Buying a Board for my boyfriend, HAVE NO IDEA! help!

[candace418]

i'll make this as short as possible. Boyfriend is a great surfer, I've seen videos, hasn't surfed in 5 years because his mom "lost" it. He is in GREAT shape, 28 years old, skateboards, snowboards. He weighs about 175 lbs and he is about 6'2". I want to surprise him with one for Christmas but I know nothing about boards and need help, I have no idea what i'm looking for.


thanks!

[dtc]

You are looking for a gift voucher.

Seriously, buying a board for anyone with surfing experience is a pretty personal thing - let him decide. And inch here or there or the wrong fin set up and it could be a board that just goes into the garage and never gets used - its that precise. People agonise for weeks over this stuff.

I don't know where you are based, but if you can hunt around and find a good local shaper and have a chat about the cost for a board around 6ft6 or so (perhaps with a custom spray/paint job) and see if they will offer a gift voucher.

Or, perhaps better, create your own gift voucher to give to your boyfriend to say 'I will pay for your next surfboard, you just have to buy it' - then harass him to actually buy it.

Great gift, but I think too risky that you will get something wrong if you just go out and buy something.

Depending on where you are and what kind of board, you are probably looking at something around UDS500-800 for a good new board (or your local USD equivalent). Give or take.

[oldmansurfer]

Yeah if he was a total newbie it might be easier but for someone who has surfed it is more dicey. I was fortunate in that my first surfboard was a gift however my parents got it made by one of the best shapers around for someone my size (height and weight) so consequently once I mastered the art a bit I was on a fairly high tech board and could do whatever everyone else was doing at the time. Your boyfriend may have a particular idea of what he wants in a board.

[IB_Surfer]

What city you in?

[billie_morini]

Here's what I would do:
1) get an old beater surf board or cut one out of a large piece of cardboard
2) tape a gift certificate obtained from a board shaper or surf shop to it
3) wrap it in Christmas season paper
4) place wrapped present under tree

This takes all the guess work out of it and still provides fun and excitment

[dtc]

Great suggestion Billie.

Cut out a 10ft mal shape in cardboard and wrap it up and then see his eyes panic as he tries to think of how to tell you oh so nicely that he doesnt think its the right board for him ...

[jaffa1949]

This weeks winner of the great girlfriend award is Candace418

[55funsurf]

I am browsing the forum before bed and hoping to get back in the water tomorrow....wow, what a post...yep agree with all of the above...

Fantastic gesture...but dont rush out and try to pick a board....the gift voucher ider is great and hopefully you can go with him and enjoy watching hin drool over a whole heap of boards before he picks one....

But I would also add, see if you can get some info out of him as to 'if he was going to buy a board' where does he think he would get it.....A gift voucher is good, but even better if its at a shop where there is a great selection of boards....I dont mean to make things more complicated, but if you can get an idea of where he would likely shop then you will increase the chances of a great outcome....