Mini Simmons Designs.

Vernon were a bit thinner width and thickness wise from what I can remember. Hydro (if you can find one?) infinity and Christensens are great looking. The supersede from album looks like the bees knees as does tyler warren's bar of soap (although not exactly a mini sim)... good luck

 

What kind of waves are you planning on using it for?

 

Exactly...It's like you're asking for advice about what tool to buy without saying what the job is!. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but any of these companies you mentioned are perfectly capable of building a great Mini Simmons....you just need to know what you're looking for and tell them. If you have the option to get one custom made by a Florida shaper who actually likes making these things, that will get you a lot further than just choosing between Vernor or Infinity, or whoever.

I've had three mini simmons over the past five years and ridden all of them a lot. One twin fin very flat rockered, and two quad fins with a bit more rocker. Believe me, there are conditions that these boards are great in and conditions where you could not be on a worse board!

So...what kind of waves are you planning on using it for?

 

I am asking because a fish or a longboard has served me well in minimal surf, but I am always looking for options. It sucks strapping a longboard on your roof in the summer when it is Africa hot, and when it is windy, it sucks carrying it back up the beach. So a Mini Simmons might be the answer, but a good fish can shred on anything above thigh high, and is much cooler IMO. And it works in chop, it doesnt need clean lines. But, I am curious as to why, why? Do they surf like a skateboard on knee high crap?

 

They are the fastest glidiest shape I've ever ridden in clean, soft waves under waist high. They will catch up with and blast around a trimmed out longboard, or fish in SOFT small walls. They can completely replace a longboard in clean knee to thigh high waves if you like the idea of a five ft. vs. nine ft. board, and doing turns vs. noseriding.

They suck in choppy waves...the extreme nose width and flat rocker just gets all hung up in texture.
They also don't work in steep a-frames or hollow pockety waves, even small ones. If you're dialed in enough you can ride them in those conditions, but not do a proper turn and there's just no reason with so many better shapes for steeper small waves.

 

Nailed it again, Mitch.

 

Nailed it again, Mitch.

 

Thanks bro!

 

I had a blast on my 5"2" Jim Dunlop Mystic today. Get one.

 

I have owned 2 vernor silver bullet2's and just talked to Dave Vernor and he is customizing another silver bullet 2 for me. The guy is first rate and took the time to call and talk to me about my next silver bullet... I kept losing weight...and had to drop in board size each time.

I have ridden a few boards that were like a Simmons and some wide tail fishes...this silver bullet 2 is the best board I have ever owned for small surf. It's basically a high performance oriented Simmons. Great grovler and still able to perform like a short board. Super fast and surprisingly easy to turn sharp with such a wide tail. Really only use it in softer waves...wave size makes no difference within reason...as long as it's soft. Once the wall starts getting some vert, I switch to another board.

They definitely have a skateboard feel on small surf....so will most wide tail fishes.

Can't wait to get my next silver bullet2...went eps this time...trying to get the board lighter.

 

From yesterday on the Mini Simmons - enough speed to glide out on the shoulder and have some fun cutting back on a really soft wave that might be knee high at best. For me it makes surfing these little bumps fun.

 

Nice. Heres mine on a knee high wave too. They definitely make surfing small waves so much more fun. I wouldn't give mine up for anything.

 

A little self promotion....me and my silver bullet

 

if you're buying sight-unseen off the internet, might be a good idea to go with a shaper that can accurately calculate their board's volume (some shapers just fake those numbers). It's very easy to go too big on these mini-sim type shapes (tails gets exponentially wider, heavier glass, etc). If you're just looking for an ultra groveler, Lost "Bean Bag" or "Couch Potato" and Roberts "Much Machine" are all in that mini-sim spectrum. Both companies have a volume calculator. If in doubt, go smaller.

 

i got mine from a guy in california. nice shape pretty good dude to work with http://steamshipsurf.tumblr.com/post/82505907516/54-x-21-1-2-x-2-5-8-blunt-nose-simmons-for-josh-in

 

o simmons

 

Regarding Simmons, some interesting mag article links regarding Bob Simmons and his designs in this thread:

http://www.swellinfo.com/forum/showthread.php?21946-The-Enigma-of-Simmons

 

Early fall 2011 Jax pier..southside
Mystic by jim dunlop