SUP & Paddleboard Repair Kit Guide: Which One You Need and How to Fix a Ding

Can I Keep Paddling? The Honest Triage

It depends on one thing: whether the ding is open or just a pressure ding and still sealed.

Run your finger across the damage. If the surface is smooth and the color is just off (a scuff, a pressure ding with no crack, a scratch that hasn't broken through) that's cosmetic. The foam is still protected. You can finish your session and repair it when you have time.

If you feel a hole, a crack, or a soft spot where the skin has lifted, that break goes through the glass or outer skin to the foam underneath. Every session you paddle with it open, water works its way into the core. A waterlogged core adds weight you'll feel on the water, and over time the water pressure causes delamination: the skin separates from the foam, making the board weaker and easier to break. That's a much bigger repair than the original ding.

The field fix: ding tape. Before you paddle again, cover any open ding with tape. The goal isn't a finished repair: it's keeping water out until you can do one properly. Our tape is marine grade, UV resistant, and waterproof, and it gives "instant relief, protecting your board from water damage until you can do a proper repair."

Three Ding Tape Packs to choose from:

• The Phix Doctor Ding Tape comes in 2" × 3" (5 cm × 7.5 cm) pieces, five per pack, for $7.50. That size covers most shortboard and fish dings cleanly.
• The SUP Pack - Ding Tape gives you six pieces at 3" × 6" each for $13.50. The larger format is worth it on a paddleboard, where rails and nose damage tend to be wider.
• The Travel Pack has 12 pieces, five 2" × 3", four 3" × 6" and three 3.5" × 4.5", for $19.50.

The Ding Tape also carries a 5-year guarantee, so keep a pack in your board bag and be ready for any on-the-go emergency.

Quick decision signpost:

Buy the SUP Pack tape if you're on a paddleboard; the larger pieces cover SUP-scale damage without piecing together multiple strips. Buy the standard Ding Tape if you're on a shortboard or fish and want a compact pack for your board bag. Skip buying tape at all only if every ding you have is genuinely sealed, but be honest with yourself when you check.

Hard Board or Inflatable? Know Which Board You Have Before You Buy Anything

The single most important question before you buy any repair product is whether your board is hard or inflatable, the two types need completely different fixes, and the wrong kit is wasted money.

Hard boards have a rigid shell. Most modern ones are built from an epoxy resin outer skin over an EPS core: EPS is expanded polystyrene, the same white foam as a coffee cup, often called Styrofoam. Older boards, and many longboards, use a polyester resin skin over a polyurethane (PU) foam core instead. Soft-tops are a third variant: a foam deck pad bonded over a similar rigid core. All three constructions share the same basic structure, a foam core wrapped in a resin skin, and all three are repaired with resin.

A few terms you'll see throughout this guide:

• Ding, a break in the outer resin skin, exposing the foam core underneath.
• Delamination: the skin has lifted away from the core, creating a bubble or soft spot, but hasn't necessarily cracked open.
• Epoxy vs. polyester resin, two different resin chemistries. They are not interchangeable; using the wrong one on your board can cause adhesion failure or, worse, dissolve an EPS (Styrofoam) core.
• UV-cure resin, resin that hardens when exposed to sunlight rather than through a chemical catalyst. You mix nothing; you just apply it in the deep shade and take it to the sun.

Inflatable paddleboards (iSUPs) are a different animal entirely. They're made from drop-stitch PVC, two layers of fabric connected by thousands of internal threads, inflated to pressure. They roll up, they hold air, and when they fail they leak. You fix them with a PVC patch and adhesive, not resin.

To tell the difference: tap on your board. A hard board feels solid like a countertop. An inflatable, even fully pumped, has a faint give and a duller thud. If you can roll your board up, it's an inflatable.

Which Kit Do You Need? Compare the Options

Four tiers cover almost every situation a paddleboarder runs into. Here's how to read the table, then the reasoning behind each pick.

The full SUP/Paddleboard Repair Kit: $27.90

This is the kit for a real repair. It comes with 7×13 in (17.8×34.2 cm) 4 oz e-glass fiberglass cloth, Q-Cell filler, UV resin, gloves, mix cups, mix sticks, a dual-grit sand pad and a logo decal. The resin is safe on Styrofoam (EPS) cores and cures in 2 minutes in the sun. If the ding has broken through the glass and you want a permanent fix, this is what you need. It's a home or travel kit. The size and the fiberglass cloth make it practical to carry in a board bag to those remote places, so you're ready for just about anything that comes your way.

Buy, for any structural ding you're fixing properly at home or on the road. Keep it in your travel bag or on the shelf for serious repair power that has endless shelf life, and it's airline approved. Airline rules vary by carrier and route. Check with your airline before you pack any resin.

The Drifter 10+1 Travel Ding Kit: $9.60

One 0.5 oz tube of fiber-filled resin rated for 10 minor dings, a 2"×3" marine-grade ding tape piece, a sand pad, cover sheets, and an applicator stick. It's airline approved, so it goes in your checked bag without a conversation at the counter. The "10+1" means you have the resin for about 10 minor repairs and a piece of tape for when you have no time to mess with an actual repair.

Buy, for any trip where you're flying with your board.

Deluxe Micro Kit: $4.99, and SunPowered Phix Doctor Micro Kit, $3.90

Both handle small surface dings on epoxy and polyester boards. The Deluxe SunPowered Micro Kit comes with a dual grit sand pad, a smoothy cover sheet, application stick and a logo decal, cures in 1 minute and is airline approved. The basic SunPowered Micro Kit is sold separately at $3.90 or in a 12 pack. It's the simpler version and cheaper option, and it includes 6 grams of fiber-filled resin, sandpaper, and a smoothy cover sheet. If the ding is cosmetic and shallow, either one does the job. The dollar difference is small; they both have 1-minute cure times and airline approval. The Deluxe kit has a dual grit sand pad and application stick. Both styles are heat resistant and excellent for storing in your car's glove box or board bag for light on-the-go ding repair.

Buy (Deluxe Micro Kit), if you're flying or want the fastest cure on a small ding. Consider (SunPowered Micro Kit), solid choice for home or travel and want to be prepared at the lowest cost.

Ding tape alone, SUP Pack $13.50 / standard $7.50 / Travel Pack $19.50

Ding tape is not recommended as a permanent repair. It keeps water out until you can do a proper fix. The SUP Pack gives you six pieces at 3"×6" each, sized for the wider rails and deck of a paddleboard. The standard pack gives you five pieces at 2"×3". The Travel Pack comes with 3 sizes of ding tape: five 2"×3", four 3"×6" and three 3.5"×4.5" pieces. All of these options carry a 5-year guarantee. Buy tape for instant waterproofing if you don't already have any in your bag, or if you're between repair kits and need watertight relief on the go.

Buy (SUP Pack), if your board has larger dings or wide-rail damage and you need a field seal. Consider (standard Ding Tape), if your dings are small and you already carry a micro kit; the tape backs you up when there's no sun to cure resin. Think Travel Pack for those remote trips where you'll be glad to have a range of choices.

How to Repair a Paddleboard Ding, Step by Step

A paddleboard ding repair follows a fixed sequence, skip or rush any step and the repair can fail. Here is the order, and why each step matters.

How it works: paddleboard ding repair from start to finish

1. 1
   

   Assess and tape.

   Look at the damage. If the board is wet or you are at the beach, dab the ding with a dry towel and cover it with ding tape to keep water out and ride out the session. A proper repair starts on a dry board.
2. 2
   

   Dry the board.

   Set the board ding-side down in a warm spot, out of direct sun. Leave it there until no more moisture is coming out of the foam. Resin applied over trapped water seals that water inside the board, permanently, and will cause delamination. Do not rush this step.
3. 3
   

   Prep the ding.

   Use the coarser grit side of the dual-grit sand pad to clean up the edges of the ding. You are removing any loose or cracked fiberglass over the repair area and creating a rough surface so the new resin bonds to the existing solid material.
4. 4
   

   Fill deep voids.

   If the impact removed or crushed the foam, you need to build that volume back before you glass over it. Mix Q-Cell Foam Filler ($3.50) with resin to a paste. It's the white powder, and it mixes easily with the resin in our kits for a feather light repair and dries white so it blends well with the existing foam. For a larger void, Zero G UV Foam Filler (2.25 fl oz / 67 ml, $16.80) is an alternative. Let the filler cure before moving on with the final clear top coat.
5. 5
   

   Cut and lay fiberglass.

   Any ding that broke through the skin needs a fiberglass patch. The SUP/Paddleboard Repair Kit includes a 7×13 in (17.8×34.2 cm) sheet of 4 oz e-glass. Cut a piece that covers the ding with some overlap onto the surrounding undamaged laminate. Roughly one inch overlap should be fine.
6. 6
   

   Apply resin.

   In deep shade, apply the UV resin onto the area to be covered with fiberglass cloth, and then lay the cloth in place and apply a second coating to thoroughly saturate the cloth, making sure to remove any air bubbles or pockets. Work it into the weave, leaving no dry spots.
7. 7
   

   Lay the Smoothy Sheet.

   Place the included clear Smoothy Sheet over the wet resin before the repair is moved to direct sunlight. The sheet creates a smooth, professional, glossy finish. Without it, the resin cures hard underneath but the top layer stays soft and tacky. Any clear plastic does the same job if you run out.
8. 8
   

   Cure in sunlight.

   Take the board into direct sun. The resin in the SUP kit cures in 2 minutes. If your board has an EPS or Styrofoam core, or if you applied the resin thickly, do not leave it sitting in full sun, move it in and out in intervals of roughly 10–15 seconds. UV resin generates heat as it cures, and a delicate foam core can overheat before the surface looks done.
9. 9
   

   Sand and finish.

   Once the repair is fully hard, flip the sand pad to the finer grit side and sand the patch flush with the surrounding board surface. Clean up any resin residue with soap and water.

The Two Things People Get Wrong

Most failed UV resin repairs come down to one of two mistakes. Both are easy to avoid once you know what's actually happening.

Leaving the repair sitting in full sun on a light board. UV resin cures fast, but the sun also heats whatever is underneath it. On ultra-light boards or anywhere you've built up a thick fill, that heat can damage a delicate foam core before the resin even finishes curing. The fix is simple: don't park the board in full sun and walk away. Move the repair in and out of direct sunlight in intervals of roughly 10–15 seconds. You're controlling the heat, not the light.

Skipping the cover sheet. To speed cure the resin to a bone dry finish, we always recommend using a cover sheet.

What Else You Need for a Bigger Repair

Most small dings (a pressure crack, a minor rail chip) need nothing beyond what's already in the SUP Repair Kit. The items below are for when a repair outgrows the kit: a long rail crack, a deep dent that took a big chunk out of the foam, or additional fiberglass.

Phix Doctor 4oz Fiberglass Cloth: $13.00

This is the same plain-weave E-glass used in standard board construction: 27 inches wide × 1 yard. The 50/50 fill-and-warp weave laminates cleanly over curved surfaces. It's compatible with both polyester and epoxy resin, so it works regardless of what your board is made from. Buy this when your repair area is larger than what the kit's cloth covers, or when you're patching a full rail section or a buckled board and need a larger piece of cloth.

Buy for larger jobs or if you've already used the kit's cloth on an earlier repair.

Phix Doctor Q-Cell Foam Filler: $3.50

Q-Cell comes as a dry powdery filler that is actually micro balloons, tiny hollow glass spheres you mix into resin to make a lightweight filler paste. At 14 oz volume for $3.50, it's the cheapest way to rebuild a deep void before you glass over it. It dries white and sands easily, so it fills the void completely rather than creating a hand-shaped foam plug. Use it when a pressure dent or impact has removed enough foam that glassing over the gap alone would require filling it with heavy, unsightly resin.

Buy for any repair with a genuine foam void, skip it for surface cracks where the foam underneath is intact.

Zero G Universal UV Foam Filler: $16.80

This is a 2.25 fl oz (67 ml) UV-cure foam filler that's airline approved, so it travels with you. It fills foam voids the same way Q-Cell does, but it cures as a lightweight solid when mixed into any type of resin we sell. Mix to a thick consistency that will still flow into and fill the void. Mixed with our SunPowered resin, we recommend adding it in layers of about a ¼ inch (6 mm) so sunlight can penetrate and harden each layer. If it's used with one of our catalyst-added styles of resin (polyester), then it can be added in larger volumes, keeping in mind larger volumes create more heat. Use caution. The tradeoff is cost, it's $16.80 versus $3.50 for Q-Cell, and the smaller volume.

Consider if you're traveling and need a simple option; for a home repair, Q-Cell filler does the same job at a fraction of the price.

6 Dual Grit Sand Pads: $3.95

A six-pack of 3" × 3" foam-backed pads, 80 grit on one side and 150 on the other. The 80 cuts down high spots; the 150 smooths the surface before you're done. They're made with white silica specifically so the residue doesn't show up as dark specks in a light-colored repair, a detail that matters on a white or clear finish.

Buy any time you're doing a repair that involves fiberglass cloth; hand-sanding cured glass without a proper pad is slow and uneven.