I prefer to use this scale when talking about waves.
Numbers seem like such BS. “Oh yah, it was 12-14 feet out there bro!”. Sure it was. I’d call it about head and a half…
Here’s how I see it:
Head high is about a 6 foot face. If you go all the way to the bottom, and stand up straight, the lip of a head high wave will be at or just above your head. (about 6-8 foot face)
A wave doesn’t become over head until it’s OBVIOUSLY taller than you if you are at the bottom and standing up straight. (about 8-10 foot face)
Head and a half is in between OH and DOH. (about 10-16 foot face)
Double over head is an over head wave twice. (about 16-20 foot face)
Double over head and a half. That’s stupid, nobody says that =P.
Triple over head is 3 overhead waves on top of eachother. (about 24-30 foot faces)
etc…
Just going by the HH, OH, H&1/2, DOH, 3xOH measurement system, is that how you all see it too?
No!! I just put a board on my head and measured from my chin to the board,thats 8 3/4 inches. So double head high is only 17 1/2 inches ! You got it now !!!!
Chris, whatever you do, don't go to an aussie forum and ask about sizing. The different wave ranges are all over the place, with some just completely undercalling waves. Im not so serious about it, mainly because my wave range is knee high to a foot or so overhead, but some people get very upset when you call a head high wave 3'. Maybe post a pic of a wave, and see what everyone calls it. I bet you'll get some very different reponses.
Moonee Mick & I were at G land { 96} Mackin storm surf, One guy {Camel} paddles out & catches some bombs, As high as telegraph poles !!! We estimated 3 boardlenghts high, it turned out he was ridin a 9’ 6" brewer pin. Next day I asked him how big he thought it was ? His answer… 12ft Hawaiian. Fu@k me dead if those faces wern’t 30feet high I’m a bad judge.So maybe by youre proposed scale it woulda been 5 times over head ?
Howzit silverbac, That was how we used to measure the waves in Hawaii and it drove non-locals crazy since a head high wave would be considered 2 ft. Then the predictors had to go with a more true wave size because tourists would hear it was 2-4 ft and think it was true when it was well over head high and they had a lot of almost drownings due to it. I don't know about now,but for a while they would post a local size ans a true size for the tourists. Aloha,Kokua
it ain't rocket science , even with one eye , is it ??
etc
owen wright at 6'5 , may vary in his estimates , i suppose , as would tom carroll at ? what is he now ? 5'1" and shrinking by the year ??
cheers
ben
[the numpber of inches in a foot suddenly mysteriously changes for the better when guys start talking about what they are packing...er...in their boardshorts , though ...]
the problem with over estimators is that they include the trough and the crest when the wave jacks up and not just the size of the face as the wave is breaking. this can double the height of the wave imo. I found when travelling around USA, that americans were always calling the surf much bigger than I was. You can even see this in the difference between surfline and coastalwatch forecasts.
I think there are 3 distinct scales:
1. Top to Bottom height - Most commonly used in USA - overestimates heights by measuring trough to crest on a peaking wave. Compare an 8ft in this size to below
2. Face Height - used in Australia mostly - size of the face (excluding trough) on a breaking wave (basically the same as the back of the wave). About 1.5 x bigger than USA. 8ft type 1 wave would be around 5-6 ft
3. Hawaiian scale. - from the back and take some away (dont know why?) - about 2 x bigger than USA. 8 ft typ 1 wave would be 4 ft.
edit. just found this link. think it sums it up nicely
and , I suppose it's always AT LEAST head-high [by your standard , mr. wood orgie ! haha ] , for booooogie boarders , surf matters , and bodysurfers ...
and , for kneeboarders ? ha !
well, let's just confuse things a bit more , SHALL we ??? [ I say NOT !]
I still maintain that there are TWELVE inches to a foot [silly me , eh ?! ] , and so ....6' is 6' ....12' is 12' ...it avoids confusion , but that's just me , simple Ben !
[Others may vary and argue , that's fine with me ... in which case , soon it will probably be time to go surfing , I reckon ! ]
I can't remember now but it was one of the early North Shore chargers commented on this. When someone brought up sizing waves from the back, he asked, What side of the wave do you surf on? I think it was Ricky Grigg or Hemmings. One of them from that era. My buddies and I made a pact to use body size when giving an honest report: Knee high, Waist, Chest and so on. To me, this clearly defines size when you can't see it and won't mislead.
…well man, I think IS the usual how to question…and this thread will have several pages, I think too.
-Average out- is the thing
-In my opinion, is like Pirate agenda say about checking the faces and not the peak of the wave (when waves start to brake, there, most waves are taller)
You can have a head high breaking wave then after 15 meters, the face is waist high, you can see the surfer from back (from the line up area), in that case, that is the normal case in most beach breaks, you have a waist high not a head high wave.
never did understand why some would measure wave from back(unless that’s were they surfed). we surf the face of wave not back. i tend to use body points as sizing-knee-waist chest. etc. above head high i just say a foot or two above head high. as for back measure, take a look at chopes. not much back to the wave but oh boy is there a lot of face. so this past swell we heard 20-30 foot waves there, but if one was to measure from the back it would have been 3-4’ or something like that. sooo, which was it?
90% of the time I surf small waves. Every now and then I surf overhead waves. I don’t surf big waves or if I do it’s about once or twice a year and I’m usually scared. If you’re not scared I don’t think it’s big.
This scale really works. Put up a picture of any wave and see how fast you can put it into one of the categories.
…well man, I think IS the usual how to question…and this thread will have several pages, I think too.
[quote/]
Yah, you’re probably right… I was hoping to just keep the discussion to “HH, OH, H&1/2, 2xOH, 3xOH, etc” and stay away from feet and inches. The reason I asked the question to begin with is because there is another thread right now about a semi gun. The talk is for a board that will handle 3xOH and 4xOH. But, the pictures in the thread are of waves I would call overhead to about head and a half. I didn’t want to clutter or flame that thread but wanted to get everyone’s take. Maybe I’m doing it wrong? I always thought that using HH, OH, etc. was less confusing than using feet and inches for the usual reasons. But, now, I dunno…
And, yes, some of these responses have me cracking up =)