What are North kiteboards base made of? (P-Tex repair?)

flybykite · **Posted:** Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:57 pm

I've got a 2011 North X-Ride I have abused in some very shallow waters with barnicles and broken shells on the base. Many big gouges in the plastic material. After extensive research on the net I still cannot confirm what the base material is and if clear P-Tex candles will work to fill the gouges. Has anyone had first hand experience repairing this?
It rides just fine but looks like crap. I wouldnt mind restoring it to a resellable condition if possible.
Thanks for your experience here.

DirkGently · **Joined:** Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:52 am **Posts:** 89

Give it a shot, it's going to take all your saavy with the candles to make it stick though. Never going to look THAT great...

letsgoflyakite · **Joined:** Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:29 pm **Posts:** 54

It doesn't look crap. It looks ' hardcore' My excuse for a scratched board anyway.. :wink:

edt · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:51 pm

isn't it just expoy, with some sort of laminate inside the board?

http://www.northsports.com/northkites/n ... ducta.html

I think ptex will just fall out, I don't see how it would stick. Let us know how it goes.

JMF · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:38 pm

UHMWPE (Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene) also known as P-TEX is used mainly in the snowboarding industry. There were a few guys using P-TEX bases but due to it being slightly opaque they started using PET film which is basically clear and shows off graphics better. P-TEX can handle more abuse than PET film mind you. Not sure what North uses.

viewtopic.php?t=2375033&p=742362

dyyylan · **Posted:** Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:01 pm

have you thought about using surfboard repair stuff, like suncure? one of the corners of my twintip delaminated about a half inch when i dropped it on the ground a little too hard, and i just cut the top layer off and put suncure all over it. if you do it right its a smooth clear finish and mine has held up for months now and I don't see it ever failing. Tube of suncure is $5-8 and it cures in 3-10 minutes in the sunlight. super easy

C Johnson · **Joined:** Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:24 pm **Posts:** 359

As far as I can tell North is not using PTex on any of their current boards. They should. Maybe they will in the future.

Sun Cure sounds like a good route. Another brand of suncuring/UV cure epoxy is called Solarez which has chopped fiberglass in it to add strength.

flybykite · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2012 6:38 am

I cannot see anything bonding to this boards surface for long. I think it may be PET.
Perhaps I will just live with the scars. I may try to take an Iron to it and see what effect it has on the finer scratches. In any case, No more riding on barnicles and rocks :nono:

C Johnson · **Joined:** Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:24 pm **Posts:** 359

At least you're not hitting rocky mountain oysters!
:-P

I have ripped up many boards from oysters. Its just a fact of life living and riding in hood canal. Unless you are cutting into the core it shouldn't cause much structural damage. I've used snowboard wax a few times now to fill base scratches to make the bottom smooth again. The wax will at least seal any core shots from water

What are North kiteboards base made of? (P-Tex repair?)

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