Say something forced you to own only one board and you must choose ONE of the following two options:
Choice A
A board that looks like dumpster crap, but surfs great every time.
Choice B
A board that is jaw-dropping beautiful, but at best, surfs just mediocre.
What would YOU choose?
Dumpster crap, I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks about me.
Possibly everyone on here would choose the dumpster crap that surfed great. The true question should be “What type of board would you keep if you could only choose one?”
A
I’d surf the dumpster crap, hang it on the wall to admire until the next swell, take it down and surf it again and again and again…until I make the next dumpster crap, but hopefully a bit nicer looking than the previous one 
Repeat process infinitely.
~Brian
Brilliantly conceived question for “Our Times”.
I agree with others who say people around here would probably choose Dumpster Crap visuals…we actually would be choosing performance. The Others would be the ones choosing the cosmetically superior product…this doesn’t absolutely make them surface swellers and the rest bottom feeders, but it does illustrate the great divide in surfing at this time.
An interesting twist would be if we were talking showroom purchase…in this economy it would be hard to plunk down major cash for something that looked like caca.
…one thing is a cosmetically nice board but POOR shape I see a lot of that
Im in the side to do a functional shape first, then functional overall (like fins, materials, etc) then top quality finish
—and if you have a good board but oldy
well do another one similar like that and try to have a better finish or leave the work to a professional shop
Who do you think you are to force me to only own one board, eh?
Some twenty years ago I paddled out at my home-spot one morning with only one guy out. I had just started to “officialy” shape boards and I was riding my latest personal board which, thinking back on it, must have been something quite flashy with my logo as big as possible so that people would notice… Turned out that the guy in the line-up was none other than Michel Barland himself. (For those of you who don’t know, Michel Barland was the first to build surfboards in France as far back as 1957 and he had many world-class shapers stop by his factory year after year to mow out some boards: Bob Cooper, Mike Diffenderfer, Gary Linden, to name just a few.)
So, we’re both sitting outside, waiting for sets, just the two of us out. I know who he is and he knows who I am too, since I’ve been buying blanks and resin from his factory for more than ten years. During one full hour, we will share waves with no one else out. And here is the guy who is the first surfboard builder in France, he could have the most beautiful balsa/red cedar custom and instead he’s riding something that looks like a longboard but not quite as long, very flat, brownish, very ugly actually… But he sure is having fun with it and, above all, he doesn’t care a damn about what people could think or say…
Lesson learnt… Now, if I can have a board that is jaw-dropping beautiful AND it works great, too, I sign for it.
Grab the dumpster beauty…if it surfs great, it is not crap…
and I would hope to use my measly skills to fix its appearance to do justice to its performance…
The other board…You can’t fix stupid.
Not so much a matter of times I should say but rather the circumstance of reverse paradigm:
My prettiest board can’t get out of it’s own way.
The steaming turd leaves every other board I have in it’s wake.
Gone Surfin’, Rich
…Balsa, here other scenario:
I know a guy who shaped a few boards in all these years and the guy still surf with a board he shaped near 20 years ago or so
(the only board he has) the guy surf worse every time that I see and less time…
yes, may be he makes some fun but not too much
the board is now a dog, it s dead feeling
that board doesnt help the guy nuthin
Nah, I just want the pretty one.
If I look good, I surf good.
If I’m surfing bad, its not the board.
dumpster crap, wouldn’t be the first time. As for what board I would choose if I could only have one, it would have to be an all round classicish longboard
a bit ironic to see this post today as this was the first day in quite some time that i took out the ugliest board i own.
it is an old 7’4" G&S asymetric fish tail thruster that I found in the dumpster. it was my first attempt at fixing up a board and it really looks like Frankenstein’s monster, (too thin, wonky rails, hacked off nose, thick opaque hotcoat) but no matter when i take it out, i have a blast. i’m normally a logger, but i can catch smaller waves with ease on this board and it is quite maneuverable.
i think my next project (board #6) is going to be to recreate the board without all the wavy curves
Dumpster crap, I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks about me.
Agreed. And if you did give a shit, you could leave it on the dumpster crap, and have shit, dump, and crap in one not-so-tidy little package.
okay would you take the ugly chick that can suck the chrome of a fender or the Barbie
sorry im gunna go for the good looker
she may be plastic but hey visual is a big part of it dont ya know
at least when its flat youve got something nice to look at in the corner
I would take the beautiful board and adjust my surfing to fit it.I like boards that look good and that makes me feel good about my surfing.Surfing for me at least is very dependant on how I feel that day.I can adapt and learn new things from something that doesn’t surf so well sometimes.I’m out bitches!!!
I would take the beautiful board and adjust my surfing to fit it
Ah…if the beautiful board doesn’t work as well (for you, for your surf, or just doesn’t work well)…you would be adjusting your suring to a lower/regressive level, wouldn’t you? The equivilent of driving a car with the emergency brake on? It’s one thing to be forced to do that, and your observation about the good that can come from that is valid to me, but is that something you would choose to do based on appearance?
I love the phrase ‘‘dumpster crap’’, when used to describe a surfboard. Where’d you come up with that?
I can’t stand ugly lines on a board, but cosmetic flaws or wear and tear don’t have much to do with appeal, IMO.
And they certainly don’t affect the ride. I don’t spend a lot of time looking at my board when I’m surfing.
So although I am impressed by the work that goes into pretty colors and nice shiny finishes, I’ll take the good ride every time.
Form follows function.