diff --git a/docs/deployment_patterns.md b/docs/deployment_patterns.md
index fb2e0063..b8a7b5ec 100644
--- a/docs/deployment_patterns.md
+++ b/docs/deployment_patterns.md
@@ -75,3 +75,40 @@ This overwrites your customizations with defaults from the stack's `commands.py`
 git pull  # Get latest spec.yml from your operator repo
 laconic-so deployment --dir my-deployment restart
 ```
+
+## Volume Persistence in k8s-kind
+
+k8s-kind has 3 storage layers:
+
+- **Docker Host**: The physical server running Docker
+- **Kind Node**: A Docker container simulating a k8s node
+- **Pod Container**: Your workload
+
+For k8s-kind, volumes with paths are mounted from Docker Host → Kind Node → Pod via extraMounts.
+
+| spec.yml volume | Storage Location | Survives Pod Restart | Survives Cluster Restart |
+|-----------------|------------------|---------------------|-------------------------|
+| `vol:` (empty)  | Kind Node PVC    | ✅ | ❌ |
+| `vol: ./data/x` | Docker Host      | ✅ | ✅ |
+| `vol: /abs/path`| Docker Host      | ✅ | ✅ |
+
+**Recommendation**: Always use paths for data you want to keep. Relative paths
+(e.g., `./data/rpc-config`) resolve to `$DEPLOYMENT_DIR/data/rpc-config` on the
+Docker Host.
+
+### Example
+
+```yaml
+# In spec.yml
+volumes:
+  rpc-config: ./data/rpc-config  # Persists to $DEPLOYMENT_DIR/data/rpc-config
+  chain-data: ./data/chain       # Persists to $DEPLOYMENT_DIR/data/chain
+  temp-cache:                    # Empty = Kind Node PVC (lost on cluster delete)
+```
+
+### The Antipattern
+
+Empty-path volumes appear persistent because they survive pod restarts (data lives
+in Kind Node container). However, this data is lost when the kind cluster is
+recreated. This "false persistence" has caused data loss when operators assumed
+their data was safe.
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
index ec15362f..12277043 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/deployment_create.py
@@ -522,10 +522,14 @@ def _check_volume_definitions(spec):
         for volume_name, volume_path in spec.get_volumes().items():
             if volume_path:
                 if not os.path.isabs(volume_path):
-                    raise Exception(
-                        f"Relative path {volume_path} for volume {volume_name} not "
-                        f"supported for deployment type {spec.get_deployment_type()}"
-                    )
+                    # For k8s-kind: allow relative paths, they'll be resolved
+                    # by _make_absolute_host_path() during kind config generation
+                    if not spec.is_kind_deployment():
+                        deploy_type = spec.get_deployment_type()
+                        raise Exception(
+                            f"Relative path {volume_path} for volume "
+                            f"{volume_name} not supported for {deploy_type}"
+                        )
 
 
 @click.command()
diff --git a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
index 42c41b4b..89529b4e 100644
--- a/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
+++ b/stack_orchestrator/deploy/k8s/cluster_info.py
@@ -352,11 +352,15 @@ class ClusterInfo:
                 continue
 
             if not os.path.isabs(volume_path):
-                print(
-                    f"WARNING: {volume_name}:{volume_path} is not absolute, "
-                    "cannot bind volume."
-                )
-                continue
+                # For k8s-kind, allow relative paths:
+                # - PV uses /mnt/{volume_name} (path inside kind node)
+                # - extraMounts resolve the relative path to Docker Host
+                if not self.spec.is_kind_deployment():
+                    print(
+                        f"WARNING: {volume_name}:{volume_path} is not absolute, "
+                        "cannot bind volume."
+                    )
+                    continue
 
             if self.spec.is_kind_deployment():
                 host_path = client.V1HostPathVolumeSource(