Surfing Waves

i just got my first hardboard (michael dolsey 7’6 fish-long-fun hybrid) and have taken it out a few times. i put on a nice layer of wax bc i kept slipping but it’s come at a price. i often surf without a rash guard and all the stray sand in the wax has been absolutely ripping my whole torso up. ive been thinking about putting on a deck pad—not just bc of the sand rashes but also just because i’m not really equipped for wax maintenance and as a first-time-hardboarder, i kinda need the grip. would a deck pad be normal on a board my size? or should i just suck up the sandpaper until it’s wetsuit season and not use any pads?

Let‘s talk about care and maintenance of board and body .
1 You need wax or deck grip on your board pads especially their edge will rash up your body, UV rays will solar damage your body, so a rash shirt is a good idea.
2. You need to look after your wax job, try not to get sand in it, although wax can rub you too, wax that more petroleum based is more of skin irritant!.
3. There are several ways to go with the main area of the board, deck pad where your front foot goes but that gives fairly limited foot placement.
There are quite thin textured plastic hexagons or pre-cut shapes that provide grip you can place on your board, I use these.

All abrade your skin, so getting your skin toughened works, but rash shirts are better!

Oh and how come you are not equipped for wax maintenance?

Please, please don't do this to your board.

I think if you put a front track top its going to be worse without a rash guard. I havent used track tops in like 20 years but decided to throw one on a new board I got a while back. It rubbed my knees raw! Ended up with a big scab on my right knee that took forever to heal. Clean up your wax maybe that will help.
Your new board sounds cool. Go rip it!!