9'6" Barnfield

I found some old ‘…er’ mags I had saved. Fun to read through them. One from '79 with the first pics of Nias and Thorton Fallander getting slotted.

and…

According to the '89 issue of ‘…er’ (Hawaii Issue - with the map of the NS naming most of the major spots)…

a 9’6" custom Barnfield gun would run you a steep - $450.

Just thought that was worth coming out of lurk-dom for.

EJ

Is that expensive or cheap?

I sorta quit surfing by '86. Boards were mostly in the mid 3 to low 400 range.

A full gun, made by a reputable shaper would easily cost in the high 400’s…

Heck, a new Colleta gun in the late 70’s cost that. I think my 9’6" x 20 Colleta cost around $400, and that would be wholesale to PeeWee. I bought it for around $250.

Big stringers, lotsa glass, a $100 blank, all add up quickly.

Lee,

Posted it because it sounds so dirt cheap now. A similar gun would probably be over 2x that now (BB?). As you say, materials alone are a few hundred for a 9+ board.

I also thought it might give Barnfield a chuckle.

At the time the mag came out I remember thinking it would be too much to drop for a board if I went to Hawaii to surf. I was in my mid-20’s at the time, without much extra $.

Well, at least the age part of the equation has changed …!

EJ

Well, he’s much more notable now, and should command more than double that price, if everything is fair in the world…which isn’t.

Surfing is still the only sport where prices have basically just doubled since the late '70’s. I’m amazed, and glad I don’t have to shape for a living any more.

Still, you never know what’s in store for the future, and with so many shaping having custom productions, we’re headed into unknown territory…

Quote:

I sorta quit surfing by '86.

…that hasn’t stopped you giving advice on how to build modern boards , I notice .

so , how much can a 55yo guy who hasn’t surfed for 20 years reaallly “rip” , I wonder ?

we’ll all come up to "Triple O.H. O.B. " for the next swaylocks annual get-together , to video and photograph you doing what you go on about so much .

why stop surfing ?

…doesn’t make any sense to me , posting on a surfboard design forum when you don’t surf and don’t make boards .

ben

What doesn’t make sense is why would a grom who always surfs tiny boards in tiny waves question anyone who’s been surfing OBSF, NorthShoreOahu, most of Baja, and have much more experience than you have.

Kinda like a high school basketball player questioning the advice from a pro coach who USED to play basketball at the pro level, only at a low level.

I don’t question advice given by relative newbies, but I’ll post my opinion, whether it’s the same or it’s different.

Why, are you jealous or something?

Are there too many posters on this BB for you to filter thru?

Better knock the chip off your shoulder, Chipfish, or your credibility is gonna really drop…

here we go again!!! attitudes flaming into the sky and leaving the thread topic behind…you two need to grw up and get over it…surfin is surfin lose the 'tudes

note to moderators: please lock this before it gets ugly–though it might be too late already

Walrus, you have nothing to contribute and never contribute anything, so shut the f…k up.

If you get flamed by me, wouldn’t you respond?

See, that’s what it’s like!

I’m not flaming you, just giving you an example of what can happen IF someone flames you.

Aloha EJ

That’s pretty funny… maybe even sad! Ha! I don’t even know if that was expensive at the time. Generally, my prices haven’t been off the charts. I am (arguably) regular guy that enjoys what I do and I try to keep my prices somewhat reasonable. The nice thing back then was that even the Pros paid me for their boards!

I should note that the prices on the North Shore are all screwed up because there is such a huge underground surfboard culture here which puts a powerful downward pressure on prices. For example, my price starts at $600. A regular customer of mine also just got a new board from a recent “Shaper Of The Year” and it only cost him $450.00. Go figure! I don’t mean that this is bad, of course, just not what one might expect. That’s what I meant by prices being all screwed up…as in, all over the map.

My price, pre blank monday, for a 9’6" would be about $900.00, depending on optional features. I haven’t adjusted pricing since then but may have to depending on what happens with the foam issue in a couple of months.

And LeeDD, assuming I understood you correctly, thanks for thinking I am more famous today then back then. I am flattered!

It seemed to me that the late 70s were more out of control in terms of media attention and extra action in my life around then. I was relieved when things settled down a bit later one.

The late 70s were on fire… Team riders like Shaun Tomson had recently won the World Contest, as had Margo (often) and soon would Debbie Beacham and Tom Carroll. Critta Byrne was blazing, as was Buzzy Kerbox, Bobby Owens, Jackie Dunn, Pam Burridge Allen Sarlo, Mark Foo, Pepe Lopez, Michael Tomson, Jimmy Banks, Chris O’Rourke, and too many more to mention. That was a very fun time, albeit consistently hovering on the edge of both chaos and euphoria!

Aloha Bill. That time period seemed (from the outside) to be a big transition era for the NS. Some career’s starting, some ending. A few years later I got there for a chunk of the contest season and I was pleased to see that respect was still paid to the older surfers… and that based on what I’d seen in the mags - I hadn’t a clue as to the depth of talent out there. So many folks with no media coverage surfing at such a high level - it forever changed my view of the pro-tour.

Must have been something to be there through that time.

One of those mags also has a great picture of Tom Parrish free-falling from a huge lip at Pipeline… ‘he survived to shape again’ it says. I’ll probably need to scan it for Chipfish.

In the '79 issue they also have a little blurb in the back about Ben Aipa ‘still ripping at 36’ … sounded old to me then (ha!) and last I heard He was still out there today.

Time to try (again) to convince the wife that she’d love Hawaii…

Though I still don’t have much of a reason for owning a 9’6" Wiamea gun… $450 sounds like a good price to me!

Eric J

Bill, I think you’re more famous today because you have proved the test of time!

Sure, any flash in the pan shaper can be famous or the “in” thing for a few years, but if you consistently make state of the art boards for a long time period, THEN you are a proven shaper.

Aloha Eric

Yup thems were the good ole days! Ha!

Actually I have just about as much fun now as I did them. The only thing I really miss was that it was easier to test out boards cause you could get enough waves! Now it is so crowded that it is hard to remember what you were going to try to feel or notice on a ride cause there are so many distractions due to the crowds.

Parrish was a really good surfer, better than most knew. And yes Ben is still at it regularily.

Thanks for the memories

[=Blue]Aloha LeeDD

Thanks for the gracious compliments. You have made my day![/blue}

Quote:

In the '79 issue they also have a little blurb in the back about Ben Aipa ‘still ripping at 36’ … sounded old to me then (ha!) and last I heard He was still out there today.

Eric J

do the math



Quote:
Quote:

In the '79 issue they also have a little blurb in the back about Ben Aipa ‘still ripping at 36’ … sounded old to me then (ha!) and last I heard He was still out there today.

Eric J

do the math

Ben was ripping well into the late 80s

I had already done the math… but for the addition-challenged… if he was 36 years old in '79 that makes him 63 in '06. Gives me hope for 20 years down the road.

Reading that in the old magazine just showed me how my perspective changed with a little age - since 36 sounds young to me now. In 1979 I figured I’d be dead before age 36.

Needing a vacation… or maybe to build something… Cheers from the Big Apple.

Eric J