POLL: Overhead waves; Your brd specs

5'8 160. rode my 5'11" on Monday. would have taken out my 6'2" if it didn't have a ding.

 

im pretty much the same height and weight and i usually ride around a 6'3" or 6'4" for anything around headhigh+.
i ride a 6' dumpster diver for smaller surf.
i bought a 6'8" rounded pin step up for an upcoming trip and got to take it out earlier this year in 2-3' overhead surf and it was a gem. i felt it held better on a bottom turn than my regular thruster, but was able to turn really well just like my thruster on any kind of snap or turn.

 

Oh?

there are all different types of OH surf. At 6'-185 lbs. I can ride a 5'6" board at one location OH, maybe a 6'2" thumb at another, and maybe a 6'6" at another. Is it hollow, mushy, out-bar, point, jetty, shore break etc? Are you towing/stepping off? Then we can go w/4'10" quad.

 

Call me crazy, but I like riding a 5"11 roundtail in overhead stuff around here. I mostly hit up Assateague on the big days. But I've also used the same board down in OBX and St. Augustine in overhead stuff as well.

 

Just like I like my women - short and fat. 5 10 x 2.3 for overhead, gets smaller from there. Sometimes I feel like people get really concerned about what they ride or what they should ride in bigger surf. If ya got it, FLAUNT IT.

 

Yea... the kind of wave is a factor. The spot, the wind, the tide ESPECIALLY... are all factors. Then you have your "personal preference" factor, which confounds the issue even more.

But generally speaking, up here in Mon Co, NJ, most of the spots get fast and racy when it gets big. So you want something that matches your level of comfort and skill. I'm an old man... 46 years old... 6'1" and 190lbs, and I don't like to get worked if I can help it. If it's 1 or 2 or even 3 ft. OH, I ride a 6'6 round tail convertable quad/thruster, single to double concave. Just typical performance shortboard design.

But when it approaches DOH I have a 7'0 East Coast Gun (like a step-up) designed specifically for our thick, heaving, local beachbreaks. Surf like that is most often generated by Nor'Easters, which are followed by hard NW winds. So that board is designed to handle hard offshores, lots of current, and fast, hollow waves. Plenty of rocker, a fairly pulled nose, rounded pin, vee in the entry to flat to deep double concaved vee, to flat behind the trailing fin. Very similar bottom to the original "Black Beauty" but without the chined rail. Just a modern performance shortboard rail with a soft tucked edge that's hard only from the rail fins back.

Just for comparison, when it's in the head high range, I ride a 6'4 quad. Waist to chest mostly a fish. Under waist high a single fin longboard.

Check out the shot on sways here... No thanks!

http://www2.swaylocks.com/forums/more-pipeline-pipeline-week

 

5'9, 160. 6'2 is what I ride up to DOH. I wont ride over a 6'2 unless its really big, then I jump up to an almost 7'0 mini gun... the 6'4-6'5 range makes for easy takeoffs, but is too sluggish for my liking... Thats just me though.

So, while my normal boards are 5'11, and 6'0, 6'2 is my step-up board, cause it still responds the way my others do.

 

Hawaiian Pro Designs (Takayama) DT1 9.0 Killer ride on big waves for a Long Board.

 

I needed to take 3 Advil just looking at that pic. Thanks !

 

5 '3 100lbs haha i ride a 6'0 flyer. wanna smaller one but cant afford one

 

5' 10" 180
barell hunting= 6'2" rookie
boosting= 5'10" erie peeples "the squish"
wedgy walls= 4'2 foam blank as seen in "stoked and broke"

 

6'1" lost speed demon II for OH surf. it paddles fast and catches waves well, but it's strictly a down the line/speedy board. turns terribly. i am sick of it to be honest.

5'8 rocket for anything under which has been teh best board i've ever surfed. really shows its stuff in waist-chest waves. turns on a dime, loose but still fast

looking for a 6'0 that's somewhere in the middle for bigger but not huge surf chest-1ft oh

i'm 5'9 150-155ish

 

i'm about the same size as you...maybe a bit heavier.

in good surf (shoulder high - head high +) i ride a 6'4"x19.25"x2.5" ft. knox roundtail. i had it in the maldives this summer, where it was 6-8ft every day, & the thing was fantastic. i didn't want any more or less board.
i have a 6'8" on the way, same design & dimensions, for those few bigger days (esp. in the winter) & for travel. i've had a few occasions on trips where i felt slightly uncomfortable on my 6'4" & was wishing for something w/ a bit more length & paddle power. any bigger than 6'8" or 6'10" w/ guys our size & you start to get into mini-gun territory.
in knee-head high surf i ride a 6'0" or a 5'10".

i think you'd be ok going up to 4" over the length of your current good wave board for a step-up. i'm pretty stoked & excited for my 6'8" to be finished (should be ready early next month). i'll post up some pics when i get it.

 

6'0 190 and i'v ridden my standard shortboards in waves up to head and a half. Much bigger than that and I prefer a 6'6 - 6'8, a hair narrower in the nose, round pin tail with a little extra thickness in the stringer area. It helps to have a little extra paddling power... and round pins are ffffaaassssttttt.

 

I prefer the Rusty Slayer/Lost Rockup type shape because they fit better in tighter spaces (ie big Jersey beachbreak). A squished down semi gun with a slightly lower nose rocker (4.5") and an average tail rocker (2.5ish"). So for me, at 5'10" 180, I have ridden a 6'3" x 20.25 x 2.5 (14" ish nose and 14.5" round pintail) in about as big as it gets around here.

 

for the really big waves i have to bring out the 43"

 

AND..the water temp is usually below 50 so your wearing full winter rubber.

Yeah thats exactly the size board i have for when it gets big...exact dims are 7'0" x 20" x 2 5/8" shaped for my by Jon Ashton with average nose width, lots of nose rocker and rounded pin tail. Only draw backs is it duck dive like a tank!

I actually got it for a trip to Indo a few years ago and found it works well as a winter step up. I know its way bigger than most people would want, but i love the extra paddle power.

 

i kinda hear you on the age thing...i'll be 30 later this winter, but i'm trying not to let that effect me or my surfing. i just keep looking at guys like slater & taylor knox who are in their late 30's & still surfing as well or better than the younger guys. those 2 guys, esp. knox, really inspire me to continue to push myself & try to improve my surfing.

i would personally stick to the upper end of that size spectrum for your "big wave" board...1" in length isn't going to make that much of a difference. 2"-4" is where it's at. i'd suggest looking 6'6"-6'8", but that's just me.