Bottom Feeder, vs RV, vs Couch Potato, vs Average Joe vs V2 Stub vs FISH

How heavy are you?

 

You should give your height and weight to help determine whats not working with your current fish.

 

yea, height/weight & ability level are all going to play a role in determining the correct answers here.

 

i have a 5'8'' bottom feeder for sale. board is in excellent condition.pm if interested.

 

boards with flat rocker and really wide tails can act funky in steep waves...you're right, if you don't initiate it just right, the turn will flatten out and turn all wide and weird. I don't think thick rails affect a turn as much as the other two factors, but do make turns very soft or "corky".

How heavy your fish is glassed? Some younger shapers tend to go to extremes and I've experienced over-glassing slows a board down in smaller waves to the point where I couldn't even generate enough speed to do a good turn (of course, too light and there goes your momentum...an experienced shaper is always thinking balanced design, in all ways)

I currently own both the Couch Potato and V2 Stub and have also owned a Bottom Feeder. Yes, they are vastly different...mostly due to rocker. The CP is a lot like your fish, and, although you don't need another one of those, the CP set up as a quad has better glide than a thruster or twin/trailer. I can recommend the Stub since it has a decent amount of rocker...however, the tail is so wide, it works best as a quad (you might consider the regular V2 rocket, instead). The BF is closer to the CP than Stub (BF rocker is flat and rails are thick)...I found it clunky and not really good at any one thing.

The Average Joe and RV look kinda in the same realm as the BF. Pulled in tails on both are intriguing at first, but the rockers are so flat, it's really going to limit the wave steepness.

If you decide on a Lost board, don't buy larger size than recommended in an effort to aid paddling (you'll just end up with an expensive, low-performance boat). Use their volume calculator and choose below the maximum recommendation.

 

fishes are poor boards that even experts find hard to control.
get a thruster aka hpsb my idea firewire chubby checka.

 

the 5'10" Bottom Feeder has 39.5 L volume...I know because that's the size I had. I also weigh 180 and that size BF was waaay too big.

In hindsight, I shoulda got a 5'7" BF (33.87 L vol) and highly recommend you not go over a 5'8" (35.7 L vol).

However, if you're really set on this type of design, the RV is basically the BF 2, so why not get the streamlined evolution of that shape? I'd get the 5'8" RV...you might want the 5'9" max.

I'd also choose an Average Joe before the BF. I'd go for a 5'5" AJ...you might want the 5'7", depending on where you see you paddling power.

 

only reason to get BF, imo, is if you find a used one at a price you can't refuse....but good luck on that since inventory is low on decent condition used Lost fish shapes.

 

Bought a Lost RV a couple weeks ago and surfed with it about five or six times already. Good board a little more high performance than the bottom feeder with a little more rocker. Im 6'1 about 170 and I got the 5'8 which seems like the right fit or anything I couldve gone a little smaller.

 

went to Lost's webpage to refamiliarize myself with the bf shape. It kills me that the description says something about it being the ultimate small wave board, when all of the attached footage of it being ridden is peeling chest to head high, with the occasional waist high wave. Would love it if they actually had footage of someone riding a groveler in thigh/waist or less waves for a change.

 

They kinda did that with the RV, too. In the shortest amount of time possible, they seem to want to show the max size wave the design can handle and what can be done on it, in the right hands.

However, their couch potato vid was shot in waist high. You can see him dig a rail a few times...he was really pushing this board to it's limits (it's not really that much of a high-performance design).

[video=vimeo;59394994]http://vimeo.com/59394994[/video]

 

^
That's pretty sweet for a change. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing people rip decent to good waves, but where I live it breaks (size wise) a lot more like in the couch potato vid than the bf vid. I almost prefer to see someone surf small waves like the board is marketed for than see someone on a groveler on a head high day.

 

The Couch Potato video hurts to watch. Like, really hurts.
First off, I have loved and currently love my Biolos boards. The guy can shape a sick board.
Second: With the exception of like 2 waves ridden in that video, that's a longboard wave. I dunno man, I'm old. Sorry young ripper buds.
Third: That's a 5 foot nothing Japanese guy that weighs 130 pounds with his wetsuit gear on. Yeah, He can surf that s h i t on that board and make it look fun. LOL.
Fourth: Buy a longboard. Single fin. Little rocker. No hard rails. Don't skimp out either, drop some coin. It'll last a lot longer than your shred sticks anyway. You'll get years of enjoyment out of it. Then, tell me how easy it is to ride it properly, keep trimmed, and not look like a buffoon.

 

Haven't ridden an RV but have a Bottom Feeder and it is a great board for weak waves. You still need a longboard if you want to ride knee high waves but a Bottom Feeder or RV will make those days where its waist to chest high and a little weak much more fun.

Despite how it looks you can surf it like a performance shortboard and the transition back to a real high performance shortboard for steeper/bigger surf is easy, unlike a fish which screws up your surfing.

I choose the BF over the RV because I prefer a non winged tail. The BF had a cleaner outline but I do like that they took some of the bulk out of the nose of the RV. Really though they are interchangeable. Find either one in your size.

Listen to what people say and don't go too big. They pack a ton of volume. I'm 5'10 and 165 pounds and ride a 5'5 that's about 10% more volume than my shortboard. Don't go more than that.

Be forewarned that that are really addictive and you might end up surfing them more than you should. However once the wave gets steep, they don't work so well so you will know when it's time to grab something else.

 

I bought a 5'8" rv...I weigh 180. Really wish I went with a smaller one...seems to have to much volume. I also had the average joe. I went with the 5'5". This board was better performer but had the same volume as the rv...which I find strange, but in a shorter package which is probably why it felt better. The tail is much more pulled in on the joe...and the nose is only slightly larger on the joe...widths and thickness seem the same. Hard to believe the volume is correct on the rv being measurements are similar in a 3" larger board. Guess I need to keep at it, but so far disappointed. I think if I went smaller, I would of been much more satisfied. Should of went 5'6".