That is the question.
Only way to know what works for YOU is to try it personally!
Handboard as opposed to bare hands, you make more waves, you can climb to the top to hit concave walls, and you go down the line farther with each wave.
Countering that, if you don’t remember to grab wrists, sometimes big pushtrus can wretch your shoulders, and big wipeouts can leave you worried about elbows and shoulders of handboard side. Just toss, they have leashes too.
With handboard, you lose out on natural freestyle stroke, so paddling speed is not quite as fast…countered by slightly easier wave catching, as you can really weight the single concave handboards and “pull” yourself into larger waves easily.
Loved my handboard, back in the days before spongers came and took over just about every break.
The downside was that if you ride a lot of closeouts, sooner or later the damn thing will come back at your face, or twist your arm pretty good.
But they do give a lot more speed. Makapuu, Sandy Beach, Pipeline… I could get up and ride on the just the handboard, plus legs from the knee down, sometimes just on handboard and two Duck Feet SXL fins. But I was in considerably better condition then.
I am big on using handboards that are small. I don’t like having to do underwater takeoffs when it is big and handboards make it fun for dropping in on steep sections and still holding in with good speed. If a handboard is too big than it makes it hard for me to rotate from my back to my stomach without it getting in the way.
This is the best handboard I have ever used that i made from an broken fin i used to use for backpacking on the Napali. has a little flex in it and not a lot of bouyancy just a good planing surface and you can make a hell of a pull with it to get in.
SHOREBREAK RULES!
great way to break your wrist. any one see the bodysurfingcontest with mike stewart on Nbc on sunday? it was at pipe and there were no hands boards, the conditions weren’t great tho.
yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm, bodysurfing.
the best waves are really bowly ones that are still hollow but peel slowly. my favorite method is no fins or board, speedos are good too. there is absolutely no drag and once you get into a wave its alot easier to make it out of the barrel.
ive been using this little 10x14" speedo kickboard. its made of soft bendable foam so you just grab the front with your hand and use it like a hand board. it flexes on wipeout so you dont ruin your shoulders and when it hits you in the face it bounces off. best handboard ive ever used. used it in some good doubel overhead newport point and had some guy wanting to trade his hard handboard for it. it makes it so much easier to get waves, i am way bummed whenever i forget to bring it with me to the beach.
if its closed out shorebreak i dont bother with the handboard, it just gets in the way and after all, your only goal is to get inside the barrel, not to really go anywhere. if its makeable surf then i love the handboard, its fun to be right in the curl with it and go forever like that.
LOVE bodysurfing but handboard? … maybe in small waves, where they’d probably be most effective anyway. Big stuff though, not for me. Almost had one of those things rip my arm off at Pipe.
Skeletor…ever try the “best handboard” the other way around with the wide part back below your wrist?
As to the main question: To handboard or not to handboard. Yes and no. The bright side of that equation is how little inconvenience there is if you bring the handboard everywhere. Freedom from the Weight of Quiver.
You know i DO get a lot a flack from the boys using a handboard sometimes. and there is the argument on the simplicity of bodysurfing and its independance from equipment needs. Honestly I would not call myself a “bodysurfer” if I were dependant on a handboard or kickboard but using them is just so fun right now.
The arm getting ripped off is a big deal with the bulkier hand boards. I used to have one of those old hand guns they used to make in So CAL with the slit cut in the middle for your hand and i hated it because of the size and boyancy.
The board i showed a pic of is so light and so small that it actually doesn’t yank anymore than if i didn’t wear it at all (and i like BIG sandys and OTW). Even the ride with it feels more along the lines of using webbed gloves than an actual hand board.
using that handboard backwards doesn’ t work so well. I like having the wide part in the front because i get such a hard pull to get in. plus having such a wide point over your wrist makes it hard to incorporate using your hands for slowing yourself down
sorry for such a long post but i love this topic. Nice lined up south commin in for biginning of March if anyone wants to do some share and compare with handboards at sandys for some thumpers
Greg Deets
i think i may just get one for the nice peeling days. its coming into winter now where i live so we should be getting a few clean offshore beachbreak peaks in the next few months.
by the way Skeletor i love the quote at the bottom of your messages.
i watched some friends bodysurf some small, grinding point waves using handboards.seems to me the boards defenitely helped them surf the waves further and faster than without.
few more little shorebreak shots, not the best day, small with some mid face steps making for some great diggers.
all i want in life is to get barreled. shorebreak is like instant satisfaction from inside the green room
Damn Skeletor, that really makes me jones for Sandy’s. I made a hand board out of a snapped off surfboard tip a while ago. Sounds like most of you guys would consider it dangerous and too big but I love the thing. It has fins on it so I can really hold a line. I actually like the bigness because I can just take one or two huge scooping paddles to get into waves and I can really get up on top of it. As far as buoyancy, I wouldn’t mind having a little more… treading water in wind chop can get pretty tiring.It’s well padded and your fingers go through a slot so your palm is on top and you grip the bottom. It is not attached so you can switch hands or let go if it was to twist. At work now, post pics later.
I’ve actually seen GOOD waves there, just N, and on the other side of the Grock.
Even seen a really big day, but strong NW winds, when the waves outside the rock were breaking into the channel S.
Used to surf RRivermouth a lot, but that was good enough for us.
Endless possibilities.
speaking of bodysurfing anyone see the contest that was on TV on sunday it was started with Mike Stewart who is amazing and has only lost two bodysurfing cmps in the past 15-6 years that he has entered which is over 15
I was looking for handles or straps on that photo of Deets, and I couldn’t tell for sure. Maybe something on his wrist and middle finger, or does he just let his hand ride on the handboard? I rescued some PVC ceiling fan blades from the trash, and planned to use them as strakes or small handboards. I’d like to avoid having straps on the bottom planing surface. Maybe a laminated approach like these sandal handboards, except made out of the PVC fan blades. Any of you ever ride these sandal models…or just an old sandal?
Here’s another photo of some handboards that sold on ebay a while back. Looks like luan plywood. I thought the dove tail was an interesting touch.
On a somewhat related topic…here’s my latest path of experimentation. I call them cubit boards. Larger than most handboards and smaller than most paipos. The four cubit boards pictured are all about one Royal Egyptian Cubit in length, or about 20 1/2 inches. The jury is still out on how they ride. The nice thing about little boards is that it’s not expensive to play around with a lot of different shapes and processes.
