Surfing Waves

What are your guys favourite surfboard shapers/manufacturers and why?
I'm talking about the all in one type, good quality, good price, not trendy expensive al merrick type boards.

icetime wrote:What are your guys favourite surfboard shapers/manufacturers and why?
I'm talking about the all in one type, good quality, good price, not trendy expensive al merrick type boards.

#1 All in one type. You mean a board that can do it all in all conditions and wave sizes. Something that easy to catch and turn. No such thing
#2 Good quality. What is good quality ? Doesn't crack and delam the first day ? A lot of the so called "custom" boards are made in little more than a garage, with chemicals fumes and dust vented out into the air ( neighbors ). While the look down upon pop-outs are made in ISO 9001 standard manufacturing certified factories. I seen factories with no solid floors, the dust falls thru the grated floor into collectors. The walls are water falls and collect the dust also.
#3 Good Price. How much would you pay for a good burger ? Price is relative.

Who's your favorite shaper ? My shaper. The one I built up a relationship with. The person I have actually have history and multiple boards with. There are shapers I want to try like Ryan Burch and Meyerhoffer, but I only know of them thru the magazines and internet.

Question - What's a all around, good quality, good price Golf club ? Bicycle ? Ink pen ? Dining table ?
Question - If water is gushing out the sink everywhere, will the $dollar store screwdriver next to you not suffice ? Or will you tell the wife to run out to the garage and only get your Snap-On brand screwdriver ?

I am a fan of custom made boards. My shaper is James but he goes by the name Topper. He makes boards that are durable and designed for my weight and age and lack of conditioning. He is not trendy although he is popular here and he is not very expensive but the longer the board the more expensive he is.

waikikikichan wrote:

icetime wrote:What are your guys favourite surfboard shapers/manufacturers and why?
I'm talking about the all in one type, good quality, good price, not trendy expensive al merrick type boards.

#1 All in one type. You mean a board that can do it all in all conditions and wave sizes. Something that easy to catch and turn. No such thing
#2 Good quality. What is good quality ? Doesn't crack and delam the first day ? A lot of the so called "custom" boards are made in little more than a garage, with chemicals fumes and dust vented out into the air ( neighbors ). While the look down upon pop-outs are made in ISO 9001 standard manufacturing certified factories. I seen factories with no solid floors, the dust falls thru the grated floor into collectors. The walls are water falls and collect the dust also.
#3 Good Price. How much would you pay for a good burger ? Price is relative.

Who's your favorite shaper ? My shaper. The one I built up a relationship with. The person I have actually have history and multiple boards with. There are shapers I want to try like Ryan Burch and Meyerhoffer, but I only know of them thru the magazines and internet.

Question - What's a all around, good quality, good price Golf club ? Bicycle ? Ink pen ? Dining table ?
Question - If water is gushing out the sink everywhere, will the $dollar store screwdriver next to you not suffice ? Or will you tell the wife to run out to the garage and only get your Snap-On brand screwdriver ?

What I meant by all in one type is the company/shaper not the surfboard
Someone you get the most bang for your buck, no such thing as a perfect surfboard, everyone knows that

My favorite shaper is a local guy. H'e been shaping for ages and has a great reputation for his shaping skills in a variety of boards. He is known to be a great guy both inside and outside of his shaping room. And he works with clients with a wide range of skill levels so I feel pretty good about going to him when I'm ready for a new longboard in a year or less depending on how fast I can fill up my piggy bank. I actually have 2 used longboards that he has shaped so I have some idea of what I'm getting like shapes and glass jobs he outsources. I'd say his boards are priced in the mid range, neither boutique expensive nor backyard cheap.

Technically speaking, being in So Cal I can walk into any number of worldly known shapers' showrooms and pick up a stock board or even order a custom there. But I doubt I can make the kind of connection I would establish with lesser known local masters. Surfboards are a rather unique hobby equipment that even an average joe can get a handmade custom made one at a reasonable price. I can't think of any other sports like that.

saltydog wrote:My favorite shaper is a local guy. H'e been shaping for ages and has a great reputation for his shaping skills in a variety of boards. He is known to be a great guy both inside and outside of his shaping room. And he works with clients with a wide range of skill levels so I feel pretty good about going to him when I'm ready for a new longboard in a year or less depending on how fast I can fill up my piggy bank. I actually have 2 used longboards that he has shaped so I have some idea of what I'm getting like shapes and glass jobs he outsources. I'd say his boards are priced in the mid range, neither boutique expensive nor backyard cheap.

Technically speaking, being in So Cal I can walk into any number of worldly known shapers' showrooms and pick up a stock board or even order a custom there. But I doubt I can make the kind of connection I would establish with lesser known local masters. Surfboards are a rather unique hobby equipment that even an average joe can get a handmade custom made one at a reasonable price. I can't think of any other sports like that.

Too bad the shaper community is small here in Morocco, only one shaping company that's local and it's half way across the country so my only option is buying mass produced popouts boards at the surf shop, plus they're expensive as hell!

icetime wrote:. What I meant by all in one type is the company/shaper not the surfboard.
Someone you get the most bang for your buck.

Thank you for the clarification, but I am still unsure by what you mean. Do you mean a Shaper that designs, shapes by hand, colors-airbrush, glasses, fins ups, sands, polishes all by himself ? A true surfboard builder like that is dying breed. I only know of one person like that in Oahu. Todd Pinder, Pinder surfboards. He's truly a one man show. http://freesurfmagazine.com/one-man-all-by-hand/ But that "real hand-crafted custom" comes at a price and a longer wait time. Just like a custom wood cabinet or a specialty cake. You could get his shaped blank glassed somewhere else to save a few bucks. But a true custom is from him start to finish. He can even make his own custom fins.

Bang for your buck ? Probably $115 Wavestorm from Costco will give your the most giggles per dollar.

icetime wrote:Too bad the shaper community is small here in Morocco, only one shaping company that's local and it's half way across the country so my only option is buying mass produced popouts boards at the surf shop, plus they're expensive as hell!

That's pretty tough. I guess some thing like this would give a bit of insight?

http://www.surfscience.com/board-rack/

Ice,
I have a handmade board from a local shaper, a few machine milled and hand finished boards from locals that suit local conditions, and some mass produced boards.....whether they were popped out or not I don't know or care......some surf sites really play up the local shaper angle and poo all over boards made from larger manufacturers..........I don't; there is quality and garbage out there on all fronts. The boards I have suit me, my surfing, size, weight, ability and the waves I choose to use them on. In these beginning stages of your development the board isn't going to make much difference as long as it fits you, your ability and where you are going to use it.

Big H wrote:Ice,
I have a handmade board from a local shaper, a few machine milled and hand finished boards from locals that suit local conditions, and some mass produced boards.....whether they were popped out or not I don't know or care......some surf sites really play up the local shaper angle and poo all over boards made from larger manufacturers..........I don't; there is quality and garbage out there on all fronts. The boards I have suit me, my surfing, size, weight, ability and the waves I choose to use them on. In these beginning stages of your development the board isn't going to make much difference as long as it fits you, your ability and where you are going to use it.

I see your point, I kinda screwed up when buying my first board, I bought a size of a big surfer so basically there's like 11 inches more than I want which makes me struggle when riding waves, paddling is easy but once you're on the wave the extra size is harder to move around, I'll learn to live with it for a year, as I said I'm still a beginner in a way so I'm probably wrong

icetime wrote:

Big H wrote:Ice,
I have a handmade board from a local shaper, a few machine milled and hand finished boards from locals that suit local conditions, and some mass produced boards.....whether they were popped out or not I don't know or care......some surf sites really play up the local shaper angle and poo all over boards made from larger manufacturers..........I don't; there is quality and garbage out there on all fronts. The boards I have suit me, my surfing, size, weight, ability and the waves I choose to use them on. In these beginning stages of your development the board isn't going to make much difference as long as it fits you, your ability and where you are going to use it.

I see your point, I kinda screwed up when buying my first board, I bought a size of a big surfer so basically there's like 11 inches more than I want which makes me struggle when riding waves, paddling is easy but once you're on the wave the extra size is harder to move around, I'll learn to live with it for a year, as I said I'm still a beginner in a way so I'm probably wrong

You're saying your first board should have been a 5'7"?

Big H wrote:

icetime wrote:

Big H wrote:Ice,
I have a handmade board from a local shaper, a few machine milled and hand finished boards from locals that suit local conditions, and some mass produced boards.....whether they were popped out or not I don't know or care......some surf sites really play up the local shaper angle and poo all over boards made from larger manufacturers..........I don't; there is quality and garbage out there on all fronts. The boards I have suit me, my surfing, size, weight, ability and the waves I choose to use them on. In these beginning stages of your development the board isn't going to make much difference as long as it fits you, your ability and where you are going to use it.

I see your point, I kinda screwed up when buying my first board, I bought a size of a big surfer so basically there's like 11 inches more than I want which makes me struggle when riding waves, paddling is easy but once you're on the wave the extra size is harder to move around, I'll learn to live with it for a year, as I said I'm still a beginner in a way so I'm probably wrong

You're saying your first board should have been a 5'7"?

now that I look at it, it sounds stupid, maybe a 5'11 with the same width would have been better, as I said, the board has ridiculous amounts of volume, and I had experience prior to buying the board, surfed afoamie then an epoxy for a few months, the epoxy board I was surfing was a 7'2 with a rail just as thick but the board isn't as wide as my current one then I moved to a 6'4 surfed that for a bit then finally bought my own board, you have to see my board to get what I'm syaing I'll try and post pictures in a minute

https://imgur.com/a/C0SAg
Used a sunscreen bottle as reference to how thick the board is, bad measurement scale but it's something
I have to go for a surf session if you guys want the exact measurements of the board I can post them later

icetime wrote:... basically there's like 11 inches more than I want which makes me struggle when riding waves, paddling is easy but once you're on the wave the extra size is harder to move around

It's not the board that means it doesn't turn very well. You don't need a shorter board, you need to learn to surf that one properly.

drowningbitbybit wrote:

icetime wrote:... basically there's like 11 inches more than I want which makes me struggle when riding waves, paddling is easy but once you're on the wave the extra size is harder to move around

It's not the board that means it doesn't turn very well. You don't need a shorter board, you need to learn to surf that one properly.

Yeah where I'm getting at is positioning on that board, I'm constantly moving up and back on the deck compared to with a shorter board your frontfoot wouldn't move as much but you'd be shifting your weight instead of walking up a board but I'll get better with time I guess

Nice board. Seems fine to me. Board looks easy to turn. BUT something seems wrong with the fins. Could you post a photo of the fin setup ?

icetime wrote:Yeah where I'm getting at is positioning on that board, I'm constantly moving up and back on the deck compared to with a shorter board your frontfoot wouldn't move as much but you'd be shifting your weight instead of walking up a board

That's why it's good to learn on long(er) boards. It's hard for beginners to understand how important minor weight shifts do. Most beginners are "Glue Foots". Look at Parko, one of my favorite surfers, his back foot a lot of the time is not on the tail pad. He constantly moves his body/feet. Your theory to get a 11" shorter board to lessen the amount you need to move your feet is not right.

Question - is your front foot toes pointed to the rail or nose ?

waikikikichan wrote:Nice board. Seems fine to me. Board looks easy to turn. BUT something seems wrong with the fins. Could you post a photo of the fin setup ?

Yeah sure, it's a standard thruster setup, I took the picture at a weird angle so it looks like I have 2 fins
Also my front foot toes are pointed towards the rail, what I meant by turning is trimming, the turns are long and circular, I'm able to carve butnot that well, still learning
https://imgur.com/a/k7jsG

Are your fins ultra flexible like you can flex from side to side by hand for say 0.5 -1 inch? Some stock fins are not precise enough once the riders reach a certain level. Too flexy fins lack hold and drive when turning... or something. My knowledge is still limited but someone here should be able to give more technical info on that. Just throwing out another thing for you to consider before shelling out $$$ for a new board.

icetime wrote:Also my front foot toes are pointed towards the rail.

If you're a Regular foot, your front foot toes should be more at 1-2 o'clock ( 10-11 for Goofy ). You're probably weighting the front foot a lot. But to drive and turn the board you need to "give" power to the back foot ( which should be over the fin(s) ).
Your front toes pointed to the rail will also make it hard to go Backside.