A bit of advice for buying a second surfboard

[benjl]

Check out the links here for the Torq boards.
They also make a 6'8 fun board and a 6'10 big fish that would be worth considering if you're tied for space?

I love my 7'2 and I think the new 7'2 has a bit more volume than my one. I also had one of their 6'6 fishes before and that was great fun too, I imagine their 6'10 would be awesome and have enough volume to just get you below that 7'0 height you're after.
Rock solid construction as mentioned

[benjl]

http://www.torq-surfboards.com/fun-68.html

[dtc]

All the Torq love, you would think its a modded car forum

Of the ones you posted, the NSP is a good choice but no better than the Torq. The other one also would be a good choice.

OK cool, I'll rethink the pop outs then. Question regarding the epoxy though, my mate has got a 9 foot epoxy custom (maybe the surftech/tuflite stuff?) is that the same or similar to how a pop out might feel? Because I really do enjoy using that board.

'Pop out' just means the board is made mostly by machine (pops out the end) rather than by hand (the traditional method). Keep in mind that a board, whatever called, is foam inside with a hard outside covering. Traditional boards have fibreglass covering and epoxy have epoxy covering. Epoxy is a harder substance and thus is stronger, as a result the foam inside can be less dense and hence lighter because it doesn't need to provide as much contribution to the strength of the board (density is essentially the size of the foam beads - so if you think of that white packing foam material, well surfboards are made of essentially the same stuff but the beads are much smaller and denser)

Nowdays most foam from any large scale brand is shaped by a machine (AKU) based on a design that is inputted through a computer; even small shapers will generally get 90% of the shaping done by a machine and just hand finish the rest. So the days of pure hand made (and the disdain for machine involvement) is pretty much over.

Epoxy covering is really hard to do by hand/outside of a factory (whereas fibreglassing has been done by hand for a long time). Thus most epoxy boards are made by machine, in a factory, and technically could be called a 'pop out'; although with the improvements in the technology and manufacturing process, most people will nowdays use 'pop out' to mean the very cheap end of the market. Firewire boards, for example, are often epoxy and they are well towards the upper end of the price range.

So when you say you surfed an epoxy board, then that will use the 'same' construction process as most other epoxy boards (with, obviously, possible differences in quality management, materials, design etc - for example, the density of the foam may vary, the boards outline will be different etc). (btw, its probably not a 'custom' board, which means a board shaped especially for you by a shaper having taken your personal instructions). So if you liked his board, then you will probably like another epoxy board.

Some people don't really like epoxy boards - they are much lighter, they sound different when the waves hit them (more of a 'tink tink' than a 'thud thud'), there are less options because they aren't hand made etc etc.. However, although I don't own one, for 80% of surfers they are as good as traditional boards for the vast majority of surfing and, for beginners, possibly better than fibreglass boards because they are much tougher.

So, go for it.

As an aside, if you are driving with big boards, make sure people aren't sitting with the board directly behind their head. Know a guy who braked suddenly (he hit a kangaroo) and the board flew over the top of the seat through his front windscreen. Luckily no passenger. Think about securing them if you think there is a risk - just wrap a cord around the board and tie it off to somewhere in the boot if you can.

[benjl]

[quote="dtc"]All the Torq love, you would think its a modded car forum

[amphibuman]

Of the ones you posted, the NSP is a good choice but no better than the Torq. The other one also would be a good choice.

OK cool, I'll rethink the pop outs then. Question regarding the epoxy though, my mate has got a 9 foot epoxy custom (maybe the surftech/tuflite stuff?) is that the same or similar to how a pop out might feel? Because I really do enjoy using that board.

'Pop out' just means the board is made mostly by machine (pops out the end) rather than by hand (the traditional method). Keep in mind that a board, whatever called, is foam inside with a hard outside covering. Traditional boards have fibreglass covering and epoxy have epoxy covering. Epoxy is a harder substance and thus is stronger, as a result the foam inside can be less dense and hence lighter because it doesn't need to provide as much contribution to the strength of the board (density is essentially the size of the foam beads - so if you think of that white packing foam material, well surfboards are made of essentially the same stuff but the beads are much smaller and denser)

Nowdays most foam from any large scale brand is shaped by a machine (AKU) based on a design that is inputted through a computer; even small shapers will generally get 90% of the shaping done by a machine and just hand finish the rest. So the days of pure hand made (and the disdain for machine involvement) is pretty much over.

Epoxy covering is really hard to do by hand/outside of a factory (whereas fibreglassing has been done by hand for a long time). Thus most epoxy boards are made by machine, in a factory, and technically could be called a 'pop out'; although with the improvements in the technology and manufacturing process, most people will nowdays use 'pop out' to mean the very cheap end of the market. Firewire boards, for example, are often epoxy and they are well towards the upper end of the price range.

So when you say you surfed an epoxy board, then that will use the 'same' construction process as most other epoxy boards (with, obviously, possible differences in quality management, materials, design etc - for example, the density of the foam may vary, the boards outline will be different etc). (btw, its probably not a 'custom' board, which means a board shaped especially for you by a shaper having taken your personal instructions). So if you liked his board, then you will probably like another epoxy board.

Some people don't really like epoxy boards - they are much lighter, they sound different when the waves hit them (more of a 'tink tink' than a 'thud thud'), there are less options because they aren't hand made etc etc.. However, although I don't own one, for 80% of surfers they are as good as traditional boards for the vast majority of surfing and, for beginners, possibly better than fibreglass boards because they are much tougher.

So, go for it.

As an aside, if you are driving with big boards, make sure people aren't sitting with the board directly behind their head. Know a guy who braked suddenly (he hit a kangaroo) and the board flew over the top of the seat through his front windscreen. Luckily no passenger. Think about securing them if you think there is a risk - just wrap a cord around the board and tie it off to somewhere in the boot if you can.

Sorry for the long delay before replying, haven't really been around lately. I ended up going for an 8 foot Hawaiian Soul Minimal (not a great brand I know but it was cheap haha). It's a bit of extra hassle with it being quite long but it makes up for it in the water when I get out on it. Nice to have a slightly smaller board as well for the paddle out when Llangennith is a bit bigger/messier.

Still been using the 9'3 mainly and making some good progress with it.Generally find that for the first hour I get into waves pretty consistently but then after that I start catching less and less waves. All down to fitness I'm thinking.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for all the advice, really appreciate it.