictured is actually over a year old , and is the 2nd test board. It will go back down to the North Coast , and wait for (hopefully) , some solid quality waves in the coming months.

Drailed wrote:Hey Kayu, do you shape Mcoys under licence?

No Drailed....I just do the woodwork. The boards are still shaped by Geoff.

MrMik wrote:

Cuttlefish wrote:

kayu wrote:The test board is ready to go back out , after a quick haircut and shave , and a small ding repair.....Trying an experimental traction pad on the tail.......2mm cork over 2mm of rubber..... if the feedback is positive , I would like to try it as an inlay .

That cork pad is ugly as Fcuk when its on such a great looking board.
Why not use Versatraction?

I had the same idea, and because I have one of these boards on order, with Kayu putting finishing touches on it at the moment, I decided to try out the Versatraction on another similar board (8ft Nugget) before risking it's use on the wooden one.

Result: Never again! Versatraction is good on skin, i.e. if you surf naked, but it causes next to zero traction when it touches a wetsuit, rashy or even board shorts. I almost drowned due to the stuff when I paddled out with it on the board for the first time. The board repeatedly shot out in any direction while I was trying to paddle out against chaotic head high waves in front of rocks. Scary shit.

With a bit of wax on it where belly, bum or chest touch the Versatraction, it's OK. The grip is good underfoot even without wax, so it is an option to use as full deck grip. That's what I did, because I can sometimes get a cheater 5 happening on that board.

However, the Versatraction is not as invisible as they would like you to think, particularly when dry.

My plan is to use beeswax. I have been making my own for a while from beeswax and coconut oil, but I recently found "Treehugger" wax. It's more grippy than my home-made wax but also wears off and transfers to the wetsuit much more easily. I think that will blend in much better than white paraffin wax.

I would not like cork on a board of this kind, because it will wear quickly. For me this type of board is all about longevity and therefore reduced environmental impact.

That's the opposite to what I've experienced with it on several boards I've put it on. Had it on a DVS 8' carbon all rounder, DVS 6'6" carbon weiner, 6'8" Takayama scorpion, Firewire timbertek baked potato x 2 and two other boards.
The only issue I had was when using it with a wettie that had a smoothskin panel on the chest. That had no grip and when I used it with an over-volumed baked potato the board wasn't underneath the water enough for my weight to put enough pressure on the versatraction and so was slippery.
So I'd guess the same thing is happening to you, seeing as its a voluminous McCoy you have it on.
I had zero issues with rashies or boardshorts.
I like the versatraction as it also acts like another layer of glass (without a noticeable weight increase) and therefore seems to spread the surface tension from my feet thus keeping the decks of the boards heel dent free.
My scorpion had some light heel denting when I applied the versatraction which I can see through it. There are no new heel dents in it after another 2 years. Pretty impressive side benefit.
I don't mind that its not invisible...it's still looks better than dirty wax all over a timber or carbon fibre board.
The other advantage is you don't need a bag when putting the board anywhere inside your car as there's no wax to melt onto your upholstery.

carvin marvin wrote:What about the clear deck grip Riley Balsa sells.
http://shop.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au ... p-468.html

Didn't click on the link but Rileys are the Aussie distributor for Versatraction so that's probably what it is.

Cuttlefish,
Yeah your right, when I rechecked Rileys site I noticed that under the logo on the package in small writing it says versagrip technology.
I have actually seen this type of grip on one of his boards and what I noticed was it wasn't as coarse as the 3M clear traction tape that they put on shower floors for grip.
I ended up using the 3M tape and the grip is excellent without being abrasive, it grips to the smooth area on my wetsuit, no problem .

Riley also sells "Lick Liquid Surf Wax".
Sounds almost too good to be true - invisible, sticky, biodegradable, does not melt in car, sand will not stick to it etc etc.
Has anyone here tried it?

As you probably know Kayu my board on deck is full cork. To me nothing will ever come close for grip and I hope to never get anything again. Once yourve ridden cork you will never want to go back is my thoughts. The way the patch is looks not the greatest but its just a experiment and I look forward to hearing some feedback on how people like it for grip. With the full deck inlaid with cork and the wooden bottom I reckon it will look incredible. The idea has got me thinking anyways.