I am about to buy my first surf board, can I please get some advice?

Question

I am about to buy my first surfboard. I have little surfing experience so I am looking for something to practice on. During one of my lessons, my instructor told me I should look for a board that is about 8ft of maybe a bit shorter. I want to buy seccond hand. My questions:

-What are good places to look (around Brisbane/Goldcoast)?

-What price should I be looking at (including fins and leggrope)?

-What are good brands?

-What should I be looking at whilst examing a board?

Answer 1

- Go for a mini-mal = 7'6" (depends on your size though as if you are 100+kg you'll want more floatation.

- Pay $500 - $700

- Surf shops are good on the Goldy but private sales in the local classifieds will get yo a heaps better deal

- Brands - it's not so important for your first board but McTavish is a safe bet for quality.

- make sure it's not too heavy, has no cracks in the glass (especially stress fractures running horizontally across the bottom of the board), check the fins are not cracked at the base.

Answer 2

you can ava look at primative surf just of the gateway in brisbane(hendra) dont know about  goldy though, you should be lookin at around 200-500 hunge on a 8 footer, all brands arnte to bad for learners just steer clear of those chinese boards (ask shop dude) look for cracks, dings and repairs make sure the board hasnt been snapped before and you should be fine

Answer 3

You shouldn't be asking this question on line! Go to a surf shop. A real surf shop, not a bathing suit store that sells some surfboards. Talk to the folks there. They understand surfing, and the products they have for sale. Most surf shops have used boards for sale, or sell used boards on consignment. Even with good advice, don't jump for the first thing that looks good. Shop a little bit. I don't know how big you are, but long boards are usually the best to start with, they are just easier to learn on. Don't buy some piece of  junk, mass produced 'pop-out' that was factory produced in some former iron curtain country. Local shapers, and lots of the good name brands produce good surfboards. Look out for sloppy ding repairs, and discolored spots (water leak - rotting foam), hairline cracks, spongey, soft spots (de-lamination, water leaks, rotting foam). Make sure the fin boxes are set well. If they are glassed in fins, look for tell tale cracks. Don't worry too much about 'pressure dings', little circular depressions in the deck, they are hard to avoid, and rarely leak. Real surfers, in real surf shops won't steer you wrong in most places.

Answer 4

-what are good places to look (around brisbane/goldcoast)

    yeah definitely look for a used board. check out local surf shops or see if there are any online posts

-what price should i be looking at

    surfboards can be expensive but you should be able to find a solid used board for around 250-300.

-what are good brands

    brands are irrelevant; instead look for shape (i.e. width, thickness, and length) and condition

-what should i be looking at while examining a board?

    make sure there are no major dings in the fiberglass (or epoxy or other material). pressure dings on the deck or bottom are normal but avoid any where the stringer or fiberglass are exposed as these will allow the board to take on water (not a good thing). also look carefully at the fin lugs if it has an fcs fin system or at the fin boxes on futures or lockbox systems.

Answer 5

If i was in your boat i would be looking for a long board because it is a lot easier to keep your balence and to catch a wave.  If you are going to buy a used board you can look in either the paper or a surf shop that sells used boards i would think you could get a used one for about 300 to $400. when your  looking at the boards make sure its in good shape which is with digs patched up make sure there are no holes that arnt patched up

  Good Luck

Answer 6

Depends how tall you are and your weight. The bigger the board the more it will hold you up the question is if you can control it or not. I always suggest a long board or gun for first timers. They are fun boards for c**p days and easy to learn on. Once you master the board switch to a short. Then you can learn all the tricks.

If you don’t want a long board go with a board that is a little taller than you and not to thin.

Hope that helps

Edit-----

If it is a used board or new look for small cracks, dings especially around the fin and rail (sids of the board) area. IF the fins are FCS check the plugs and make sure there are no cracked and  the board is  smooth all over. If you are buying your first board don’t spend more than $100.00. I bought a nice 10-foot long board “Walden” for that much.  It lasted 3 years until I broke it in half 3 times while surfing Malibu.  LOL

Your best bet is to look on Craigslist ask people in the line-up you can get great boards like that.

Any board is a good one for starters as long as it hasn’t been beat up to bad. You will beat the c**p out of it so don’t spend too much $ it won’t be worth it.  My second board I spend $370 it was a Channel Island. I used it a week then my brother decided to do a stupid tick and split it in half.   The power of the board was great in Hawaii but not in California.  It had a different feel.

A leash is about 20 to 30 bucks. Fins are always included with the board no extra charge unless you go hire up in price like 700 mark but I would never pay that much for a board. One ding and the board starts to turn to c**p.

Make sure you buy a cover for the board and keep it out of the sun when you dont use it.

Answer 7

what they said =]

Answer 8

to be honest i would go bigger than 8' if i was you.

maybe 8'4ish.

brands do not matter, but don't make the mistake of buying a "Blaster", very crappily made boards.

do not get a foam board (soft top) you will outgrow it in weeks, and have a harder time getting possessive surfers to leave you alone. after you've  got the hang of it you should try short boarding, which is a lot more rewarding but very hard to learn on. talk to friends that surf, I'm sure someone you know can sell you their old board.

Answer 9

We're in the same boat. I've done some research. Wow, we're looking for the same exact length too. Well you wanna make sure the board is in good condition. Ask a lot of questions because some things like pressure dings and any sort of remodeling the owner did can be skillfully omitted. Long boards go for about $700-$800 but used it's up to the owner and your ability to haggle.

Look for: cracks, holes filled up with resin where water that got inside the board may have been drained at one time, pressure dings, shark teeth marks...

As for brand I'm not sure. You wanna look for a reliable shaper. Because all boards are different you probably should consult a seasoned vet about width and different concaves.

Price wise it's up to you and the owner. A used board in good condition that's say 7'10" will probably warrant the owener to ask for $400 ($300, maybe if you catch a nice guy on a good day)

You mention places in AUS, i'm from Massachusetts, USA, so no help there, sorry.

Hope I helped a bit.

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