New Surfboard
I go through phases on how often i get a new board depending a lot on how much money i have at the time or these days how much money the wife lets me spend on boards.
Plus I also go through periods of loving my surfing or loving my boards to times where i still surf but its more about just doing it rather than frothing on it and may not get a new board until i realise how stale my surfing has become and i need to spice it up with a new board.
I also tend to hold onto boards i love and surf them to death, while other boards i don't click with i turn over, in the past ive gone through periods where im just constantly going from one board to the next, everything looks good in the dimensions, shape bottom contours etc, but i just don't click with the board, so on she goes.
Im also always on the look out for bargains brand new or almost new boards in the second hand racks.
See the Firewire thread for what im currently riding, im a three board quiver man, currently all three boards are FW,s but it doesn't mean i wouldn't buy another board brand, and wouldn't mind giving diverse a go.
Although dont think, actually i know i will never buy a PU board again (apart from vintage boards)
All that said id say i average one a year...
But um actually in the last year and a half ive got three new or almost new boards and the year before that i went through about three boards...
But i tell my wife just one board a year and ive promised her next year there will be no new ones, i had to tell her that so i could get my most recent summer groveller board.
Thanks for clarifying time frames. This is good feedback to show my wife!! She doesn't understand why I purchased 2 new boards last year. When you get stale you'll return to P/U. Never say never
he he good luck
You know ive thought about this a lot if i will ever go back to PU and i honestly don't think i will mostly because i cant afford to keep a quiver of PU boards going and i dont feel a big difference between the two.
People often say how different epoxy feels but to me im not sure if it feels that much different, I've ridden one of those surf tech things and yes they feel different, very stiff and in chop you really feel it, but with my FW,s even with a different stringer system i don't feel a huge difference, i don't buy into the negative epoxy thing about them, but at the same time i don't buy into the because there epoxy, parabolic rails blah blah blah that they go better.
For me they just feel similar to a PU board i think shape and design factors are more important for performance.
That said it would be really interesting to get say a exactly the same design and dimensions in PU and then in FST to compare, some of those lost mayhems are produced in both PU and FST.
In the past I would buy up to 2 boards a year. Like indo-dreaming if the board didn't click it was gone very quickly. To find that magic board I went from brand to brand, all pre-shaped variations on the same theme. A few years back I stumbled on a guy who hand shapes boards and for reasons I don't fully understand it all clicked. I now have an ever expanding quiver of different shaped boards from this shaper. All keepers.
I should add that I now get stronger glassing on my boards and that has radically improved their life. Some of my boards must be over 3 years old and they are still in great condition. I'm not sure why guys go for light glass when they can double the life of their boards (or more) by going a little heavier with the cloth.
about every 3 months i get a new one. i only get one layer on 4 ounce glass on the top and bottom so them seem to fall appart pretty easy.
Rattle do you still get 2 boards a year or has this slowed since you have strengthened the glass job?
Mrs BP are you sponsored?
Rattle who's your shaper
I surely am not
I normally get light glass jobs on my groveller board as you rarely surf them in waves of consequence. But I always get a good glass job on my gun or step up board cause you end up chuck them more often. This has worked fairly well for me over the last 10 years or so.
If board strength is a concern Murray Bourton puts a lot of energy and thought into the longevity of his boards by utilizing diagonal laid glass and good use of carbon reinforcement.
Pollo how many boards a year?
I only broke 1 board in the last year and that was my gun. I broke a fish a few years back that was the heavy glassed as I buried into the sandbank on a closeout reo. The other thing I have done lately is always use a long leggie ie 8ft ish when its solid to cut done on the stretch factor when you chuck it.
I'm interested to know how often people purchase a new board. Some people seem to ride the same board until it falls apart whilst others rock up with a new board once a month. Shapers love these people.