In need of a little advice

enjoy it while you can. the longboard category has been throttled by the advent and spread of
the sup. the lines on the fun board are being blurred. add to this the negative connotation of 'beginner'
and you have a phenom in need of renovation. as it was the last time it happened…to me its exciting
to see what comes next.

 

Sorry Baddy but when I see someone ripping on a LB the last thing I think is beginner, even a beginner can't surf a LB with any skill or style. It's about the rider, not the board. A good surfer can make ANY board look good. Those in the know, have a quiver that gives them options and will pull out whatever board makes the most sense for the conditions at that time. For me, I bring both my SB and LB with me most times and I judge the wave and paddle out on what I think is most appropriate. If conditions change while i'm in the water I'll switch to my other board. If I get bored of one board I'll switch it up. More than anything, i'm riding whatever board is the most fun that day. That's just me, but hey, you do you.

 

that's like saying, enjoy sunlight while you can. lol. sunlight and life will be around for the same amount of time... longboarding and surfing will be around for the same amount of time.

 

My vote is for either the Bing Elevator (seconding that one) or Walden Magic Model. The two best longboards on the water for ANYTHING you want to do. I also am a huge Jon Ashton fan, and my personal favorite board and the oldest in my quiver is an oddball Giant Fish. It's got a swallow tail and pulled in nose like a fun shape, but it's 9-4 and rides equally well in one foot mush and double overhead, so long as it's not absolutely pitchout cement truck slab swell. It is not so much a nose rider but even that can be done on it somewhat. l

Screw all that though get a Walden Magic Model, 9-0. Not epoxy, not tuflite, standard poly. You will love it.

 

is that wisdom i see?

i'm riding one now.
i recommend 'em.
cept mine has futures.

 

True. Sunset Cliffs. Seen guys on TOH days out just Killing it on LBs.... But the point I was trying to make, is more often than not, people around these parts are facing MANY more small, knee to waist high waves, with the occasional, steeper, bigger stuff.... So on a year round basis, LBs are "suggested" for the conditions we all see... Sure, I could take my fish out when its ankle high. As I admitted before, I was that guy for a while, because for me it was always about training, and a day missed training certain procedures on a shortboard, was a waste to me. In retrospect, that wasn't a great thing to do, but it served its purpose....

LBs can be great in some bigger stuff. I would have actually switched out for a bit during arthur. I went SB then to the Fish when the offshores got nuts. Got some great barrels, but there were about 4 guys out on 9+ longboards, and they were just killing it. I mean, linking up 300 yard rides, hitting big turns, while we were all going, quick barrel to snap or floater section and then its done....

So yeah, I am an advocate of an LB in "certain" bigger situations, but if it is big and draining in Delmarva or Jersey, you wouldn't catch me on an LB at all. Sure, you could get some good ride, but in waves of consequence, especially any kind of beach break without a true "peak", things can get dangerous for you and your board. Regardless of your skill level, when you are on an LB dropping in on a 6-7 foot face, and you realize that its a little too steep and you grab rail and try and get that horizontal line going, and you just get pitched off sideways with a giant plant right on top of you.

Maybe big points or reefs that have a lot of face and mush....

Just thought of the BEST example I have ever seen. When I was living in OB, they had the womens long board championship at the OB pier every summer. This was the international championship, one of the most prestigious awards in womens LB worldwide. So these ladies were no slouches, best in the world.

A big South came through and they had to hold one of th efinal days of the contest, it was a true 8 foot day, by CA standards. Big, dumpy, tons of crazy current. So, they held the contest, and I have never seen a group of professional surfers get worked that bad in my life. No matter what kind of ride you would put together, it would end with a giant top to bottom detonating closeout, the rip was gnarly, only way to get out was suck back out through the pier's current right next to it. I watched for a solid 2 hours and it was a sh** show. Watching pro surfer try and stick floaters on the end of a closeout and then just airdrop down into the flats. It was gut wrenching. These women were getting straight BLOWN UP. in every way. People bailing, people trying to hold their line and just getting demolished.

Point being, if you take a nice sized hurricane swell, park it in New Jersey and have the most talented longboarders in Jersey go out, yeah, you may see them snag a few keepers, maybe a couple barrels, but the carnage that would be involved would be insanity.

LBs work in big surf for sure, I just don't think they are the stick to grab when its big and dumpy, which to most of us on the east coast, that means the surf is what we consider "good", big, hollow and dumpy.

 

Im riding a self shaped 5'1" super wide square nosed, square tailed board sitting right beside the long boarders and catching just as many if not more knee high waves. Had a long boarder drop in on me and I caught right up to him, no hoping just pure gliding speed.

 

Zach, the olc boys outta waverly oc are an example of charging competent longboarders. They have great wave knowledge and score waves, and surf with style....On a big day there would be some carnage from the extra foam yes, but you'd see some excellent surfing

BassMon I prefer a shortboard when its over chest hi, but I can see the fun in riding a log in some chunky lumps

kinda nightmare if you are surfing and then a dozen longboarders come out, but for the most part they are jolly good C U nts

 

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ironically I was duecing as I posted

 

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Yeah, no doubt. There is a reason though out west that no one is at the good beach breaks when it's over 6-7 feet. Regardless of what board you are on. There are reefs and points offering up too much goodness. The women's longboarding comp had the entire beach to themselves for a reason. On most contest days, we were right out next to them, lined up on the North Peak, letting them get what they wanted and we would clean up the scraps. There was a reason nobody was out as far as the eye could see....

It was an epic day of fail though. Epic.

 

Ohh, and wipe off that phone. I read a study a couple years ago that ran lab tests on 100 cellphones. Like 9 out of 10 of them had traces of human feces as well as many different "body fluids"... Everytime someone at work trys to hand a cell phone call off to me, I am like, uhhh... wait.

 

Does hope usually generate a lot of speed on that board? If so, you may want to PM Wayne, I think he's been waiting for you for a thousand years or so.

 

I think it really comes down to the right board for conditions. Obviously. Duh. The point I was making is LBs aren't soley small wave boards, and just because you have a SB that has allot of foam dosn't make them obsolete, or not needed/wanted. Riding a LB in any wave is diffrent then a SB, and some people enjoy it. Therefore there not going anywhere.

Also was watching some clips on YouTube and found two clips that I feel should be placed here. Enjoy.

Bonga Perkins part in singlefin: yellow. Not posting this because his riding it at pipe, but because of what he says about it.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x6PdtMkt8S8

This is just a random clip I found, some of it is s bit to high performance for me. I do think at a certain point, like when you start doing airs you should just go to a SB. But there's some good surfing in there. And he's towing in to some big stuff in the beginning, variety of approaches. Enjoy.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pROUgEipiu0

 

That second video was sick. Thanks for posting. I love that guys style... My approach to Longboarding, after SBing my whole life, is definately more of SB approach. I will nose ride as well, but I have no problem swinging the 9'3 around. Never even though to try an air on it, so that is a little crazy...

But some LBers hate that approach. I personally love it. It's not all straight lines and nose rides. Long Boards can do so much more, especially with a thurster setup, which that guy was obviously using. Cool video.

 

Great videos, both of em. Makes me wanna go surf

 

Yea man I love whipping the LB around. After watching that clip a 2nd time, your right that guys style is pretty dope. Not to high performance at all, I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I was really just talking about the airs being a bit much. I enjoy to nose ride from time to time but when waves are good and I'm not thinking about it, my go to approach is to start whipping the LB around. So much fun. That's the beauty of getting HPLB, you can nose ride if you'd like, but when it's time to start loosening up a bit on a sizeable wave it really starts to shine.

 

Getting me all stoked to pickup my new stick next week, can't wait!

 

What I really enjoy about longboarding in good waves and in general is that you need all the skills to do it right. There is a time and place where you need to get on the nose to generate speed and prolong the wave and a time when you need to sit on the tail and sink a rail for a hard turn. It's multidimensional, dynamic surfing using the whole board when it's done right.