If youʻve been surfing for a while, it has probably happened to you. Either from losing a board and having it crash up onto the rocks or by colliding with a beginner who drops in on you, dings happen.
Dings are cracks in the fiberglass of your surfboard. They can cause some serious longterm damage by allowing water to enter and begin to waterlog the foam.. Question is, if your board has a ding, can you still go out and surf?
You can surf with minor dings in your surfboard a couple of times before anything bad happens to it. With major dings or after prolonged exposure over many months, dings can delaminate your surfboardʻs fiberglass wrap, cause water logging in the foam, or potentially lead to snapped boards.
When the waves are good, no ding will keep us out of the water. But donʻt make that a habit. Letʻs learn a little bit more about dings, how they can affect your surfboardʻs performance, and how to make sure they donʻt spell the end for your board.
How Can a Ding Ruin a Surfboard?
A small ding like a depression or a spider crack on the surface of your board is mainly cosmetic, but once those dings break through to the foam core of your surfboard, that is where problems begin.
A ding that has broken through to the foam core of a surfboard can begin to cause some serious damage. If it is on the nose or tail, the water will eventually soften the foam, creating more and more dings around the nose and tail, eventually leading to disfiguration.
Likewise, if the ding is on the deck or bottom of a surfboard, it could lead to delamination of the fiberglass from the foam or if it gets really bad, the board could possibly snap in half (it happened to me). Sometimes it’s not even a ding, your board just starts turning yellow, as described in this post.
So it is important to fix those dings early before something worse happens.
How Quickly Should I Fix a Ding?
There are two types of dings, ones that need to be fixed right away and ones that you can take your time getting to, make sure they donʻt turn into ones that need to be fixed right away.
A small crack in the fiberglass will not cause serious damage initially, so it would still be ok to surf a few more times before needing to fix it.
A larger ding or fiberglass that has peeled away should be fixed immediately. Consider that surfboard out of commission until it gets fixed. It will ensure that you still have one over the long term.
Whatʻs worse, missing a few waves now, or many more waves in the future?
Can You Use Duct Tape to Temporarily Fix a Ding?
If the waves are pumping but your surfboard has a ding in it, you could choose to sit it out or temporarily patch your board with some duct tape. Iʻd choose the duct tape.
Duct tape can keep your ding from soaking up water as well as keep it from getting larger. Itʻs a great temporary fix if paddling out is a must.
When applying duct tape, make sure that the site of the ding is clean and dry. Make sure you have enough tape to overlap the ding and apply it from one end to the next as smoothly as you can so no water can enter.
This will work for a couple of sessions, but should not be used over long periods of time. The gum from the tape will foul up the ding and make it harder to fix.
How to Identify Dangerous Dings On Surfboards?
You can use the following points to analyze if your ding on the surface of the surfboard will cause a problem for you while you are surfing:
Analyze the Size of the Ding
The ding on your surfboard plays a considerable role; if the ding on your surfboard is big enough to make your surfboard waterlogged, you should avoid surfing.
A waterlogged surfboard will inhibit the performance of your surfboard over the long term.
Similarly, the depth of the dent on your surfboard needs to be analyzed. If it is a deep ding it must be fixed right away.
Analyze the Location of the Ding
The location of the ding will decide whether or not there is something to worry about.
If the dent is right at the center of your surfboard, it might cause more problems than at the corner somewhere.
Number of Dings Present
At some point, your board has too many dings and needs to be fixed ASAP or offered up to the surf gods.
Do not let this happen to you. A well taken care of board can last decades, but let the dings pile up and you may only get a year or 2 out of it. Take care of your board and it will take care of you.
Check for the Cracks
A ding is not harmful to your surfboard as long as there is no way in which water can get inside your surfboard.
You can have a close look at the dent, and if there is no crack, then chances are that it won’t be a huge deal.
Sometimes dings show up on our boards because of improper storage. I know we donʻt always have the perfect spot to leave our surfboards, but even if all you can do is leave them outside, you can do it in a way to minimize damage as I describe in this post.
How to Fix Dings on Your Surfboard?
The fixing process depends on the size of the ding present on your surfboard. Following are the ways to fix the dings on your surfboard:
Get It Fixed by Professionals
One of the easiest ways to fix dents and damages on your surfboard is by taking it to the shop and getting it repaired by professionals.
Larger dings can be difficult to fix for most people without experience and proper tools. For these, let the pros handle it.
But it might cost you some bucks to get it fixed, though!
Fix Dings on the Surfboard at Home
The second way to fix a ding on your surfboard is by doing it by yourself.
Many small dings are simple to fix and require just a little resin and some sandpaper. Perfect for the home based ding repairman.
You can follow a DIY hack on Youtube to fix dings on your surfboard, which won’t cost you much and will help you make your surfboard look and perform better.
Can You Use U.V. Resin to Fix a Ding on Surfboard?
One of the easiest and quickest ways to fill up a dent in a surfboard is using U.V. Resin. This kit includes resin liquid that solidifies when exposed to U.V. light as well as some sandpaper.
The industry standard is the solar ding repair kit put together by SolarEZ, which you can pick up pretty easily here on Amazon.
Remember, keep your boards in shape and theyʻll take care of you. Till then, hope that the next swell coming your way is a good one!
