I just purchased a fourth gear flyer. Arrived in no time. Thanks Paul. Ordered a pair of Viper V7s. Was sent Viper MS. Leaving on vaction today for the Outer Banks. Where can I find some Vipers or UDTs in the Virginai Beach area? I've got a pair of old Churchills and a pair of Scubapro jets. Can I get by with those? Thaks for your help.
Tim
i would just go with what you know, churchills work fine with a mat. your leg turnover with be faster, and that’s not always a bad thing. (only place i know that has UDteet’s in stock is heritage in Ocean City, nj). the jets may be too long for use in the surf zone. have fun, there are waves–lots of them
Hey, funny shit you say that. i’ve been trying to hook into some V-7s myself. hard to get vipers period coz the factory shutdown.
so i find this surfshop online in nYc - UnSound Surf, or something like that. wait forever to get the v-7s, at an inflated price ($80)… finally after badgering, coz dem boys don’t know how to confirm emails and such, he tells me they are on the way… i get them… and guess what? fricken Mike Stewart models.
i have UDTS, but althought i love the performance, they crush my feet. i have sooo many ulcers coz of them. so i wanna try V-7s. but every day i look and look.
i did get finsocks, which really help with the udts… but if i can dspense with one less piece of gear, i’ll go v-7 if the performance is near what UDTs are.
note - i have all black UDTs… they are not as flex i’m told, as the Blue / Blk UDTs. also the foot pocket on the blue/black UDTS are softer i’m told. so those may be a good option for you - they have them on amazon.com at a reasonable price.
Yep. Same place sent me the Mike Stewart model in error. They told me the MS was a more expensive fin and I could keep it and save some money. I sent them back and asked for refund ($85.85). Well for the next week I will use my Churchills.
Tim
que va – look on line, you’ll see MSs are like $60 or so. and v-7 are like $65… but i knew this, and had no complaints, as long as i got the right fin.
I live abroad, so returning the MSs, well - not worth it. just put them for sale here.
If you want to try riding a surfmat, the cheapo canvas mats that you can get online are a good way to get a feel for it. I paid about $7 or $11 each for a couple of them, and they work OK.
There are so many aspects to making them work for all the different parts of the wave. It’s a good cheap way to see if you like it or not. I love riding a mat in small waves that aren’t too far off shore. It’s always overhead, and you can bend and flex the mat to get the most out of every wave.
As far as fins, I just have an old pair of duck feet and that’s all I’ve ever used. Mark Cunningham likes “da fin” at least all the times I’ve seen him in the water he had them on.
yeah - mat surfing when it’s a long paddle out to the lineup, or if you gotta get out of the inside beachbreak, is a killer. I use the mat on points that allow me to walk back after the ride.
i got a regular fin museum going: got da fin too. for me, those better on a ledgier wave - lotta flutter and in. the longer ducks and udts get you in much earlier on a softer wave. that’s what i hoping for viper v-7s - but without constant foot first aid, or need to use fin socks
agreed on the cheap mat too … but then if you like, step up to a neumatic or 4fg, and you’ll feel a huge difference.
Hello, I have been riding a mat for over 2 years now and it’s my go to equipment most of the time. I always keep the mat and fins in my trunk, I am an appraiser so I am always driving around the island and can usually squeeze some surf into my schedule. I started on a $9 kmart mat and currently own a Paul Gross mat but as said earlier elcheapo mats are great for beginers yet not as durable or fast as pro mats. It’s addictive and I have surfed them from ankle slop to 8’ faces and tubes. 9N78W you can always glue some neoprene inserts inside your UDTs for a custom fit if you don’t like sox. Regular contact cement will work fine. MS vipers are great for bodysurfing shallow sand bars, you can easily stand and push off the bottom. I own both MS vipers and UDTs, both great fins but you need strong legs for UDTs
are you guys talking modified or stock UDT's?
yep, that was my next question, stock or modified UDTs? if you take a planer to the center rib top and bottom you can easily tune the fin flex to your legs. and i always wear them with 2 mm diver socks —makes the walk over shells and rocks easier and cushions the footies too ;-)
I called ebodyboarding.com today to see if I could be notified when they get v-7 fins in. No probls there. Guy told me Viper has produced V-7 models since april, and that’s why you can’t find. Will commence production next week he said
Viper moved its factory is the reason
Just got this from Viper:
I saw a couple pairs of v-7 fins this weekend at a shop in Hawaii. They were new in box for $75 dollars, and they had a set of medium and a set of large. They also had v-5 and MS. Not sure what postage would be. You can PM me if you want more details.
finally i got my V-7 vipers, and just kicked 2000 mts at the pool. i still have ulcers on my ankles from my last mat go out with my black UDTs… but the vipers were very comfortable.
i like the kick rate, which is similar to the UDTs ( low rpm) , and i feel i can get up to speed almost same as UDTS (if not same)… but with less effort it seems. Also, i feel because the Vipers flex more, they allow water to be thrust directly astern more than a stiffer fin… more thrust in the right direction. ( ?)
I wear size 10.5 shoes… and if you go by viper charts, you’ll pick the L… but perhaps because i have a high arch and instep, i had to go up a size to XL. Perfect. ( i bought some L’s and had to sell them – too small)
i still have to try them out in the surf… but so far, so good.