Gear Questions from a Kook

Looking for some basic gear advice from the collective - got bitten by the surf bug pretty hard and am hoping to spend some time this fall getting into it.

Wetsuit:
What's recommended for a fairly versatile cold water wetsuit? I plan to be in Tofino for 7-10 days starting next week, and will probably spend a similar amount of time on the Oregon coast en route to California in late Sept. early October. 4/3 thickness? Does brand matter? Zip style? I'm willing to pony up a bit for something decent - would $250 get me there? Would take a rec on booties/gloves/hood but will likely take what I can find used for those items.

Board:
This doesn't seem as important as a wetsuit to me - I assume anything 8' or bigger will be sufficient for a 160lb noob. True or false? Any leads on used boards in the Vancouver area would be appreciated.

If you want a do it all wetsuit for PNW a 5/4. Most people use that year round.
I use a 6/5/4 in the winter and a hooded 4/3 in the summer. I recommend a suit with a hood built in.
Gloves and booties. Most people do 5mm in both year round. Lots go gloveless in the heat of summer.
I do 3mm in those in the summer. 7mm booties and 5mm gloves in the winter.

Brand doesn't matter. Fit does. I like chest zip. Less water flushing.

Board. You want a 9 foot+ longboard. Anyone who tells you to learn on anything else is out to lunch. You'll spend more time standing up on more waves and therefore progress faster. If you are surfing infrequently it will take a couple years to progress to a shortish board and actually be able to surf it. If you are surfing every week you can do it a lot quicker.

Craigslist in Vancouver always has decent boards coming through.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atrain505

If you want a do it all wetsuit for PNW a 5/4. Most people use that year round.
I use a 6/5/4 in the winter and a hooded 4/3 in the summer. I recommend a suit with a hood built in.
Gloves and booties. Most people do 5mm in both year round. Lots go gloveless in the heat of summer.
I do 3mm in those in the summer. 7mm booties and 5mm gloves in the winter.

Brand doesn't matter. Fit does. I like chest zip. Less water flushing.
.

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Fit matters. A TON. I use O'Neill because they tend to fit me well. Think about it like ski boots, some brands fit different people better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Atrain505

Board. You want a 9 foot+ longboard. Anyone who tells you to learn on anything else is out to lunch. You'll spend more time standing up on more waves and therefore progress faster. If you are surfing infrequently it will take a couple years to progress to a shortish board and actually be able to surf it. If you are surfing every week you can do it a lot quicker.

Craigslist in Vancouver always has decent boards coming through.

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I agree here too, although I don't think it HAS to be over 9 feet. 8.5 feet would probably work if there is enough volume. One of the biggest mistakes people make is going to a small board too fast. You want everything to be slow and gradual, that requires a big board. Also, a big board will be useful on small days if you do progress to something smaller. I learned in college, so late in life, and the people I knew who tried to learn on smaller boards gave it up, it's just too hard.

One of my best friends insists you can learn on a standard short board. He is a great surfer, grew up on the Big Island and started surfing when he was 7, but he is way off base. To be honest, a bunch of our friends have listened to him about learning on a short board and they have all, literally all of them, given it up. Learn on a long board. When our buddies would ask me I would be deferential, explaining that he knew far more than me and was a far better surfer than me, but that he was going STRONGLY against conventional wisdom. The problem is, everyone wants to shortboard, so when someone says you can learn on a small board that feeds into what they want to hear. It just ain't so. Like I said before, I have never seen anyone successfully learn on a small board at an advanced age. That does not mean it has not happened, I just have not seen it. I know my buddy meant well, and I like people who think outside the box, I just think he learned so early that he is very out of touch with what it is like to suck.

To keep hammering the nail, learn on a big board.

This is just one wettie I found with a quick search

Atrain knows better than I but if Florencia Bay closer to Ucluelet is working seems like a much nicer longboard wave for learning, in my experience anyway it seems to be more protected from the winds.

Otherwise many great options in Oregon, Short Sands being learner central and a nice place to hang out for the Portland crews.

I’m like you, just starting to pick it up more and more. I think you want to rent bunch of different suits and boards. Long time ago, I could squeeze in a youth suite so I bought a cheap used one... then I tried another size and it’s so much easier to get in and out. And not too much water got in... so I would rent at least one season before figuring out what you want.

Boards are same way. You want to try bunch of different boards first. Too many options even limiting the size “over 9”....


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Thanks dudes!

RE: Suits I tried on a bunch this week. Most XCELs fit the best, Rip Curls are OK to great depending on the model. I do think the higher end one's generally fit better. Bunch of good stuff on EVO right now - think this 4.5/3.5 Hooded is a good compromise and would get me from Oregon to Santa Cruz pretty comfortably or should I spring for a true 5/4 and maybe be hot in NorCal?

https://www.evo.com/wetsuits/xcel-45...ded-wetsuit-17

I'm currently in a rental Billabong 5/4 hoodless backzip (flushes occasionally). Comfy for me here in Tofino right now w/o gloves or booties. Maybe I'll try to swap for a 4/3 later in the week to get an idea where I land on running hot/cold. I run average to hot BC skiing but that's a bit different ballgame.

Board-wise I'm on a 9ft rental softy - sounds like they set me up right. No ego and I enjoy the learning curve so I'm happy to progress down in size slowly. I managed to find one website where a late-learning guy (OK not as late as me) described his board progression:

https://surfontario.ca/blogs/news/bo...rf-in-your-20s

I plan to be surfing daily from mid-Sept into November so hopefully I can step down in that time. Still a #kook tho in every way but etiquette - catching green waves straight on, will try to start getting down the line today.

North, I bought that same suit this year, the 4.5/3.5. Van Isle locals will say it makes for a perfect three season suit (spring/summer/fall). I used my buddies 5/4 Drylock for a few days before buying the 4.5. Reviews would have you believe that 4.5 to be as warm as the 5 but I do get cold easy and noticed a bit of a difference. I'm happy actually with that 4.5 and it does have a little more mobility. The one thing that annoys me is the face opening doesn't have the little chin guard like the 5 so the string from the cinch basically sits above my chin so not as comfortable...BUT, because the hood is thinner I can hear a lot better...pros/cons to each.

Since you're paying for a rental, I would just jump on a new suit right away instead of waiting for a sale price from the US. Somebody local will give you a deal, try Relic in Ucluelet, nice guys.

Good eats in Ucluelet too, Hank's Barbecue was awesome, and Abbondanza for pizza is rated very highly by BC locals. Except for the Brussel sprouts I was really disappointed in Shelter in Tofino after not being there for YEARS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robnow

This is just one wettie I found with a quick search

Atrain knows better than I but if Florencia Bay closer to Ucluelet is working seems like a much nicer longboard wave for learning, in my experience anyway it seems to be more protected from the winds.

Otherwise many great options in Oregon, Short Sands being learner central and a nice place to hang out for the Portland crews.

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I surf at a low frequency (5-10 days a year) all in coldwater, pac coast. I have this same wetsuit (w/ bamboo lining) and I use it year round with 5mm booties and gloves. If its warm I take the hood off.

Thanks for the information

Update: the 4.5/3.5 has worked really well for me. Surfed in Oregon earlier this month w/booties and was perfectly comfortable. Now in central California I've been running it w/o booties and leaving the hood off. Can get a bit hot on the sunny days if I'm paddling a lot but easy to flush and cool off. Glad I opted for this over the 5/4.

What board did you end up on? I think I would have recommended an Odyssea Log...

What did you get and how did it work? Just a generic soft top rental?

I stayed on the rental 9' softtop for my entire time in Tofino. Worked great - progressed to moving down the line in small/medium surf ("4-6ft" I think). Conditions were really consistent in Tofino - great setup for learning.

I only got out for a couple days in Oregon and the waves were pretty tough - rented an 8' softtop in Seaside, maybe an Odyssea. 8' felt fine and didn't take much of an adjustment.

I bought a Wavestorm in California and have been on that for the past few weeks. So far so good, aside from the death-inducing leash which I replaced after day 1. Have been in SLO area for a bit and was feeling pretty decent before the rain returned and all of my kook breaks got maxed out by this swell. Planning to head to SB/Ventura in the next couple days.

I'm working on trimming and bottom turns now. Still very stoked and learning new stuff every day.

Bump.

Planning to spend the month of May or parts of May/June in Baja surfing. This will likely be one of my last "hurrahs" before going back to the working world so I'd like to make it count.

I'm planning on taking a few wavestorms for myself and buddies to use, but would also like to bring something different as a means to potentially step down in board length. Any suggestions on a shape/size I should be looking for as a next step? Preliminary research suggests that I should be looking for a "funshape" - I have no idea what this means. FWIW I haven't spent any meaningful time on anything but 8'0-9'0 soft tops thus far.

By the end of my time in California, I felt pretty comfortable in 4-6ft waves, and could get down the line, trim a bit, bottom turn OK, etc. Not much luck on steeper drops. I can read waves decently and have at least felt things click in terms of positioning (barely had to paddle!) to know what to aim for, even if I'm not successful as much as I'd like.

Walk into Evolved in Hunnington. Open on weekends only I believe. I think they have fun shapes for like $400 new. If you have been on the wave storm, you are used to plenty of float, so I would get a high volume board in the 7' to 7'6" range. But make sure it is still high volume.

There is a huge difference in how a fiberglass board rides compare to a wavestorm. Fiberglass has a way stiffer flex, and pushing into a carve will accelerate you instead of slow you down. It may take a while to get used to. Fiberglass will also be way more responsive. Kind of like going from a soft flex comfort fit boot to a stiff plug boot. Kind of.

Have fun. Sounds like you re doing this all right by getting in the water as much as possible.

Thanks Ottime - that's super helpful info. I've been following your experience with the Evolved boards a bit and it sounds like they're pretty solid.

Interesting insight on fiberglass vs foam. Stepping onto something more responsive is intriguing; I'm hoping some experience on a fiberglass board will introduce more aspects of surfing beyond the basics. I expected that the "rails" etc. on the Wavestorms and other soft tops I've been using don't really behave much like the real deal, and your info seems to confirm that suspicion.

Spring skiing is in full effect, but I'm starting to get really stoked about the prospect of getting back in the water.

The wavestorm is an especially soft flex. Even compared to other soft tops. But they are are more like each other when compared to the fiberglass boards. And fiberglass boards can have different flex patterns based on resin, carbon, stringer, glassing.

I’d say the Evolved boards are decent, and a very good bang for the buck. I’ll stick with my local shaper for my step up and mini guns. SoCal just don’t get waves like that. But overall, good boards. Likely will buy from them again.

As far as business communication and customer service, it is like working with surfers. Sometimes you wait for a response. But I’m okay with that as long as I get a good, inexpensive board.

A few days from the end of my Baja trip and I feel like I've progressed a decent amount. It's hard to remember previous ability levels (part of the reason I keep writing in this thread) but all of the basic maneuvers feel more familiar now. Most of my time on this trip was spent on a point/reef break (first ever!) with a fast (for me) first section, so I spent a lot of time taking a high line, and less time in the pocket learning how to maneuver.

I tried to link up with the Evolved guys but no luck (they were in the midst of a move) and ended up with a different board than I was looking for. 7'3" x 20 3/4" x 2 7/8". I'm calling it a Hybrid? $250 new w/fins from Boardsource in Carlsbad and it seemed to be nicely constructed so I went for it.

Spent most of my time on the Wavestorm, and only spent a few sessions on the 7'3" but was able to catch waves. Felt much more stable than I was expecting, and I managed to move it around a bit in a few waves. It seems more like a long shortboard than a short longboard (ie funshape) to me. At this point I'd like to have something to bring along for a plane-accessed trip, and am considering holding onto the 7'3".

Figured this was as reasonable place as any to ask:
Have a board, and wetsuit (6/5/4, it’s Alaska yo) access to a channel 2 blocks away. Surf only happens when it blows hard, basically a winter thing. So thinking to jump off the dock with the board and paddle laps to keep in surf shape and build up my weakest link which always seems to be paddling in.
Question is, would this be time well spent (kook paddling around in flat water) or better to spend the time on weights etc? In decent shape for skiing, cycling, running.

Other than paddling in my main issue is calves cramping up, but that tend a to happen when surfing in winter in ak.

What kind of board are you surfing on? Ideally a paddle board makes flat water paddling more fun. You can cover some distance and stay up out of the water a bit. But that is a big investment unless you also like the sport of paddling. Otherwise, I would hit the gym mostly, keep in cardio shape and upper body weights. And then in the fall start mixing paddling into the regiment. If you are not going to surf until December, paddling right now might not be the most effective. Again, unless you enjoy paddling. Then go for it. But if you are doing the gym method, actually hitting the water a few months before surf season helps with utilizing the exact muscle group as surfing would.

Dear Diary,

Had not surfed since the start of the pandemic, and finally got ~4wks of daily to 2x daily surfing this Oct/Nov. Goals for this round were to work on creating speed through pumping and more powerful maneuvers.

Finally ditched the Wavestorm and surfed primarily on a PU 7' x 22 1/2" x 3" mini mal. Learned the hard way that PU is fragile! but ding repair is pretty cheap. Didn't seem like I lost much paddle power, and once up and riding the mini mal was way more maneuverable and responsive. Will aim to surf something similar going forward.

Surfed a crowded point break and had to find a happy medium between being overly aggressive/committed vs. being overly deferential. Not much progress made on pumping or wave reading, but got on some awesome waves and managed to find the feeling of really engaging the rail on bottom turns and cutbacks and made some sections. Stoked to have stepped down board length and level up a bit. Surfing is awesome and zooming around in trunks in glassy seas is an incredible feeling.

Sweet. Any PU is going to be way better than floppy foam. The Wavestrom is a a great entry level floaty to get one out initially without much of a financial investment. And they float. A PU will cut through through the water, and it sounds like you felt that.

Two weeks averaging over a session a day - I bet you learned a hell of a lot more about reading waves then you yet realize. Time in the water is time in the water. Perhaps you learned more about reading crowds, due to the crowd.

Been a long while since I surfed in trunks, but I recently returned to surfing fro a shoulder injury and every day gets better.