Desert Storm surfboard

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caml started the topic in Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 2:06pm

Discussion about the
"Desert Storm" shaped by Wayne Webster
Ridden and designed by the "Camel"

caml's picture
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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 2:20pm

For a complete list of size & dimensions of this model have a look on webbys website in the guns section . This design came about initially because webby was shaping guns for grant twig baker . The boards had a great amount of volume so I was attracted to getting one for myself . As I talked to webby I found he was open to customising the design toward what I wanted , deviating away from twigs shapes . Pretty soon webby released the desert storm seeing they were working incredibly well for what I wanted to do in the waves I surf . Some of the influential factors of the design is based off old school profiles of brewers , col smith newy & michael peterson single fin rockers & profiles . Paddle speed necessary to catch sucky big waves , safety blunt rounded nose & tails . Glassing made to last & not ding or snap .

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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 2:32pm

Combining the old school features with modern tail rockers & quad fin setups have taken the boards to next level wave riding for me & the other surfers who have got them have said they are working great not to mention mostly paddle speed . Ok gf & nochaser your qs answered now ; gf mostly I use quads & the wide tail fits well but tri fin will work too but most of the design & surfing has been dine with quad . But it must be noted that this design was used as a widowmaker style way back in indo when I was riding wide tailed / flat rockered tuberider orientated boards . So theres no rule as to what u must fin it with . Fin Boxes give the option . Nochaser the 6"10 im talkin about is designed for serious barrells like teahupoo at 4-8 ft ( for older chargers ) 20 wide 3 1/8 thick .

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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 2:43pm

When webby made them avaliable to anyone I was unsure if other surfers would like them . Just because I did doesn't mean everyone's going to . But have been stoked to find out that all the other DS made have worked well . It was never my idea to make available a model but thats what webby did . Im just really happy to be able to get on shapes that allow me to ride waves how i want & have really good boards underfoot .There are some slightly unique influences in the features of this design ; finless alaia & bodyboard riding has given me insights to cross reference with the way crafts slide across water & are incorporated subtly into the basis of the shape .

goofyfoot's picture
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goofyfoot Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 2:56pm

Cheers for the reply camel, can't wait to get it in the water

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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 3:05pm

Yeah Cheers for having a go I hope it works for you . Feel free to ask anything about the design or tweaks for your personal custom . I love to rave about design .P.s. I didnt actually enjoy having the thread named " caml " so thought I would start a new one that I felt happier about contributing to . & with all the stuff posted on the forums lately mentioning DS worth a discussion

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goofyfoot Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 3:15pm

Yeah fair enough.
I've never ordered a custom board over 7'0 so I wasn't to sure about what I wanted when it came to a gun so I've been undecided for a while but I liked the outline and thickness in the ds and what you have said about it all seems to make sense so I decided to go with that. And I've just left the finer details up to webby
Now the hard bit is waiting a month to get it!

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Dingdoctor Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 3:17pm

How do you think the 6'10 will turn camel?
Is that part of the thinking or is it purely barrel chasing etc?

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udo Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 3:27pm

Caml ,Pistol Pete rides a desert storm ?

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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 3:41pm

Dd that particular 6"10 is modelled down from my favorite 7"6 , that boards is working great in 6-10 ft tubes , heavy sucky tubes of oz that is , 7"6 has 53 litres so we shortened its length & reduced 3 litres . Im sure it will feel very turnable if im regularly mixing it with bigger longer guns . It was never designed for hot doggy ripping tho just for solid 5-8ft tubes approximately . I like to mix up using big boards regularly & then when jump back to under 7"0 they feel super loose . Its a seasonal thing too , in winter when the swells are big I ride plenty days on a 8-9-10 ft board . But summer much shorter lengths . In future I hope to have board for turns under 6"10 , like 6"4 - 6"8 that are lighter weight glass & less volume for turns

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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 3:42pm
udo wrote:

Caml ,Pistol Pete rides a desert storm ?

Petey has been on 2 ds lately

Dingdoctor's picture
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Dingdoctor Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 4:16pm

Cheers camel. Looking for a step up myself and like the design idea.

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freeride76 Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 6:21pm

Not sure what the volume is on mine Caml.
You've got ten kilos and a few inches on me, so mine is 3 inches thick, same width.

I wouldn't call 7'6" a gun, more a mini-gun but I'm hoping it'll slay the big outside paddle when Lenny Point is ten foot with 20 knots of sideshore wind and some big outside roping walls and 4-5knots of current running down the Point. I'll get the DS right out wide and then hook it in to the Point.

Hopefully it'll paddle into a few at CB in September.

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udo Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 6:26pm

Freeride are you a Futures , Fcs or glass on man.

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freeride76 Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 6:36pm

I've got all FCS or glass ons , this'll be the first board I've ever had with futures.

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caml Monday, 13 Jul 2015 at 6:45pm

Sure fr . Sounds like u have a plan for it .

Roy Stuart's picture
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Roy Stuart Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 8:51am

Lot's of good sense from Caml, the DS sounds like a great board.

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velocityjohnno Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 4:04pm

Caml, this is basically the thread I was looking for on the 'Caml' thread, discussion about the boards and the way they are ridden. I was going to ask you about the Brewer influence as I had read his guns from the golden age had heaps of beef in the nose. My interest piqued as these ingredients are basically in my first board 6'6" Brothers Neilsen single fin, and for some strange reason I just keep coming back to ride it. I do love the paddle in with all the beef under the chest. Now time to go bigger as I age and surf bigger waves (relative term), I don't have to do it on a 6'5" any more! Its nice to get in early. Cheers for all your words before, and to those guys who are getting them, enjoy.

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caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 4:31pm

Yeah vj , I never got rid of some of the old singley finners & like the paddle speed , also like how you can separate yourself from crowds by using different shapes for different waves with unpopular wind Conditions , ie fresh offshore / cross offshores . Higher or lower tide than the norm etc . Thinking outside the box to catch some decent waves anyway . After snapping plenty of boards in the years of buying 2nd handies eventually decided it be a lot cheaper in long run to buy a few custom made with double the glass . I realized I wasnt gunna do contests / pro / airs stuff and realized a board can last 30 yrs easy ! Fixing dings began to piss me orf too . Its been a working progress & now have a few boards all a foot apart in length & its workin well . There is plenty waves to be had even tho I dont do many turns I still feel happy to ride waves espe without obstacles in the road

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Roy Stuart Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 5:42pm

Lol at not doing turns there's a video I saw of you caml in this massive long left tube, an incredible wave. Some joker posted that you weren't turning I thought wtf as you were constantly on the move, just longer arcs and such, anyone would be stoked out of their melon to have ridden that wave as you did. Turns aren't just hacks necessarily.

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udo Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 6:25pm

The Norwest Barrell ? Caml what board were you riding in that pit ?

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southey Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 7:52pm

i asked him this the other day . apparently was a 7'2 Rosie tri fin , concave . not custom

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caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 8:41pm

It was a custom but a custom where the shaper does his own shape without a great deal of input from the surfer

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caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 8:53pm

Nevertheless the board worked good with a single concave

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caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 8:58pm
Roy Stuart wrote:

Lol at not doing turns there's a video I saw of you caml in this massive long left tube, an incredible wave. Some joker posted that you weren't turning I thought wtf as you were constantly on the move, just longer arcs and such, anyone would be stoked out of their melon to have ridden that wave as you did. Turns aren't just hacks necessarily.

roy thats right I saw that comment about nit doing a turns ! That comment didn't really matter & neither did the film of tha barrell . Becos theymissed the first hundred metres ... take off and first tube was good enough let alone the second tube ...

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southey Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 9:00pm

custom for you , or was this in the stage where you were picking up 2nd hand boards in good nick .
did you have assymetric fins in ie : smaller right , larger trailing ?

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caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 9:07pm

It was made for me but the first or 2nd custom Nathan did for me . But when it comes to custom shapes there was a lot of potential for what I was trying to get at & the desert storm is a very good blend of my radical ideas crossed with a really good shapers ideas . I had to explore far & wide to find a shaper who would make what I was trying to get . When I saw the twiggy model I started from there & Webby allowed me to develop it much further

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caml Tuesday, 14 Jul 2015 at 9:12pm
southey wrote:

custom for you , or was this in the stage where you were picking up 2nd hand boards in good nick .
did you have assymetric fins in ie : smaller right , larger trailing ?

No it's not that era of 2nd hand boards it was when I started to buy a long lasting board about 4 yrs ago

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Wharfjunkie Wednesday, 15 Jul 2015 at 8:04am

Caml thanks for the insight into these boards mate. Looking at them on Websters website at the moment they look good. Not sure on what your height and weight is but for a bloke who's closer to the 100kg mark looking to surf say 6-8ft down the line point break style waves and the odd trip to indo to surf say 6ft waves in the ments maybe a bit bigger if I feel confident. Would something like the 8ft model work? I would be looking for those advantages you mention in plenty of paddle power for early wave entry.

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caml Thursday, 16 Jul 2015 at 1:06pm

Wj I can't say what size board you might like . Do you have a certain volume u might want ? Not everyone is same so theres lots of factors that might determine what length you would ride .

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udo Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 4:14pm

This one Caml ?

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caml Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 4:39pm

Thank you udo . Well searched . The glassing is often 3 deck & 3 bottom . If its a small lightweight for small waves 6ft slabs its 2 & 2 instead of 3s . Im talking 6oz cloth , as for the stringer I use a little light weight ply . Hope that helps goofy

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udo Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 4:52pm

Caml do you ever break boards ? have to be a No or very rare with those lam ups.
Glassed to last .........Bullshit - Glassed for life.

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caml Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 5:00pm

Never ever breaking ones I have had glassed to my request . All the boards I break are ones that I didn't get a say in its glass up . So no not customs but yes standard brands often break immediately so I consider them "disposable" replicas

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goofyfoot Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 6:09pm

Thanks Caml, yeah just curious. I'm getting 6+6 top and bottom. 1 inch stringer. Hoping to have it for a loooong time

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caml Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 7:16pm

Im not sure how a big stringer will work how long da board ? Good luck with it I hope you like it

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goofyfoot Thursday, 27 Jul 2017 at 11:06am

I would of thought it would strengthen the blank? You don't agree?

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caml Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 9:47pm

If its a good piece of wood then its gonna be strong & give the board a spine of immense stiffness that you wont get if you were totally stringer less . I want my board to flex abit so I go with a bit of wood just enough to help it get glassed & shaped easier . I have no proof its any better & I dont claim its better . Im just going with my instincts when I comes to all my board adjustments . I heard gary linden talking up balsa guns & their stiffness how it works thru chop etc driving . My idea comes from experiences body boarding & needing flex on steep hollow waves Etc

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caml Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 at 10:06pm

A stringers as good as it's weakest point . Mick pierce would probably grow his own stringers and mill em so yeah good stuff . It could be a vicco thing possibly adapted for down the line waves ? I mean MC aswell & the local gun shapers use big stringers & long leggys too , much longer than what I have used by a metre or so

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crustt Monday, 24 Aug 2015 at 10:15am

Goofy, I am making a cover right now for a mick pierce 10'7" it has a 1 inch redwood stringer, it is a piece of art. I was having a conversation about it to my mate who shapes my boards and he is not so keen on 1 thick stringer as like camel says if it has a weak point that's it, he has a preference for triple stringers as there can be weak spots in one and the other ones will save the day. Same amount of wood but the load distributed into 3 stringers.
Camel , how does having a stringer help with shaping? Webster boards are computer shaped? A high number of blanks have a curve in the stringer, a number of my boards have a pencil line in the last couple of feet of the tail to show the true center line so the fins can be set properly, there are a lot of boards out there that the fins are set to the string and not the real center, so they're not quite right.

Goofy, how come you didn't go local and get your board off of Mick? Price tag?

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caml Monday, 24 Aug 2015 at 10:29am

Blank gets a bit bendy without a stringer so shaping & glassing is more accurate if it holds form . Computers shapes then finished by hands still gotta be cut by tools either way crustt .good point about the stringer offline central . Definitely worth taking notice of the wood straightness

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caml Monday, 24 Aug 2015 at 10:33am

If I glassed the board mysel it would have staggered cloth in diamond shapes with smaller stringer . And epoxy resin . But I dont have that luxury so its just standard glass but double or triple layers . Theyre pretty strong , not often u get a ding

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goofyfoot Thursday, 27 Jul 2017 at 11:06am

Hey crustt,
Yeah Mick makes great boards.

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freeride76 Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 2:35pm

Got the new 7'6" DS this morning. Feels unreal under the arm. Very Brewer-esque. Forward outline, paddling machine.
Webby is a pleasure to deal with.

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stunet Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 2:46pm

Whack a few pics up Steve.

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caml Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 4:20pm

Breweresque hey ! Very complimentary wording fr76 . Hows the weight of it & what did u get it glassed with ?

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freeride76 Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 4:41pm

Feels just a beesdick lighter than your 7'6" that was there when I ordered mine.
From memory 6x6 bottom and 6x6x4 top.

Gunna go drop some jewie fillets over to his place as a thank-you.

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udo Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 5:10pm

Love to know its weight ...could you weigh it ?

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udo Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 5:12pm

.

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stunet Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 5:51pm

It's a special feeling stacking something like that into the board rack, eh? Unlike the HPS biscuits that you chew through every six months a board like that is the basis for a relationship. Open the shed in 5 years, or in 10 years, and it'll - hopefully! - still be sitting there waiting for the next once-a-year day at the point.

The kinda board you have meaningful sessions on, that's a character in the stories that are worth retelling.

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southey Thursday, 27 Aug 2015 at 6:22pm
goofyfoot wrote:

Hey crustt,
Yeah Mick makes amazing boards imo. I already have a smaller gun off him which is a beautiful board, like you say the y are works of art.
Good point about the stringer, I had never thought about that.
I decided to go with a Webster this time because two or three other mates have got boards a similar length off him and were really happy with them.
Micks boards do cost a little bit more but they are all hand made so you would expect the price to be a bit higher. In saying that, if some one was considering a Mick Pierce board I wouldn't let the price tag put you off. They truly are beautiful surfboards.

Not just beautiful highly functional . ( a little like Mick himself ) haha .
I've been riding his boards for near on 15 years , shorties , tube pigs , mini guns , guns .
The key is he was always on the higher more functional volume path , that is now becoming all the rage . Infact on occasion i had to plead with him to give me one or two thinner than he recommended .
Its all about the shapes and lines , surely lately many people are looking for " one off art pieces " off him , but they go just as good in the barrel as they would look on the wall .
Myself i've always gone the plain white path , with maybe tinted custom fins or a pin stripe .
Where ever i go i always get complimentary comments on their lines by other surfer shapers .
Mick is a barrel hound , still at his higher age , and hence if you want someone to shape you a board for such waves then yeah i can't recommend them more highly . I've only snapped two of the dozen or so boards i've got off him ( and each time it was my fault ) , i also still ride some of the older ones depending on the conditions ( much to his dismay as he is always on about how he's still improving the performance every season ) . Camel he has done the diamond cross weave laminations for me , and i'm pretty sure he would do you one with a light stringer , not so sure on the epoxy , but maybe MC would help him out or even glass your shape if you requested . He also does alot of single , fin box custom setups and has for as long as i can remember , might be time you two caught up and tried one ?! . He's almost finished his own Rhino chaser and would probably jump at the chance of having a solid paddle together , if ya nagged him .