Review on 🏄 Enhanced RSPro Clear Hexatraction Waxless Surfboard Deck Grip by William Fowler

I had high hopes for this product when I first heard about it. I liked the prospect of not having to worry about wax melting in the sun or spilling wax everywhere. The HexaTraction design also helps give the board a cool look. I was hoping to test the durability of the decals to see if the price is worth the premium over wax. Wax costs about $2 a block, so I have to go the equivalent of 32 blocks to break even compared to HexaTraction. I probably use around 1-2 wax blocks a month which means the HexaTraction should last around 2-3 years to be worth it. Unfortunately I won't be testing the durability of the HexaTraction as I've decided not to use it on my board. I was disappointed with the performance of the HexaTraction because I did quite a bit of research before deciding to purchase the HexaTraction. I tried finding it locally to get a feel for the texture but none of my local surf shops had it. RSPro is a respectable brand and I thought HexaTraction was what I expected. For the same reason, I find it difficult to give a negative review, but I want to help those who are considering buying the HexaTraction due to its relatively high cost. I read some reviews and watched setup and surfing videos. I've seen a few videos of pro surfers installing HexaTraction on their boards and being shown tearing the boards up, so I figured HexaTraction would provide more than enough traction for my surfing. The texture will be sticky or waxy, but the texture is actually more like smooth sandpaper. Some reviews say the grip works with wetsuits, but whether I'm wearing a wetsuit or not I expected the decals to provide grip. The stickers aren't too harsh and most people can use the HexaTraction without having to wear a wetsuit to avoid irritation. After applying the decals and feeling the board dry I found the grip to be a bit lacking but thought staying in the water would improve the grip. In the water, however, grip remained the same - I felt my grip was significantly less than paraffin. Standing on the wave I still felt like there was less grip than I needed and the forefoot slipped a few times. Applying HexaTraction is quite easy and the glue is very sticky - I don't think there will be any problems. Stickers fall off due to weak adhesive. However, make sure you apply the decals the way you want them the first time as peeling the decals will most likely result in the edges of the decal curling/peeling when reapplied. I wanted to align the stickers well and remove air bubbles from my stickers, so it took me about 1 hour to apply 10 stickers to my shortboard. I think that people who are not that focused on details or who are in a hurry will be able to jump on the board in 20-30 minutes. The directions say to use lots of water, but I just used one of those little sprayers that come with wet-on screen protectors and had no problems. The description says the decals are 6 inches wide and this is the measurement from the top. Decals measure 5.5 inches/14 cm flat edge to flat edge. The spacing tool helps create even spacing between stickers, but you can also freehand place stickers if you want more or less spacing between each sticker. I saw a HexaTraction board online that has almost no gaps between the stickers. In the end I decided not to use HexaTraction on my board. If you use HexaTraction to replace foam padding with SUP it will probably work, but I don't think HexaTraction is a good alternative to longboard/shortboard wax. I've found another alternative to wax that feels stickier than wax and I'll try that instead - this other option offers the same coverage at a slightly lower price than HexaTraction. As others have said, lowering the price could help reach those who are considering alternatives to wax. It's hard to justify spending $64 on a product they know little or nothing about, and most of them don't take risks like I do.