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One of the most important pieces of your equipment, your board, your stick, your weapon, your vehicle of transportation and to some males, your phallic symbol. Surfboards come in all different sizes and shapes, because most of us are all different sizes and shapes. TIP: If your 7' 6" try a marine salvage yard for a second hand aircraft carrier to ride. Just because such and such, who weighs 50 kg rides a 5' 10 x 18 x 2 1/8"and rips, doesn't mean it's going to go sick for you. Especially if you weigh 30 kg more than that person. TIP: Such and such has been must probably surfing for a lot longer than you. Too many times when I was coaching, you would see groms rock up with a brand new performance surfboard like some of the pro surfers ride, to try to learn to surf on. You know what I mean, the pocket rockets, with double over head stringers, limited slip chrome fins, and the V8 concave thru the guts, fanning out into twin overhead concaves in the tail. If you are learning to surf make sure you get something nice and chunky (thick), as wide as you can get and at least 6 inches bigger than you. TIP: I am talking height. The wider, the bigger and the thicker it is, the more stable it is going to be for you to stand on. Most boards are usually glassed with 2 layers of 4 ounce on the deck and a layer of 4 on the bottom. If you want them light, don't expect durability and strength. TIP: The lighter they are, the easier they damage. Design hasn't changed much since Simon Anderson introduced the 3 fin version of the surfboard, sure rocker, outlines, fin placement and bottom designs have all gone thru various experimental stages, but it always comes back to 3 is fun. One East Coast shaper is still using the single fin design and for some it still works. You need to experiment, go where no man has gone before,(Woops! hang on that's Star Trek, wrong story, sorry). Try something different, if you don't like it, don't get it again. Hypothetical situation. Say you go through a board every 6 months, it cost you $600 to buy, you trade it in after this time and get $250 for it. TIP: Get a board cover, it helps protect your investment. That board has cost you $58.33c a month including Go Suck Tax, to get some very classic rides, some memories that will last a lifetime and if you cut laps around the city at night with it on your roof racks, it could have possibly pulled some chix or blokes for you as well. Some say surfboards are over priced. Tell me how much would it cost you to do something else, to give you the same high or buzz you get out of pulling into a wave all to yourself. (for Metro readers please add 10 guys dropping in, to the scene just mentioned, down South readers add 5 and those who surf secret spots add a few Dolphins and the occasional Great White). Us surfers must be the tightest spenders when it comes to buying a new board, always whingeing about the price. Do you know what effort, time and material goes into making these water vehicles? Heaps! Some shapers, shape by hand, they mow the foam from its original state to pop out their design. Some use shaping machines which copies their own designs and then put the rails on or get someone else to finish them off, to save time, usually because they are very busy with orders. That's fine because the design and shape is their own. Beware of some boards which are of inferior quality cheap glass, cheap blanks (that's the foam stuff in the guts) and knocked up quicker than a pro in the Cross. You get what you pay for! "The bitterness of poor quality long remains after the bargain price" Every time a drum of oil goes up so do the price of boards, unfortunately the machines we ride are a by product of the petrochemical industry. (Geez, I hope I spelt that right). OTHER USES FOR SURFBOARDS A table why camping. Skurfing. Stand it on its tail, put a suit jacket on it, put some paper in the sleaves, a hat on the nose and lean it against a curtain at night with a light on to make it look like you have friends over when people drive past your house at night. Use the nose as a make shift shovel when your bogged. A coffee table. Keep your favourite board you snapped in 2 for when you hit stiff city and use a piece as your tombstone. Great for sorting your pokemon cards out on. Use your old mal as a work bench. The list goes on, use your imagination, go where no man, has gone before (sorry wrong story again). |
Last updated 30/11/2002