7'6" or a 6'8"??

[benster]

Hey guys, I have a question.

I am buying my first surfboard and have found two on craigslist near me that are near the same price, but I don't know which one I should get!

One is a 7'6" Freeline funboard and the other is a 6'8" Strive Bully fish/funboard hybrid.

Now I have heard that, especially for people who are still beginner surfers (I have been a dozen times, but haven't been able to go regularly due to my lack of board), fish are hard to learn on. However, this one being a fish/funboard hybrid makes me think that I will be able to progress more with it than a 7'6" funboard while still being able to catch waves in the early stages.

I don't know though! Can somebody give me some advice?

[IB_Surfer]

Not taking into donsideration your weight or thicknes/width of the board I'd go with the fish, but I am partial to the fish.

[Surf Hound]

Unless you are a big guy, like 240 lbs plus I would get the Strive.

[dtc]

I'll go the other way and say that, as a beginner, get the biggest board. To be blunt, you will not progress as fast as you think you will and you will not progress past the limits of the 7ft6 for a long time (although obviously you may progress to a level where a shorter board is worthwhile far earlier than that).

If you do go for the shorter one, its a good one to go for. But it will take quite a bit longer to get used to it and catch waves and all the rest than the longer board.

So its probably a question of how long do you want to be frustrated for before you figure things out vs how much do you want to buy one board now that lasts for a long time as opposed to buying one board now and another in 12 or so months. If you can deal with the frustration and just want to get one board, get the shorter one. If you would prefer to be up and surfing earlier, but knowing you might have to buy a new board a bit later one, go the longer.