How many Swellers really also LB and/or SUP??

This is what the best LB days are all about to me. Well said!

Part of the appeal of the longboard is the aesthetics, no? I don't mean to imply that there aren't gorgeous fishes and SB's out there. They're all over the boardporn blogs. But I don't see them in person. Not at my spot(s).

90% of the time, when I see an aesthetically beautiful board in person, it's a longboard (or something like it). When I think of the beauty of surfboards, I think of longboards.

Anyone out there with a huge collection of straight white shortboards?

 

Let's surf Belmar! ok bad idea lol

gracias senor

 

Where you been ?? Great post, btw, is this your comeback gig? Hope all is ok in blasters land.

 

Iv said this before in sb vs lb threads, not trying to have that debate again. But it pertains to this topic too. Every one who is saying right board for the conditions I obviously agree with. But don't get it twisted. Lbs aren't only for small days. A lb really comes alive in chest/head high waves, if the conditions are right for it.

So anyone who enjoys riding an lb on smaller days, give it a shot in bigger stuff. If you don't like it then whatever stuck to your sb but you might just be pleasantly surprised

 

I started surfing when I was 15 at Clearwater Beach (the Gulf) and the first board I ever purchased was a 6'4" BAT which was way too HP for a beginner, but the nice gentleman at Suncoast Surfshop never bothered to ask me my skill level or anything so I ended up buying this board out of ignorance because I thought that LB's were for kooks and any decent surfer rides a short board. Ironic I know, because I was a kook myself. I was very frustrated with my ability for a while and never really progressed to any true level of competence. Sure, I would get a ride here and there but I pretty much blew out my shoulders trying to surf this potato chip in sub par waves with no experience under my belt.

I ended up ruining this board by trying to shot the Anna Maria Island Pier one day and ended up hitting barnacles on the bottom and it looked like someone shot my board up with a machine gun. I did my very first ding repair on it and got it back in the water but it never floated the same again. I took it out to Cocoa Beach several times before I finally realized that it just wasn't going to work anymore. This caused me to kinda hang it up for a while because I didn't have the money to buy a new board and all my friends who surfed moved away. Occasionally I would paddle out during a hurricane with this board only to get my ass handed to me. Now this board sits in my closet collecting dust.

Fast forward a few years and I met my friend Kahuna Kai at a new job (i'm still there today), some of you might know him on here. He told me that he had just gotten back from visiting family in Hawaii where they were stationed in the military and he got to surf while he was out there. Immediately I was stoked and he convinced me to get a board again so when I had the cash we went down to the same place I bought my first board and helped me pick out a more appropriate board for my skill level at the time. He kept trying to suggest a LB but I still resisted this advice and ended up getting my 6'10" WRV FunFish shaped by Mike Daniel, which was a great decision for the most part as I still own this board today and it's in decent shape (few repairs). This board allowed me to get into more waves than before so I was able to progress a little bit more as well. I started feeling more competent but still not at the level I wanted to be.

After riding the the FunFish for a while my GF at the time who is now my wife decided to buy me a new board for my B Day. We went to Quiet Flight in downtown Cocoa Beach and I ended up picking out an 8'1" McTavish 8 Ball, which became my first "LB". It came as a 2+1, which I rode it like that for a bit and it was fun, but when I decide to drop the side bites and get a 8" Singlefin FCS Dolphin it was a game changer. It turned this board into my magic stick. I quickly progressed on this board and loved the feel of the glide. It wasn't too big though so I was able to swing it around with ease and get some really good carves and cutbacks on it. I still have this board today and it's still in good shape minus a dent on the deck from my knee and a couple minor ding repairs. Having improved on this board I then started getting better on the 6'10" WRV FF as well................

 

Then another B-Day came along and my wife decided to surprise me with a 12ft. SUP because she heard me make mention of how easily some people are catching the softest of waves on these things when everybody else was struggling to get in. I didn't think she would ever get me one and didn't think I would ever get one for myself, but here I was, the proud owner of a brand new SUP. I was stoked none-the-less, knowing how expensive they are and how much more water time I was going to get. I never thought of it as a bad thing like some others do, didn't even occur to me honestly.

At this stage I was pretty competent in the water so I knew what I could and could not do on these things with regard to the lineup and such. I spent the first 6 months paddling on flat water for distance and to get proficient at it before I took it to the beach to surf. This board is more of an all-arounder so it isn't a HP SUP or anything, but it does catch waves. I ended up having fun surfing it for a while as it was a new challenge and it was helping me up my wave count on less than marginal days. Then I started taking it out on decent / good days in addition to my other boards I would bring with me. So i would SUP, LB, and SB all in the same session. I actually got pretty damn good at it and was able to turn this beast and ride the wave with confidence, but one day I just got tired of lugging it around and with my ability on the SB and LB growing by the day, I began gravitating more and more toward those boards and less toward the SUP. I still enjoy taking it out for a long paddle for some exercise when the waves aren't good or like some others have said, I really like to take it out fishing. I've even gone on long treks with my wife and we make a whole day of paddling to different little islands around Fort Desoto Park. We pack a cooler and fishing pole with some live shrimp and have a blast together. That's pretty much where i'm at with my SUP to date. I haven't surfed a wave on this thing in probably a year and half or longer.

The day I stopped surfing it I think is the day I got my 6'4" Coil Flash Back Fish shaped by Mike Daniel. This board has changed my surfing life. Total game changer, It was like I became a better surfer over night when I got on this thing. Sounds crazy, but I am much more competent now than ever before and it owe a lot of it to having such a great board. I know it had a lot to do with putting in plenty of time on the 8'1" "LB" first though, but when I finally got on a proper SB that was built for me and my skill level, it was like finding the gates of heaven! For the next year and a half I surfed nothing but this board and my LB. Then one day I got the itch to pick up a legit LB, one that is at least 9' (regulation size).

So for my last B-Day I had a 9' Performance LB w/some nose rider capabilities shaped for me by Greg Geiselman at Orion. Many of you may remember my thread earlier this year when I was going through the process of getting my specs dialed in. This board is everything I intended for it to be. It's a gorgeous piece of art but it's extremely functional in nearly every condition the East Coast can throw at it. I've had it out in knee high to HH, choppy to clean conditions, and everything in between. Like others have said, it can catch just about any wave but she really excels when there is some juice behind her. The first time I stuck the drop on a HH steep wave and nailed some carves, cutbacks, off the lips, etc., I about shat my pants it was so fun.

So when it comes to riding the LB, it's all about the glide, carving, waking the board up and down, getting cheater 5's and hang 10's (one day), and generally attacking the wave like I would on a short board but with more drawn out turns and finesse. I don't just trim and stand like a statue. And I prefer the single fin over the 2+1 setup for sure. The True Ames Greenough 4-A is an excellent fin with some flex and is perfect for a more performance oriented style.

 

dude my hand is broke its really hard to type with one finger. ill never leave yall. buts its been a challenge for me.

 

In the early 90s before it became kewl I was into longboarding. When it became kewl and longboarders became a pain in the arse on good days I pretty much quit riding them. Didn't want to be "that" guy. Still have a couple of longboards and just picked a up vintage 9'6 Rible from about 1967. Also have one of the coolest Austin longboards....Its a work of art. Rarely longboard anymore though as I realized that a high volume shortboard is more enjoyable most of the time anyway. Figure when I hit 50 I'll be ready to start longboarding again.

 

Pretty much where I'm coming from. I'm 45 with bad shoulders, knees and hips. I'll stay on a shortboard until its physically impossible. Can't stand seeing young fit guys riding longboards in solid quality shortboard conditions cause they think its kewl and because they couldn't be competitive in the lineup without the paddling advantage. (Or because they're such kooks that they couldn't ride a shortboard if their lives depended on it)

Longboarding is a crutch for most people on them. Hey, that's ok if you're one who needs crutches.

PS: Don't get me started on SUPers in the lineup.

 

Everything from 6'6" old guy short-ish board to 9' HPLB and 9' hobie Peter Pan Slug. For really weak days in RI. Have SUP'd once or twice, but never been out on a day when the SUP guys were catching things the Slug couldn't catch too.

 

That's what you get for popping waynetheinsaaaane on the schnozz. Good call, though; any of us would have done the same thing to Benny Arnold.

 

remember, before 'benny' was a traitor - an issue my great grandfather cemented - he was, in fact,
an american war hero. had he not been screwed on his salary and expenses; well, the story might have
been different. oh and, there was a woman involved.....

 

Whatever.
That's the problem with modern Americans: rationalizing the shiiiite out of every asssenholen's behavior until somehow 'what happened is certainly understandable.' Cuddle up with this, dingus.

 

unless the real problem is that modern americans are always pontificating on forums about what the problem is with everyone else. longboarding is super fun, bodysurfing is super fun. if i wanna get radical I will surf a 5'11 roberts black diamond if is big enough, 5'7" mitsven quad fish if its small, skimboard if its shorey

 

9' quad hplb for the little stuff. It's fun on occasion to take it out when there's a bit of size on a sloped face. I'm thinking of getting a sup just for the lake flat days for exercise. I'd never subject my brethren to one in the line up though.

 

Nice post some pics of the new board!

If you need any tips, let me know- just remember- toes on the nose is really the only way to ride

 

I love the longboard! I also love my 6'2 LazyBoy, although I may sell/trade it for a new 10'er. I also love my sups, although don't get on them as much in the the cold or windy weather. Although Laird said the biggest waves will be ridden on a sup, and I believe everything he says.
I also love me some swimfins and my hipster handplane that was handcrafted from some wood pallets I found on the side of the road, next to the skinny jean factory on the north shore.
And when the tide is right, how can you not love the boogie? Especially during the summer, at the Wall, when they blackball the surfzone. You can still boogie and play with all the young tail in the shallow end