Looking closely at a NSP/DC 14' x 29" Coco Mat, the deck and rails seem rock solid while it looks like you only have to sneeze on the bottom of these things and you damage them. Anyone care to share their experiences?
That's pretty normal Stu.
You can glass a custom board with just one 4 oz fiberglass cloth on the bottom but you would have three 4 oz fiberglass cloths on the deck and rails.. Maybe even more in the main standing area.. The bottom doesn't need to be strong because the load is distributed evenly over the whole area by the water.. If you want a light board that's where you save the most weight.. Don't ever stand on your board while sitting on the beach because any little rock or shell will leave a dent in the bottom of your board.. 
Select to expand quote
magillamelb said...
Looking closely at a NSP/DC 14' x 29" Coco Mat, the deck and rails seem rock solid while it looks like you only have to sneeze on the bottom of these things and you damage them. Anyone care to share their experiences?
I have one, and love it. I care for it, many would say, not well.
It lives on the roof of the car, and is only rinsed in the salt water I paddle in (to avoid contaminating it with fresh water , which may introduce impurities is my excuse)
I lift it off the roof, rest it on it's (rail taped) side, then in to the water.
My car is a Troop carrier, so it is a big lift to the roof, which results in a few hard landings on the roof bars,
I do not go to any extremes re care, but it has been paddled nearly every day since I got it last September. Don't know what you would do to damage it that would not be classed as neglect or abuse. I launch and retrieve off a concrete ramp most times, or from beach others. I do stupid things like run on to rocks so hard I nose ride it, without the elegance of a longboarder.
It has one bubble on the bottom that may be a manufacturing defect, or from me leaving on the car roof in the summer sun when I shouldn't have.
No dings or scratches, but have not subjected it to anything untoward.
Got back on my first board, a 2013 12'6" Fanatic (that I dinged and scratched on first or second use) last weekend, and wondered where my balance and skill had gone. Brilliant board
I would highly recommend it.
I would also recommend not getting too precious about things that are used every day and will show signs of wear and tear.
I have posted two images but suspect the second one has gone some where I did not intend. Edit - found it and moved it
Hi Magilla,
The bottom of the Coco Carbon DC is full vacuum moulded sandwich PVC... It's actually hard to make it any stronger unless you make them heavier than is usable or more expensive than is warranted. We also make it in Full brushed carbon, that's only focussed on weight and performance.
These boards were designed to take a beating, the Coco Mat has an almost unmatched strength to weight ratio, the PVC sandwich is strong and just for good measure we wrap the rail which is both PVC and Coco Mat with heavy carbon. I'm yet to hear any different about the strenth and we've sold quite a few of them all around the world. Just as Nozza has stated even with abuse there has been no issue. I have a 12'6 that I use in the surf and it has taken a flogging with beach starts and finishes, bump and grind with other boards and it is yet to have a ding, cannot say the same for the boards it connected with.
Hope this helps, any more q's feel free to PM me.
Chris
NSP Global Brand Manager
I've got one as well, agree the coco top and carbon rails are tough as a very tough thing but the bottom on mine is prone to paint chipping, much more so than any other board I've had. I have a couple of small dings as well but not fussed about those, they have come about because of things I have done to the board but mildly vexed by the apparent fragility of the paint in case of water permeability of the underlying skin (dunno just wondering about that?). Not so fussed about the aesthetics of paint chips, it's a piece of sporting equipment after all, but taking the precaution of clear nail polish over the chips to make sure it's all sealed. Could there be a batch issue with the paint? Haven't seen magilla's board up close to compare to mine yet.
Select to expand quoteHumanCartoon said...
I've got one as well, agree the coco top and carbon rails are tough as a very tough thing but the bottom on mine is prone to paint chipping, much more so than any other board I've had. I have a couple of small dings as well but not fussed about those, they have come about because of things I have done to the board but mildly vexed by the apparent fragility of the paint in case of water permeability of the underlying skin (dunno just wondering about that?). Not so fussed about the aesthetics of paint chips, it's a piece of sporting equipment after all, but taking the precaution of clear nail polish over the chips to make sure it's all sealed. Could there be a batch issue with the paint? Haven't seen magilla's board up close to compare to mine yet.
Will leave it to CMC to defend the product technically, but if you had asked me yesterday "Is the bottom fragile?" I would have said No, and why would you think so? Or more to the point, "I have not thought about it because it shows no damage."
To chip the bottom, and I don't think it is "paint" , you have to hit it on something. In the top photo I posted above, you can see a couple of adhesive ding patches on the rail of the Fanatic. That doesn't mean the Fanatic is fragile, it means I paddled it over a reef and the swell went out, grounding me, and scratching the skin through to the core. This does not suggest anything wrong with the board, just stupidity on my part.
I have not done this to the Dc14, so no similar damage, but after close to a year of general use it has no scratches or dings that are not directly attributable to my clumsiness, and none that can be seen in the photo at all.
When I move / carry either board, it is usually "bang, woops, that's the fin, bang, woops, that's the nose", and both seem built to take it without problems. (the naish is only transported in cotton wool, but that's another story)
I am a bit surprised that both the Dc and the Fanatic have quite a "chalky" finish to the bottom, rather than a shiny glassed / polished finish. My background is self built / semi pro built skiffs, that were always glossy in finish, but again after a year of use on both boards there seems nothing wrong with the slightly porous seeming finish, apart from picking up marks from tie downs or fingers, which clean off without a trace.
No affiliation to anything, but I would hate for a board to get a reputation as "fragile" when there is no basis.
Don't use a lot of nail polish myself, clear or otherwise, so lucky I have had no chips to repair. But if you can't see the fabric of the cloth in a ding, don't think any seal has been compromised.
Again, it is a bit of sporting equipment, and almost a boat, and we used to spend $20,000 on a second hand skiff (also 14 ft long), throw $10,000 at it in sails (consumable) for a year, get an hour or so once a week on the water 20 weeks a year if we were lucky, and not bat an eyelid (did I mention the shoebox we lived in?)
These things are so cheap and so much fun, there is no basis for complaint.
Or maybe I am going to defend the product.
Can't believe I just typed all that. Not concerned with propping up second hand values either, 'cause I can't think of a reason I would ever want to sell it.
It's also prettier than most other boards, which is why I bought it in the first place!
Here's another picture to give some value to the post
Select to expand quoteNozza said...
HumanCartoon said...
I've got one as well, agree the coco top and carbon rails are tough as a very tough thing but the bottom on mine is prone to paint chipping, much more so than any other board I've had. I have a couple of small dings as well but not fussed about those, they have come about because of things I have done to the board but mildly vexed by the apparent fragility of the paint in case of water permeability of the underlying skin (dunno just wondering about that?). Not so fussed about the aesthetics of paint chips, it's a piece of sporting equipment after all, but taking the precaution of clear nail polish over the chips to make sure it's all sealed. Could there be a batch issue with the paint? Haven't seen magilla's board up close to compare to mine yet.
Will leave it to CMC to defend the product technically, but if you had asked me yesterday "Is the bottom fragile?" I would have said No, and why would you think so? Or more to the point, "I have not thought about it because it shows no damage."
To chip the bottom, and I don't think it is "paint" , you have to hit it on something. In the top photo I posted above, you can see a couple of adhesive ding patches on the rail of the Fanatic. That doesn't mean the Fanatic is fragile, it means I paddled it over a reef and the swell went out, grounding me, and scratching the skin through to the core. This does not suggest anything wrong with the board, just stupidity on my part.
I have not done this to the Dc14, so no similar damage, but after close to a year of general use it has no scratches or dings that are not directly attributable to my clumsiness, and none that can be seen in the photo at all.
When I move / carry either board, it is usually "bang, woops, that's the fin, bang, woops, that's the nose", and both seem built to take it without problems. (the naish is only transported in cotton wool, but that's another story)
I am a bit surprised that both the Dc and the Fanatic have quite a "chalky" finish to the bottom, rather than a shiny glassed / polished finish. My background is self built / semi pro built skiffs, that were always glossy in finish, but again after a year of use on both boards there seems nothing wrong with the slightly porous seeming finish, apart from picking up marks from tie downs or fingers, which clean off without a trace.
No affiliation to anything, but I would hate for a board to get a reputation as "fragile" when there is no basis.
Don't use a lot of nail polish myself, clear or otherwise, so lucky I have had no chips to repair. But if you can't see the fabric of the cloth in a ding, don't think any seal has been compromised.
Again, it is a bit of sporting equipment, and almost a boat, and we used to spend $20,000 on a second hand skiff (also 14 ft long), throw $10,000 at it in sails (consumable) for a year, get an hour or so once a week on the water 20 weeks a year if we were lucky, and not bat an eyelid (did I mention the shoebox we lived in?)
These things are so cheap and so much fun, there is no basis for complaint.
Or maybe I am going to defend the product.
Can't believe I just typed all that. Not concerned with propping up second hand values either, 'cause I can't think of a reason I would ever want to sell it.
It's also prettier than most other boards, which is why I bought it in the first place!
Here's another picture to give some value to the post
You're reading waaaaay too much into my post (or taking the p1ss, I don't know you well enough to tell the difference). Yes, paint chips because things hit it, no argument there at all...what I am saying is that my experience of the paint on my board is that the paint chips more easily than other boards, when things hit it (further, I know what things have been hitting it to cause the paint chips and have modified my handling practices accordingly). And I have provided some feedback to my retailer about it. For context, I have another brand of board that spends half it's life in the ding shop, but the paint has never, ever chipped through my day-to-day handling. Go figure.
I'm not ragging on the product, I like the board very much, that's why I still own it. That said, it's an inanimate object and it doesn't bring me soup when I'm sick or bacon when I'm hung over, so I wouldn't go so far as to say I love it. In the event that you chip yours, I'm sure Mrs Cartoon will spot you a dab or two of her nail varnish, she was happy enough to let me use some (and I can't believe you typed all that, either 
)
( edit: geez i love the internet...funny pictures of cats and weird-ar$e arguments with strangers about paint...good times )
Select to expand quoteHumanCartoon said... Nozza said...
To chip the bottom, and I don't think it is "paint" , you have to hit it on something. In the top photo I posted above, you can see a couple of adhesive ding patches on the rail of the Fanatic. That doesn't mean the Fanatic is fragile, it means I paddled it over a reef and the swell went out, grounding me, and scratching the skin through to the core. This does not suggest anything wrong with the board, just stupidity on my part.
I have not done this to the Dc14, so no similar damage, but after close to a year of general use it has no scratches or dings that are not directly attributable to my clumsiness, and none that can be seen in the photo at all.
When I move / carry either board, it is usually "bang, woops, that's the fin, bang, woops, that's the nose", and both seem built to take it without problems. (the naish is only transported in cotton wool, but that's another story)
I am a bit surprised that both the Dc and the Fanatic have quite a "chalky" finish to the bottom, rather than a shiny glassed / polished finish. My background is self built / semi pro built skiffs, that were always glossy in finish, but again after a year of use on both boards there seems nothing wrong with the slightly porous seeming finish, apart from picking up marks from tie downs or fingers, which clean off without a trace.
No affiliation to anything, but I would hate for a board to get a reputation as "fragile" when there is no basis.
Don't use a lot of nail polish myself, clear or otherwise, so lucky I have had no chips to repair. But if you can't see the fabric of the cloth in a ding, don't think any seal has been compromised.
Again, it is a bit of sporting equipment, and almost a boat, and we used to spend $20,000 on a second hand skiff (also 14 ft long), throw $10,000 at it in sails (consumable) for a year, get an hour or so once a week on the water 20 weeks a year if we were lucky, and not bat an eyelid (did I mention the shoebox we lived in?)
These things are so cheap and so much fun, there is no basis for complaint.
Or maybe I am going to defend the product.
Can't believe I just typed all that. Not concerned with propping up second hand values either, 'cause I can't think of a reason I would ever want to sell it.
It's also prettier than most other boards, which is why I bought it in the first place!
Here's another picture to give some value to the post
You're reading waaaaay too much into my post (or taking the p1ss, I don't know you well enough to tell the difference). Yes, paint chips because things hit it, no argument there at all...what I am saying is that my experience of the paint on my board is that the paint chips more easily than other boards, when things hit it (further, I know what things have been hitting it, to cause said paint chips and have modified my handling practices accordingly).
I'm not ragging on the product, I like the board very much, that's why I still own it. That said, it's an inanimate object and it doesn't bring me soup when I'm sick or bacon when I'm hung over, so I wouldn't go so far as to say I love it. If I were really upset about the paint thing it I would be on my retailer's doorstep with it...you'll note also note that I called it a piece of sporting equipment.
In the event that you chip yours, I'm sure Mrs Cartoon will spot you a dab or two of her nail varnish, she was happy enough to let me use some (and I can't believe you typed all that, either )
( edit: geez i love the internet...funny pictures of cats and weird-ar$e arguments with strangers about paint...what better? )
Always trying to take the piss. Always good to have an offer of emergency nail polish.
Just don't think the board is more prone to damage than others. Where was the funny picture of the cat? I hate cats.... oh, that was another thread.
I edited my post (mostly because I didn't like the rhythm) but THEN you went and replied before I could click the " save changes" button. WTF are you doing up at this hour?
Select to expand quoteHumanCartoon said...
I edited my post (mostly because I didn't like the rhythm) but THEN you went and replied before I could click the " save changes" button. WTF are you doing up at this hour?
Do lots of not sleeping - one reason for the lots of paddling.
Bit of that here, although I'm in a -3 time zone this week.
(and apologies Magilla For the threadjack )
No offence taken HC. I'm glad you seem to experience something similar as it may verify some of my concerns.
Nozza, you can tell an International 14' skiff sailor by way of their sense of humour they have had to develop over the years of fixing boats, standing on centreboards and writing cheques... (not necessarily in that order though) ;-)
