A long time ago, Kelly Slater and Dan Mann were hanging out at the Surf Ranch. They were, as is probably the norm for Kelly Slater and Dan Mann, talking about some little intricacy of surf. Surfing is full of personal rituals; small habits created over time, unique as fingerprints. The more one surfs, the more intricate those rituals can become, and Slater and Mann got on the topic of traction pads.
“Everyone’s got a board ritual,” Slater says. “Mine is the way I put my traction pad on.” He goes on to explain exactly how he’s learned to put a new pad on a surfboard. And since he likes to customize his pads — a few cuts here, a few adjustments there — Mann and Firewire decided to make a pad that fits Slater’s specifications. It turned into something called the Action Pad (named after Kelly’s dog, Action), and it has a few modifications made after the lessons only 11 world titles can teach.
A lower arch, a chopped V into the kick pad to prevent the leash from catching, and a few other things. And while we’re relatively sure it won’t help you become as good a surfer as Kelly… it might help you have a little more fun.
If you’re in search of the best traction pad for your surfboard, have a look at our review here.
