can I ride a 6'8" board without a stomp pad?

[pmcaero]

I'm 5'7", 166lbs

[Lebowski]

Yes, of course you can. They are not an essential requirement.

[jaffa1949]

Yes , long before there were stomp pads there were surfboards and surfers, they got along just fine.

[waikikikichan]

One the hardest hitting cutbacks surfers ever Mark Occhilupo " Occy " hates using stomp pads. I heard he borrowed a friends board to surf which had a pad on. When the friend got it back, he realized Occy had ripped the pad off.

All my boards, Long, Fun, Fish and even my sponge boards have stomp pads. I just like how it feels to have your foot locked in. But more so I use it to kick out and put the board up by standing on the kick tail.

[pmcaero]

Thanks, not looking to do any radical maneuvers...I have a 6'3" with a stomp pad which I failed to pop up on many times, and am hoping this larger board will ease the transition.

[yumyumyellow]

I would say a 6'8" is actually too big for a trac pad to be of much use. Traction pads are never necessary.

[Big H]

I would say a 6'8" is actually too big for a trac pad to be of much use. Traction pads are never necessary.

I don't agree with that; turning off the tail is turning off the tail, whether 5'6" or 9'6". It gives a little advantage in duck diving as well. For all the things that traction pads are good for, they hold true for a 6'8" board.

[jaffa1949]

I have tail pads on all my longboards 9ft I like them

[yumyumyellow]

I would say a 6'8" is actually too big for a trac pad to be of much use. Traction pads are never necessary.

I don't agree with that; turning off the tail is turning off the tail, whether 5'6" or 9'6". It gives a little advantage in duck diving as well. For all the things that traction pads are good for, they hold true for a 6'8" board.

To each their own. I've never found traction pads to give anymore traction than wax, and I've never found I get more leverage with them for duck dives, either.