Surfing Waves

Hi all,

I'm a new surfer ready to buy my first board. I have ruled out getting a fiberglass board right now because i'm new and i'm a bit rough with my stuff... I've narrowed it down to either an epoxy board, liquid shredder type board (full soft) and the soft board with an epoxy bottom.

I trained on a 9' softboard and it was pretty easy to get up on it and learn on it. But i think i want to go with something shorter so i don't get bored with it too quickly. Maybe 7' 6" - 7'10" or so...

What do you guys think? I'm going to be a casual surfer (mainly on weekends) as i work generally 50+ hours a week on the weekdays... no time to surf then.

Thanks!!

i would recommend a bic 7.3 or 7.9, they are pretty cheap, indestructable, floatie yet you can manouver them.
only problem is these boards are european so they will cost more in the US and they are hard to find but a great choice!

echo about bics

wouldn't echo bic or anything similar, they might be cheap, but thats why they are cheap. Down right nasty, as for floaty, no. I tried one once its like trying to park a super tanker in a supermarket car park. Find a second hand board , probably pic one up for the same price of a bic but you will be up and running quicker.

Check out Craigs List. Always lots of used boards for good prices on there. And you can usually find any size shape or material you want. Especially beginners boards, there are usually lots of them.

I would purchase used, but i'm new to the surfing craft and I am likly to miss cracks, dings, etc etc. Yeah, i can read all i want on the web about them but without experience, it'll be hard to pick it out...

By the way, epoxy is fiberglass. For some reason people are told that stuff like NSP's are epoxy (which is true, but not accurate), which they are really injected epoxy. Epoxy is simply resin, what it's used with makes it what it is. I'm not bad mouthing NSP's by the way, that actually might be a good choice.

Do you have any friends who surf? (and know what they are looking at on a board? there can be a sweet surfer, who doesn't know crap about boards, or a crappy surfer that knows boards pretty well [that second one is me ] ) If so, you can drag them along. Just look for any cracks, squeeze the board feeling for any delam spots. A delam spot will go down very easily and come back up once you let go. Any brown spots or darker yellow spots mean that the foam has gotten water in it and now is corroding. These spots will probably be pretty soft. You may see "pressure dings" on the deck, that are from the heels, hands, faces, etc. Those are normal, but an excessive amount or very deep ones you want to avoid. Also, look at the stringer (wood in the middle) and see if it is higher than the rest of the board. Yes, it's in the middle, so it's the highest point, but if you close your eyes you shouldn't be able to find the stringer. If you feel a bump over it, go to the next board.

An eye for detail and a bit of what to look for and you could pick out a decent board.

I'm gonna say no on the foamie. Fun for the first 2 hours, then you out grow them in skill.

No on the foamie, eh? Too bad, they are cheaper and less prone to breaking, lol. Seems like the perfect combo