Has anyone seen the latest issue of R.O.T. Magazine? Its another new rag for spongers. They step up and claim it all- the contests, glam stars, clothing, videos, mags, sick tricks. Everythings there but real custom boards. All their boards are these totally shitty pop-outs. Theyre basically the same as they were millions of years ago. NO do-it-yourself sponge kits. NO design originality is encouraged. “Making your own” is like an unknown idea. Most of their boards are stuck together in some fucking third world sweat shop. For pennies on the dollar. Surfers are all about individuality. We build all kinds of weird things to surf on. Building a sponge has got to be a lot cheaper and easier than making a surfboard. Theyre made of cheap packaging foam! So why dont more spongers get their shit together and do the homegrown thing? Real normal surfers will not tolerate that fucking clone mentality. Thats one of the reasons Swaylocks rules! Were all screwed if the surfboard industry ends up like the bodyboard industry.
“Has anyone seen the latest issue of R.O.T. Magazine? Its another new rag for spongers. They step up and claim it all- the contests, glam stars, clothing, videos, mags, sick tricks. Everythings there but real custom boards. All their boards are these totally shitty pop-outs. Theyre basically the same as they were millions of years ago. NO do-it-yourself sponge kits. NO design originality is encouraged. “Making your own” is like an unknown idea. Most of their boards are stuck together in some fucking third world sweat shop. For pennies on the dollar. Surfers are all about individuality. We build all kinds of weird things to surf on. Building a sponge has got to be a lot cheaper and easier than making a surfboard. Theyre made of cheap packaging foam! So why dont more spongers get their shit together and do the homegrown thing? Real normal surfers will not tolerate that fucking clone mentality. Thats one of the reasons Swaylocks rules! Were all screwed if the surfboard industry ends up like the bodyboard industry.” --------------------------------------- Aside from the Surfer’s Journal, are surf mags really that much different??
Hmmm . . . perhaps the “spongers” are just a bit more concerned with “real surfer” activities like getting into the water rather than hand wringing and pontificating.
Anyone can buy a cheap bodyboard and start having fun in the waves, yes they are mass produced and cheap (bodysurfing is cheaper!!) I think that was the original idea, love it or hate it. There are, however, choices for customs, they aren’t making a bunch of money, they are innovative, and they have a loyal following of riders who could care less about the latest bodyboard magazine or what people think of them. Ben Severson in Hawai and Yamo in California (B.S.D. designs)make state of the art boards with waterproof polypro (not polythene)cores, flexible graphite stringers and surlyn (golf ball skin) bottoms, with tapered rails, channel bottoms and to just about any specs that you want. They are super-light and will take a beating!! Just like anything else - the choice between soulless mass-produced and custom hand-crafted comes down to the person shelling out the bucks.
There are parallels between mass produced bodyboards and molded surfboards. A similar mentality runs through it. Talk about “custom” bodyboards has always been weak. There never has been any serious emphasis to “do it yourself” since the Morey Boogie kits of 30 years ago. Whats the bodyboard industry afraid of? Theyre all still basically same old idea. The same general construction process with the same self-imposed (I could say “inbred”) limitations. Cheap overseas manufacturing “sweat shops” are a reality. Theyre easy and fast to build (as in low skilled labor) and dirt cheap. But the profit margin for a typical bodyboard has been substantial. Thats the real reason why bodyboarding has grown so fast. Bodyboardings market demographic guarantees any real custom bodyboard building is a path to the poorhouse. For some genuine non-conformist prone innovation you need to look elsewhere: home made paipos, Dave Parmenters and Rich Pavels prone board designs. Dale Solomonsons triplanes. Check out Nel Norenes Vagabondsurf (you have to see Roger Waylands ideas!), Larry O’Briens The League of Lamaroos and Rod Rogers My Paipo Boards and More. The truth is out there- well beyond the pages of status quo mags like R.O.T.
I’m having to make a fast pass through hare today, so this post may get jumbled a bit, but… I haven’t seen the new issue of ROT yet, but the first issue had a huge feature on Dale Solomonson and his mats. I have since been in contact with ROT and they are aware of Surfer’s Journal and that type of quality/outlook. It’s still a new magazine, so I would say give it some time to develop and find its own voice. It’s not strictly for kids (market demographic pandering). Several companies have tried to sell kits for people to experience making their own bodyboards, although I’m not sure if any still do. The problem with do-it-yourself bodyboard construction is access to materials. Huge minimum buys are required, for roughly three different materials for a basic production board equivilent - and figure up to 5 or 6 materials if you include stringers. It isn’t a matter of driving to Huntington Beach to buy bodyboard materials. We’re talking potentially tens of thousands of dollars cash outlay up front. No question this is a hangup for garage experimentation. The difference in material properties can make translating a foam fiberglass bellyboard design to bodyboard materials difficult, though not impossible. I have more to say, but you may have to wait until ROT 3 comes out…
Jumbled is right. In my humble opinion the simple definition of “bodyboard” is a hangup. It seems to have to do with basic materials as much as anything else, and it would be hard to build exotic scoops and hydroplanes using only the current bodyboard materials. As in…if it’s made from wood it isn’t a bodyboard, an airmat isn’t a bodyboard, etc. Weird, huh? As far a the huge popularity of bodyboarding, well, heh heh, those vanloads of people all over our beaches in summer are students of “surf schools”, not “bodyboard schools.”
NO ONE RIDES THE TUBE AS WELL AS I DO __
I wrote the Dale article and it is funny that ROT magazine is taking heat. did you even bother to read the Keith Sasaki article in the current issue ? The entire focus of the Dale article was to show people exactly that there was more to bodyboarding then the standerd pop out board. Dales mats and insane tri plane bodyboards were heavily featured. I have since dedicated myself 100% to riding a mat so i can have first hand knowledge of them and to provide a base for future articles. In fact the latest front page of ROT webpage has a link to some photos of me taking some baby steps at wedge. Unfourtunatly the latest article I was writing for ROT did not get pictures to go with it in time for deadline. but after the next all photo issue expect to see an article that has potential to shake up the whole surf industy. I would think there are alot easier targets then ROT magazine to take a swipe at but perhaps you just gave a few quick shoot from the hip remarks after a fast glance at it in a surf shop funny you would call a magazine printed at the same publisher on the exact same print stock as Surfers Journal a rag but again perhaps you never even picked it up at all ? James Sowell
rusti merick?? You even swear like the clones your ar eputting down!Your bros and dudes are about as original as your music.Maybe it’s just youth but,Your generation is the biggest bunch of insecure ,sheep that has come along in a while.I love your line__real normal surfers!!!That is the weakness that your generation has brought to the table.“It is now cool to be a 6ft3” thruster riding dude that aspires to surf just like all his friends.Sorry didn’t mean to go on a rant–Where are the individuals?-----Love real wierd surfer
Rather than buying a bodyboard kit. How about experimenting with an old booger that would otherwise go into a landfill. Hybridize…glue a plywood fish tail onto an overly flexible booger. The plywood by itself is too rockerless. The cheap booger has too much flex. Can the sum be greater than the parts? No, I haven’t tried it yet, because the thought just occured to me a few weeks ago. But it’s on my to-do list. If you’re not a mad scientist, and you’ve got some bucks for a custom board, then check out some of Ken Brown’s Turbos. Built Hawaii tough. http://www.turboworld.com/customs/customs.html http://www.turboworld.com/customs/customs.html
“rusti merick?? You even swear like the clones your ar eputting down!Your bros and dudes are about as original as your music.Maybe it’s just youth but,Your generation is the biggest bunch of insecure ,sheep that has come along in a while.I love your line__real normal surfers!!!That is the weakness that your generation has brought to the table.“It is now cool to be a 6ft3” thruster riding dude that aspires to surf just like all his friends.Sorry didn’t mean to go on a rant–Where are the individuals?-----Love real wierd surfer” ------------------------------- real normal surfers, I don’t know which clones you are referring to. I don’t recall swearing or putting anyone down either. I was merely questioning whether or not magazines like Surfer, Surfing and Transworld are much different than Benny D’s description of bodyboard magazines. I don’t make music, but I do listen to jazz: Monk, Getz, Davis, Coltrane, etc. If you don’t think these folks were making original music, that’s your perogative. I think every generation has its weaknesses. The important thing is to learn from those who came before us and teach future generations so that they have the tools to avoid repeating our mistakes. Thank you for sharing your definition of cool. I don’t really know or care much about cool. I wish you luck in your search for “individuals”. If you’re having difficulty finding them, you may want to stop looking to others and focus your attention within. Have a nice day!
I think that there should be a law that only Popout surfboards are allowed. That way I wouldn’t constantly obsess about which kind of board I want next. I hopelessly adicted.
how much did he pay you to ride a pool toy? or was it romanosky and photoshop 7.0? thats some funny bullshit.
You still teaching fifth grade, Fairmont(sp)… [smile]
Pit Dredge- James paid me full price to make him a custom surf mat. My understanding is that he was initially quite skeptical. He has a 25 year history as a bodyboarder, former pro. Hes only been riding his Neu for a few months, but Im sure hes given it enough water time to form a few opinions. Why dont you ask him to tell you what he thinks about mat surfing? Why dont you ask Ron Romanosky what hes witnessed? Have a little respect… there`s a lot more going with surf mats than meets the eye.
haha benny nice words, i was at creak yesterday and i did not see one guy beside soul on his matt riding a custom board, every surfer is riding the same board, ok some may be 18.5 wide and some may be 18.25. but ther either a merick or a patterson and if you paid 5 bills for your pushed out poop out , that your so proud of becuase you ride same brand as kelly ,you got ripped and should have just picked one up at costco cause there only 250. its people like yourself that just plain have a bad attitude, this swaylocks seems to be a pretty open place with knee ridaz, mat heads, and as we refer to them here dicks on sticks posting on this board, most sticks are too cool and can be seen enjoyin blue crush in there spare time. are you threated that the boogie board kids that you used to drop are bigger than you now and usually roll deeper, they are not afraid to beat some ass if it comes down to it, we are used to fighting for our waves. now you just have to bite you lip like some small inmate taking it every time daddy wants to hand it out. morey sells close to 4 million dollars of there gripper board, if you want to do the math the retail is 35 bucks it also includes a how two dvd that we here at rot produced, so take 35 into 4 million and y will be the amount of people who bought these boards, if 10 percent of those decide to continue you are gonna be crying have a nice day Sean
thanks soul for kind word, when i thought of making a magazine, i called steve pezman at the journal, his assitant helped me with were to find a printer in hong kong, so mad pros to pez who is a true surfer i also like the post from mike stewart and if its not true you havnt been to pipe
buy a board from romo, it wont be a pop out!
nels interesting comment above that hits on that thing you wrote and submitted! im not going to say more in an effort not to let da cat (not dora) out of the bag Sean