I'm fairly new to shortboarding. I use a Lost that I'm not sure the model on, but it is a narrower round tail board with not much float that really only allows me to get waves that are larger and more powerful. I feel as though I'm not learning as I should since the only waves I get with it are large and fast and don't allow me to do much observing or practicing. I'm looking for a board that will allow me to ride smaller surf in the summer, and because I'm low on money, also have enough float for me to shortboard in the winter, which I can not do on my current shortboard. I used my tri fin 8'9 longboard all last winter, and while I love longboarding, some days I just wished I could have something more maneuverable. I was thinking of maybe getting a CI neckbeard. I am 5'10 185 pounds, if I ordered it around 6'3-6'5, would it be big and floaty enough for me to satisfy what I'm looking for? I am not kelly slater, so a little size shouldn't bother me, as I am not making lightning fast top to bottom turns or performing airs. I was also looking at the Lost Bottomfeeder, which I saw someone in the lineup with last winter, but I think I want to try and go with something that resembles a shortboard a little more. I see the recomendations on the neckbeard are to go smaller, but I figure to get the versatility I want I should go a bit longer, am I wrong in thinking this? Any other board recommendations will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the input.
first off, there IS such a thing as too much volume. at your size, a 6'4" neckbeard would qualify as such. last summer i weighed in at 220lbs & was riding a 6'0" (35.5L) no problem. now, i understand that you're looking for a bit more volume, etc...but i weigh the same as you now, but am a little taller, & i had to sell my neckbeard just a couple months into my weight loss program b/c it was so oversized for me that, even as a surfer w/ 20+ years of experience, i couldn't put it on rail. a 6'4" neckbeard is something like 40L...just massive. old men or 250lb rippers would ride that. it sounds like you want something more in the line of the flyer...a slightly higher volume hpsb. the boards you've mentioned are grovelers...true small wave boards that really need to be sized properly to work right. at your size, if you got a flyer or lost driver at 6'4"x19 /2"-19 3/4"x2 5/8", i think you'd be a lot happier.
Hey man great question. I'm pretty much your size at 6' 188 and I ride shortboards that have between 32 and 34 volume. 6'x20x2.5 FW Dominator, 6'1''x20x2.5 FW Activator, and 6'5''x20x2.5 Stretch FF EPS tech. All are epoxy which will give you more float. I love these boards and I think they would work fine for you, but anything around that size or volume should float you. Like the njsurfer said, you can have to much volume which can make the board harder to get enough rail in the water causing the tail to slide out from under you. -cheers.
a board with too low volume is going to sink and stop on you at the slightest hint of loss of power within a wave. A board with too high volume is going to have a myriad of problems, including sitting too high on the water, which makes it difficult to catch some waves (they simply roll underneath you), tracking up the face in the barrel or hollow faces, hard to duck dive, corky feeling turns, etc, etc. CI now has a board recommendation app built into their website that looks pretty decent. If you want less biased/more detailed info, check out the Rusty Volume Chart (BTW Rusty makes great boards...as good as CI)
