Boards for 2019

[Howly Wolf]

Cool board, Spent. I dig the electric orange-- reminds me of a UFO I once saw over Mt. Shasta that... wait no, gotta focus! Airbrush is always a good choice too, since resin tints can compromise the glass job over time.

Heard that Murdey is back in action. I take it that the paint jobs/tints won't be as readily available since he's no longer glassing, but not 100% on that. Doesn't really matter because performance > aesthetic always.

Hopefully there's a groveler somewhere in my future, but for now I'm stoked on my new old shuler longboard. I've heard a few pros and coaches recommend logging as a way of enhancing all around performance, so I appreciate that Lanny's design adds more rocker and a bit of spiral vee to increase responsiveness from the tail. It finds a nice middle ground between LB & SB and I'm already noticing improvement in action-- looking further down the line, aiming for the wave's energy source, maintaining awareness of weight distribution and setting the rail, and being more mindful of my wave selection. Slowing down provides a bit more time to make adjustments and try new technique, as well as tune into the flow of the wave and groove with it. Only problem is I might get lazy, so good thing it's nowhere nearly as thrilling as my Murdey step, although it's plenty fun for the waves it suits.

[Major Lazer]

I think you will like that LB Howly. Trying to SB outside of BH's go to can be an exercise in frustration esp living so far from the surf not really having a pulse on the sand and windows. I LB'd more than I ever have last summer on family outings surfing with my kids that were planed around weather and those spurts of warmer water vs. swell and found it quite challenging. In fact I found it quite relaxing enjoying the beach in a new and different ways not worrying or driving all over sniffing out SBable or fishy peak, dealing with whiney locals, and just settling for whats easy and right there.

Down to 3 utility boards.... 5'9"quad fish, 6' double winged swallow flat rockered low end SB, and a 6'3" round pin hybrid HPSB for a semi step up. LB mentioned above is on a sort of permanent loan. Been kinda contemplating a HP groveler, but not sure 60 or so sessions with a handful or more of those just maintenance warrants more than the boards I have. Not to mention surfboards are really expensive now! Remember when you could grab a CI or Rusty off the rack for 300 bones and get local custom for even cheaper. If anything thinking for motivation now that we are going into the spring months.

[Howly Wolf]

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/spo ... 42590.html

All time craigslist deal, right here. Might offer up $5 just to check this out.

[Major Lazer]

Legit kook box!

[Major Lazer]

On another note looks like the Murdey fire sale was doused as some kid from Floriaduh bought the glass shop. Blessing in disguise I presume with an uptick in orders from the big scare...

[Spent]

Got the freshie wet on Sunday in some pretty dire conditions. Performed as expected. Got some really big fins for it. Basically twines with tiny trailers (instead of a more trad quad set up). Definitely turns nice in weak waves and you can get up front and cruise through tiny inside sections too without bogging or pearling. Mush masher for sure.

[Major Lazer]

Wasn't going to but I did. May have jinxed April waves with new board curse. With a handful of surfs glad I bought in to the Biolos kool-aid once again. Potential details to come....

[Howly Wolf]

. With a handful of surfs glad I bought in to the Biolos kool-aid once again..

...

Squash or rounded pin? Those retro rippers look sweet; glad it lives up to the hype.

[Major Lazer]

Rad has the squash, Retro the round. Rad for small sub par avg, Retro good to step waves. Its a wide single winged squash. Had the LIB...Lost PJ with a similar tail a few years ago and liked it. I typically don't gravitate towards squashs, but have liked them on wide tail blocks on grovlers.

[Howly Wolf]

Major, you mentioned the Lib x Lost PJ at one point. Care to offer your opinion on that design? PJ's said to be THE small wave performance board, however, whenever I see folks surf them around here they seem frustrated. That of course may say more about them than the board itself, but I do wonder if that board jives with average OR beach break?

[Major Lazer]

I bought a Lost..xLIB PJ when they 1st came out. Surfed it for about a year and a half and then sold it to a Bender who was going to use it on the river wave. Only sold it because I just wanted something new and had beat it up including dinging it, yes they do ding in some circumstances mine being a landing on a barnacle encrusted rock trying to float a section over it which I had done several time prior. Deck also dented in pretty good, but the board was so fast and light I was finding myself popping more credit cards airs than usual.

Board surfed Oregon and greater PNW waves great. The March I had in the rotation the Cove right was set up as good as it gets with that inside black water little tuber section. It lit up there from battling the usual LBers to catching it and getting in to cutting back and maintaining speed through the fat mushy mid-section to setting up and threading the inside ramp that was throwing some quick cover ups or providing a good lip for some grindage. Surfed the other and not so lined up beach breaks quite well and handled some size too. It would occasionally wash out on engaged turns, but was pretty responsive and loved tight quick little pocket snaps like you might find on the lefts at Shorites. I tended to like it set up as a quad. So all and all a pretty good all-around board leaning toward smaller to mid-range surf with excellent durability.

It was the original LIB Tech build before the black stringer….. super light and durable as well as pretty corky. Their tech is def more buoyant than poly and even more so than standard EPS which is also more buoyant than poly. So keep that in mind when sizing, but with the PJ model that extra float was not an issue where the Short Round another Lib lost I had, it was not so good. Since then they have changed their tech as people complained it was to light and corky. When I bought my most recent board this spring I went in to Gorge to check out the PJHP, but it felt heavy to me. I guess every boards weight and flex can have some variation, but if you could find an older one for sale used with a wood stringer…….

This new model currently has my eye and once they introduce Future boxes, which is apparently soon I’ll defiantly always have LIB board in the quiver.

[Spent]

The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds

[Major Lazer]

Wait what you haven't ordered another board?

[Howly Wolf]

Thanks for the comprehensive review, ML-- sounds like it lives up to the hype. Found a deal on a used Lost PJ that looks to have taken a few punches to the gut, but in decent condition overall. Dims match personal preferences and what volume calculators confirm, but haven't had it in me to drink the kool aid. Might take a shot if the stars align. Regardless, I really appreciate the in-depth perspective; I try not to blame (or credit) boards for other people's performance, but given the differences between our region and SoCal, figured it was worth a bit more local perspective at least.

[Major Lazer]

Cool. Yeah I find that most every design I have had from Mayhem, esp the small wave variant have translated very well to the waves up here. His small wave designs are pretty hard to beat. And yes our waves have their unique nuances here, but beach breaks are beach breaks in the end and there are there are a lot of quirky beacheis in SoCal as well.