This really annoys me sometimes

[ken]

Why do boardshorts have to be soooooo expensive!! £50 for a pair of shorts!!! i wouldn't spend that on a pair of jeans never mind shorts!!!

Sorry just a small rant

[northswell]

My price point ones start at £30

[scuba steve]

They're turning into mini wetsuits with all there blind stiched seams and other crap, that with the added brand names = £££
It's weird though considering the majority of people who buy them nowadays don't surf in them, they just wear them around the place or swim in them.

[essex sucks]

i payed £6 a pair for quicksilvers so i got myself 10 pairs
will never see that again

[Bub]

If you're buying surfing name brand board shorts, for the most part your paying about 100% markup (or more) just for style points. The material might be thicker/more durable than generic swim-shorts as well. I think mainly though your just paying for the name and that its a "specialty" item.

If you don't care about impressing anyone, go to Walmart and get a pair of generic shorts for $10-$20. So what if the colors fade or they rip after a few months (they probably won't rip unless your scraping along reefbeds frequently). Anyone who tells you that you'll surf better if you buy "real/name brand" surfer board shorts is dillusional....or a shifty shop owner trying to make a buck (no offense to surf shop owners...just those who might lie to their customers to gain easy profit, I have issue with that from any type retail store owner/salesman).

[libby]

Got some great "swim" shorts from Primark for £3, no different to boardies at all and none of the branding all over them. Bought lots of pairs of boardies in NZ though, much cheaper over there!

[soops]

I buy summer kit in winter and winter stuff in summer.

Most of my kit has been about half price even for branded stuff... boardies £20, wetsuits £80, decent boots £15 just because i buy out of season.

[O_Danny_Boy]

ebay my friend

[thaya]

I know what you mean. I've only got one pair of board shorts and I got them in a sale for just under £30 and I thought THAT was really expensive - but I absolutely HAD to get them because they fit sooooooooooo well and nowhere ever stocks size14's, they all stop at 12 (some of us are big and beautiful ). They are cute and pink too...

I recently discovered that New Look does some kinda cute own brand ones for about £10 (and in all sizes!) but I haven't bought any cuz I don't really need any...

I guess you just have to look for a bargin or try unknown/ cheap makes.

[soops]

I guess you just have to look for a bargin or try unknown/ cheap makes.

Exactly, but dont forget; Its only a bargain if you wanted it in the first place.

More pearls of wisdom from sooperhands next week

[Otter]

Sheet, they call them board shorts in Kansas... what's up with that? Just another way of exploiting the surf craze.

Birdwell's Beach Britches

Buy 'em online.

[northswell]

Not been funny here but you do have to pay for a bit more quality too.

Got a young stude comes in the shop, ooh not paying £20 for a pair of sandals, but admitted that he goes through two/three pair of primark shite a year. My reefs £17 are on there third summer.

I know i have a vested interest but Primark is cheap crappy market stuff. you are partly paying for the name but the quality is so much different, you wouldn't buy a heap of car that looked good from a dodgy second hand car salesman cos you know it will fall apart, thats what places like primark and new look are.

[northswell]

Oh and if i was really trying to make a point, everyone bangs on about the exploiotation of the workers in the factories in the far east, on the margins that discount stores work to what are the wages of the people who work in the factories.

A pair off George sandals at £1.99, whats the wage to the poor kid producing them?

[thaya]

Not been funny here but you do have to pay for a bit more quality too.

Got a young stude comes in the shop, ooh not paying £20 for a pair of sandals, but admitted that he goes through two/three pair of primark shite a year. My reefs £17 are on there third summer.

I know i have a vested interest but Primark is cheap crappy market stuff. you are partly paying for the name but the quality is so much different, you wouldn't buy a heap of car that looked good from a dodgy second hand car salesman cos you know it will fall apart, thats what places like primark and new look are.

maybe alot of their stuff is cheap and crappy BUT that's not always the case... I have to admit I can think of about 10 main items of my clothing that i bought from "cheap" type shops and they've lasted at least 5 years (with constant wear) and still look like new whereas I treated myself to a billabong top last year and after 2/3 washes it had become shapeless and totally unwearable Maybe these are just rare examples... but then the ultra comfy "animal" flip flops (which I got cheap in a winter sale, but nothing wrong with them) have fallen apart after less than a year of wear.....

[northswell]

Its not just that, places like Primark, well actually not them in particular, they sell cheap xxxxx and aren't ashamed, but tkmax etc. are the real ones screwing people like me.

[paulS]

Had my reef,quiksilver sandals for 4 years...few pairs of billabong/quiksilver boardies for longer and all still in good nick.... look better and feel better than cheaper stuff IMO....

I'll always pay extra for quality....im not gonna grumble at paying £20 for a pair of reefs that cost me so far 5 quid a year...or shorts that i'll wear most days in the summer costing me £40 and still look brand new 4 years later.....pay for what you get....plus id rather give my money to a local store .........

[Bub]

I guess for most young adults, the style matters, I used to have a few pairs of O'neil and Billabong board shorts back when I was around 17-18 years old. Now that I'm an official old fart (35), I'm really just content to pull the oldest pair of shorts out of my dressar drawer that I can find and will wear them surfing/bodyboarding. As long as they don't fall down around my ankles that is the only quality issue I need. I guess I don't see the type of shorts your wearing as having any material impact to your success at surfing. Just my opinion. I'd rather save/spend my money on a good quality board or wetsuit etc...something that actually matters.

[FlyinHawaiian0627]

I cant really say that my board shorts are gettin used more than one summer because im still growin or whatever but theres a sweet store near me called TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshalls that all sell name brand boardies for all under like 25, I got my O'neill super freaks for 19.99 and some quiksilvers for 15. I live in Tybee and I know all those stores are chains so they gotta be in other parts of the united states but like i also get like billabong/quiksilver/O'neill/Hurley and all those companies in shirts and theyre all 9.99 and if you do what i do, buy the kids x-large in quiksilver which is huge for 6.99 and i think ive seen like ripcurl/o'neill/quiksilver/billabong and those companies in boardshorts. I just dont understand why those clothes are so cheap there when if you go to a surf shop or pacsun theyre like 25 shirts and 50 dollar boardshorts

[Milo]

Come on guys any shorts will do so long as they are long anough to stop you ripping out all your pubbs out

[Sar]

I hear what you're saying there Northswell. Buy cheap buy twice as my ma used to say

I cannot stand shops like Primark/tkmaxx - just personal taste, take too long to find anything decent and then after shopping for ages I walk out empty handed - thankfully have learned my lesson compared to when I used to buy something rubbish so I didnt go home empty handed. I just filled a charity bag again today with clothes that still have the label on them cos they were a bad buy and I never got round to taking them back I have a few quality items that I splashed out on and have worn/washed them over and over and they're still good for a couple of years. I dont like to pay for the label but I am happy to pay for the quality mentioned in previous posts. I can never be sure about how the items are made though with regards to ethics - higher high street price doesnt always necessarily mean everyone gets paid fairly

£50 sounds a lot for a pair of boardies but if they last you long enough and you really like them than its better than buying 2 at £25 that last you less than a year and you only half like imo