You know, I never would of thought I’d be so into one board. I have to many boards right now but I’ve only been on one lately. It’s my 12’ board I use my canoe paddle with. Tiny waves its fun. As big as I’m willing to take it and its really fun! Right now its totally one board for me.
I like it so much I ordered another. Its the Mickey Munoz Superglide model from Surftech. The thing works so good once I found the right fin combo. The one I have is taking a beating so I’m getting another or possibly 2 more. Its the only board in my room that I didn’t shape myself. This tells me Mickey Munoz made out of Epoxy is a far superior product than my own!!! Its OK, I can live knowing it…Hehe…
CarveNalu, quick aside, where can I learn more about paddle boards as you practice?
Hey, this OneBoard thing is really got me thinking. I have 6 boards and I ride them all, depending. But when you are taking just that one sweet board, going on a trip, traveling light, want to be ready for it all, I’m homing in on 76 ish. Round pin.
Or suppose you are in line to get one of Bert’s boards and you can only have one. What do you tell him?
CarveNalu, quick aside, where can I learn more about paddle boards as you practice? I don’t know. Its been around a long time but not to many people get into it here because the waves beat the crap out of you on these boards!!! I’ve been putting in a lot of time so the beatings are becoming less… I guess its all word of mouth for now…
traveling light…
I hear you on that. I want to travel with my log but to big…
i think it fits the label of a good all around board for travel, as it has excellent features pulled from various shapes that work: morphing downrails, diamond tail, low entry rocker, thruster setup, flotation, tail surfing, forward trim properties. i think 7’0 is a pretty good size. parmenter’s kind of weird on how he tweaks with his shapes. categorically, i don’t know how to group it.
I’m not really a death barrel kind of guy, so I wouldn’t know how it works in hairy conditions.
parmenter’s kind of weird on how he tweaks with his shapes. that 5’10 fish i showed you collected dust for 4 months, before i gave it a try. it worked pretty good. before, i tried it, it seemed too gimmicky.
I would love to say my "one board was a 7’6 round pin ,and only travel to spots that suited. but my normal stick is 7’0 and when I travel it is their,handles over head and a bit biggerer.
My “ONE” board right now is my 7’0" squash tail thruster. its actually 6’10.5" beacause of a shaping accident around the nose area that i had to cover up by shaving down. its long enough to work well in small surf, just short enough to fit into near closeout sets. its my favorite and i will cry like a baby if i ever break it.
Still out here in Eastern Standard Time. Surfing New Jersey for the next series of months. It gets fun. Currently my “one board” is a 5’10" Kane Garden fish.
And it’s not a very good ‘one board that does everything’, especially when the waves come up. I was home last week, and i picked up a 4/3 suit at ward xcel for november. The parmenter stubb vector would be nice over here. I sure miss my quiver!
I have a 7’4" round pin with a 2 + 1 fin set-up that is very versatile. A quiver of fins for both the center and side bites covers just about anything except for maybe triple overhead.
Set of swimfins…yessiree an absolute must…a pair of Duck Feet once gave me a beautiful day of bodysurfing home point waves in Ventura when my Brewer fin broke as I put the screw into the fin box…sunny and dead glass and nobody was on that break between the point and Stables…wintertime day with 2 piece “full suit”…
Fins also hide the car during work hours and in luggage on work trips…handy hint…
Back in my hardcore travel days I only took one strong board. 6’9" - 7’2". Part of that was the era I was traveling in. As part of that era people didn’t try to surf empty huge waves for the most part as they were seen as dangerous and back then you really, truly were on your own. Gold Coast Australia where everyone assumed someone with a Yank accent was there to surf in the Stubbies…when the “Superbank” was a series of points straight out of a California winter dream…New Zealand with endless waves with nobody out, couldn’t even guess at the size… dead penguins on the beach by Dunedin and waves…
By the early 80’s I had an 8 foot board to use as a crowd escape tool. Took it camping on basically a bodysurf trip with a friend, lugged it down and up the trails in northern San Diego County one day, went back to traveling light. Got seriously addicted to less stuff. Periodically I accumulate a “quiver” but maintain it at two standup boards max. Even at that with the other alternatives it gets messy trying to decide what to take. I see photos of pros traveling with a dozen boards I shudder. Now that everybody surfs everywhere I suspect I can travel with one board and rent anything else I might need in populated areas. 7’6" - 7’11" sounds right for that oneboard now. I’m beyond the point where I need, want, or could impress anybody - now need only adequate, appropriate equipment for the conditions I encounter or travel in.
hey Lobster, I have the same thing. Mine is a 7’4" Becker Speedshape rounded pin with a 2 +1 fin setup. I also have a variety of fins that give it a wide range of configurations including a Starfin. It’s the most versatile travel board I own.
Requires a much wider stance than I was used to so I’m adjusting my stance for it.
Looking at pics of cheyne that stance looks appropriate to the board just wish I had his linebacker legs.
I was out of action for 3-4 weeks after almost skegging off my toe on another board(repaired parmenter).
We’re supposed to get an overhead southy starting tomorrow so I’m gonna give her a go in some size (4-5’ hawaiian). Give you all a blow by blow when I’m done. It does get funky if you ride up too far upfront where that round boat belly is. You really need to drive it off the wide flat rear where the keel is.
Just too many boards/options to choose from
a Mandala, a Gemini, a Surflight all my new balsa sandos and now the solo cheyne deep blue sir-mix-alot beauty.
Oh Sidestreet
I made a EPS bamboo/purpleheart version of that Parmenter Vector… It ended up heavier than I wanted for an EPS but surprisingly it rode just like the Vector.
And Solo
I should have something to report here next week. (I’m sure chipper is waiting for a report too)
It’s funny he used something very similar to a nugget in the later stages of riding the Keel on tour. Nice to see the evolution of that type design. Like Cheyne said on another thread. That board your riding could have been modified back in the day to have worked even better.
on a trip to maui in 2003 i could only afford to bring one board, so i brought a 7’8" round pin thruster funboard. being my first time in the islands, i was a bit worried about being ‘over-funned" for anything of size. to put it short, i was forced to re-think my concept of design after that trip. we were staying out east, Hana way, and it got big a few times in the 3 weeks we were there. Forgive my spelling all you guys who know… Hana’manu bay was overhead plus, and the board was perfect. getting in early didn’t hurt, but the modern rails/foil held in the pocket, and forgave some of my errors also. Hana bay at 3’ and it was beautiful again. Off the top easily, and lots of drive. Keoki beach, a right reef/point and again it was flawless. We went out a few times at other places Wailua, Ke’ani and I am convinced that these boards are properly named. Not just for breakfast anymore. I immediately came back, and made a template for later use.
Thruster set up lent a lot to the design, for sure. Using slightly larger fins, i think FCS GPRs. i think a single with the wider tail, might have slid out in the size. I would post some pics, if i didn’t leave this board in my shed in the bahamas.
Now, when someone comes to me for a shape, either to learn, or to travel, I strongly recommend this type of board. And am making one for myself here in Brazil.
Something definitely to be said for all of those who agree on the Mid 7’ size.
