Adding Paddle plugs to a Stand Up Board..

General Discussion
1

Hi All

i have a 11ft epoxy composite stand up, but i live just a little to far from the water to carry it over shoulder / on head and not far enough to drive to the water so i was thinking about adding a couple of leash plugs on the deck so i can slide my paddle through and then carry the board under arm.

(at least i will have the option of on head, under arm, on shoulder)

i have seen this on the new C4 boards and a few others.

so my question is about retro fitting some plugs.

i have the leash plugs, a drill bit to take out the plug of foam and some epoxy but i don’t think just using resin in the hole will offer much of a bond.

do you think i should bond the plugs to the underside of the deck, ala fcs fin plug installation?

if so as its polystyrene i don’t think i will be able to create a clean “circle” cut, would a single “bore” hole do the job, or what other methods can anyone suggest?

any advice on this would be most appreciated…

thanks

Keen to learn…

2

use the router or the dremel

clean cuts are possible

close tollerance is best as large volumes of resin will heat and melt the eps.

leash plug is what I have been using important to glass over as micro voids are likely.these ''leakers will make you unhappy in the future.

spread pluggs well to find balance point.

put glass in hole to inforce hole

…ambrose…

3

What he said. And use the head of a large screw to score under the glass at the perimeter of the hole to allow resin to bond under the glass.

4

Hi

Thanks for your help on this.

All done, as you both said - close tolerance hole, glass in the bottom and marked into the foam under the deck and it seems to have worked fine.

Makes carrying the board a lot easier, had some fun waves this morning ;0)

thanks again

Keen to learn…

5

I had 4 leash plug installed on my SUP Bill Stewart shaped for me. Works very good and I wont use an SUP without them. To much of a PITA to carry without. I went to REI fashioned some webbing to a Dakine board bag strap, and game over…

6

Hi Donniedarko

Thanks, yes as you say a PITA!

Its funny some of my friends don’t have a problem lugging their boards to the beach, but i think figuring a sensible (ie the plug method) solution will make is a lot easier for surfers (and others) to get into SUP

I have tinkered with windsurfing and kiteboarding in the past but coming from a surf background the extra “kit” and “hassle” made the return not worth while - i think by keeping SUP easy and accessible more will find out what a blast it really is!

as ever

Keen to learn.

7

what i did is drill two holes in the board, epoxied in two 1" windsurfing footstrap inserts, and – genius moment here – attached a fat guitar strap to the inserts. now i shorten up the strap and carry the board under my arm or loosen it up a bit and sling it over my shoulder. also, i covered the inserts with the pad so you can’t see the mess i made w/ the epoxy. works great!!!