Best Barrel Riding Boards

Hey 34th personally I like my hollow wave boards to be diamond tail quads for the hold and speed, the amount of rocker you want if somewhat personal preference but to a certain point the more rocker the easier it is to make the drop. And in the winter the weight of a suit can make a difference so I usually ride a slightly larger board which for me i going from a 5'5" to a 5'7".

 

yea its 19.5" by 2 3/4"

 

need a little more info on the dimensions and shapes of each board. but best barrel riding boards are typically pin/rounded pin tails, an inch or two longer than your normal SB, a little more foam under your chest to get you in early, and a little more rocker.

If you need speed, and its truly a "straight line" type of wave, go with a quad. if not, go one size up in the fins you are using, and upgrade if you are using stock fiberglass fins.

oh, and this is all highly technical advice. no offense, but if you don't already know this, your skills aren't of the level where it will matter.

95% of the surfers, in 95% of the waves, don't need the board i just described.

 

thickness, and where the wide point of the board is. high performance boards typically have the wide point of the board in the back 50% of the board. allows the board to pivot off it. The further forward the wide point is, the stiffer the board gets. But, the further forward the wide point is, the more foam you get under your chest, and the straighter line it will draw. look back at all those Lopez/Lightning bolt boards from the 70's that were built for Pipe and Mexican beach breaks. very drawn in tails, big, wide front ends.

look for a board that has a larger thickness, but has a domed deck. basically, its very thick in the middle, but it does not carry to the rails. still get high performance rails, but you get extra foam under your chest for paddling.

and also, no matter what your skill level, having the right board will always help. but don't focus on it too much. Just make sure you don't have a board that will hold you back, (like some wide, stub nose fish in hollow waves), rather than focusing on getting that board that will make you better (cause that doesn't exist).

 

sorry, but for some reason the first few sentences of that message was cut off, so it obviously doesn't make sense

 

Great thread. 34, good topic and question to pose. fins and the others, thanks for quality responses. gaff, that stick is a beauty, good pictorial.

Let's get more of these gems and less conspiracy theories. We can keep the banter in between for fun.

Is debating the best barrel boards during summer flatness anything like comparing pin-up girls three weeks into a 6-month submarine trip? I may have to put my frequent flyer miles together and get somewhere for a few days where they don't speak English. I've been sprinting with weights on the ocean floor to prepare.

 

For hunting elusive beachbreak tubes a longboard is best.

 

glad to hear it!
that coil is sick!

 

depends on the wave! narrow/low high volume med rocker for lower tide stuff

 

I would just like to add that I get barreled on my 9'6 all the time.

 

Hot ride dude, MD is the man!

 

I either ride my Widerboard quad (5'10" x 19.75 x 2.33 .93 cf) with pc5 and gxq trailers unless it's bumpy and/or over a couple feet overhead then I break out my step up JS thruster (6'6" x 18.25 x 2.25 probably .80 cf?) with future Vector II's.

 

And Gaff, I'm going to hit you up if the Wife and I end up going to Encinitas to visit my little sis this year. Make sure there's waves 'cause I NEED to fondle that Qualifier!

BTW, am I seeing the 1.10 cf volume correctly? I thought it had more if that's the case.

 

I agree...getting barreled on a fast solid wave on a longboard is an amazing feeling. So much momentum guideing a nine foot board really fast down the line and through a barrel section. Surprisingly easy to do as well.