Standard pen nibs for Intuos4

Wear down too quickly

I used up one nib in less than 40 hours of drawing. I am new to intuos products but found the surface of the intuos 5 wears these tips down to a sharp point rather quickly (from what I've read this problem did not occur with intuos 4). I'd rather not have to cover the surface with paper - a suggestion I've seen mentioned many times online - but may have to in order to cut down on costs and protect the surface. Felt nibs wear down quickly too but don't file into sharp points so I am swapping to these whilst listening out for advice/updates on the cause/fix of this widespread problem.