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The Cult of the Costco Surfboard
- gthtjtkt 9y agoWavestorms are great. If they included a pamphlet on surf etiquette for beginners, they'd be perfect.
- icu 9y agoWhat a fantastic idea! I'd really encourage you to create this pamphlet and post it around Wavestorm forums.
- warcher 9y agoI suspect the pamphlet would be a short read: "Stay off our breaks, kooks." And then like a picture of beach rats slashing your tires. (Obviously I'm kidding, but HN doesn't do irony, so I'll make it explicit. Joking and I like my tires how they are.)
- bitwize 9y agoThe Wavestorm sounds like the Raspberry Pi of surfboards: a cheap way to get n00bs on board (no pun intended) quickly and a basic board that even the experienced can get use out of. I hope it fosters a culture of teaching n00bs the basics and manners of surfing rather than making fun of them.
- foobar1962 9y ago>The Wavestorm sounds like the Raspberry Pi of surfboards: a cheap way to get n00bs on board (no pun intended)... Intend it: that was a great pun. :)
- paulcnichols 9y agoIn my experience, only noobs make fun or yell at other noobs. Agree the culture needs work though.
- el_benhameen 9y agoCase in point, I'm a programmer because of the pi and a surfer because of the wavestorm.
- cat199 9y agon00b. off mah lawn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September :)
- paulcnichols 9y agoOwning a wavestorm is actually really good for working on fundamentals, even for more advanced surfers. Most people when progressing through the sport just try and get to the smallest board they can as quick as possible. I did this too, but what you miss by going too fast is learning how to use your body weight and positioning to truly command control of the board. All the joy and style of surfing comes from these subtleties and a wavestorm (because of its over the top bulkiness) forces you to pay extra attention when doing anything but going straight. The other thing I enjoy about riding foam boards is time feels slower while on a wave. They have more drag and usually the conditiwave are worse. Anyways, big foam fan!
- danielharrison 9y agoI agree. For an advanced surfer they're great as a 'reset', forcing you focus on fundamentals like weight distribution flow through manoeuvres. The only problem is if you ride them for too long you start to lose your timing. Love the shortboard but gotta reset sometimes.
- stereosky 9y agoCouldn't agree more, from one foamie homie to another! I often go foam when I take coaching, just so I can be sure the board is under my control when working on something new. One of my favourite sessions was one where clean 3-4ft waves just kept rolling in out back (a rarity here) and whilst everyone of us on epoxy/fibreglass got to surf, no one had wave counts higher than a local shop owner on a 9-10ft board. If I could have taken a poll that day it was clear judging by everyone's faces who would have won the vote for happiest person in the water. That to me is what surfing is all about
- deltamidway 9y agoAs a surfer living and working in Venice California, I love wavestorms. We can identify noobs from a distance. I am glad that Wavestorms are democratizing surfing. Previously you would need to buy a fragile $800 surfboard to start.
- mathgeek 9y ago> We can identify noobs from a distance. I'm assuming you were being a bit sarcastic here, but these kinds of comments do come across as judging people just because they're trying to learn a new hobby with certain equipment. It can be construed as a type of shaming.
- Pils 9y agoAs a skier, being able to identify weaker skiers is very important. Collisions are extremely dangerous, I assume even more so for surfing. Knowing to give certain people a wider berth is generally mutually beneficial.
- randocalrissian 9y agoIt most certainly is a type of shaming. I am new to surfing, own a Wavestorm, and I suck. I am happy that my board sends the message that I am a n00b. They are judging me and pretty accurately at that. It gives them a heads up as to whether they should help me or stay away lol. Why care about feeling shamed or embarrassed? You are trying something new and there is a high probability that you are going to be terrible at it and look like a fool. Why let "judgement" stop you from doing what you want to do? I am awful.. and I am going to keep going out there until I am less awful. I aspire to learn local etiquette and become good enough to surf with the "best". If you are afraid of being judged or shamed, try and find a spot that is less populated. Take a long board and go out on days with smaller waves. Where I live, the experienced surfers mainly come out on days with 4 ft plus waves. The point I am trying to make is that there are options. Just don't stop trying!
- wankerrific 9y agoWave storms are the best - especially as a "Saturday morning special" when a billion people are out. Grab that and a helmet and yer good to go
- reefwalkcuts 9y agoWow I never thought I'll see a HN post about Surfing.
- johankmagnusson 9y agoI'm glad it was posted since this is what finally got me to register an account after years and years of reading HN.
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- dogruck 9y agoI wish surfing culture wasn't so hostile. Unfortunately, there are a finite number of breaks and waves each day. So as the number of surfers increases, it amplifies the tension in every lineup. It's like biker culture -- if there were only a handful of roads. The only way I've been able to enjoy surfing is by paying an instructor to help me navigate the lineup and actually catch a wave.
- nnd 9y agoNot every place is hostile, from my personal experience surfing all around the world (Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Philippines, etc) I only experienced hostility in SoCal. So maybe it's just the US thing.
- slg 9y agoIf scarcity is really the problem than I imagine it is a function of the number of surfers over the length of viable coastline. Is there anywhere in the world that has a higher density of surfers than Southern California?
- orthecreedence 9y agoNot higher density, but Santa Cruz definitely gets vibes depending on the spot and the waves. It gets bad after a dry spell, like during summers. People are jonesing =]
- noknockers 9y agoBeen to snapper?
- IanDrake 9y agoBeen to any point breaks in C.R. in the last 5-6 years? The locals have gone from "what's surfing?" to "go home gringo!" in about 20 years. I've never had a problem in SoCal, but then I've only been to a few breaks.
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- setheron 9y agoI had a storm blade which is the higher end wavestorm. It was a 10ft! I was able to catch the tinyest of waves and ride them forever. Although now I have a fiberglass board and a good wave feels better... I miss the quantity.
- rurban 9y agoThe Wavestorm is perfect to catch really bad waves. But the previous Costco chinese softboard, a shortboard is also cult amongst riversurfers. Because it's so cheap, thick and extremely wide it's perfect for small riverwaves, and nobody cares if it crashes into a rock, the most common incident on rivers.
- Grustaf 9y agoI wish there were something similar for kitesurfing. As it is, you basically need to spend 2 grand for equipment, 1.5 if you go second hand but then you need to be knowledgeable. That's a pretty big threshold for beginners that aren't sure about it.
- radiorental 9y agoBest kiteboarding tried to crack the price barrier but seem to have given up. Kites are too manufacturing intensive. Kiteboarding and surfing are apples and oranges That said. I have a quiver of second hand North kites for under a grand. A good board will last you 6+ seasons
- Grustaf 9y ago> Kiteboarding and surfing are apples and oranges I know, that's why I wrote "I wish there were". I also know you can get second hand cheaply - I never bought new, but most beginners wouldn't know what to look for. Maybe a second hand buyer's guide would go some way. Some people are working on another way to lower the barrier to entry, if it works out I'll post about it on HN!
- BASH_hockey 9y agoThe founder is also a legend at the Bay Area Street Hockey league, playing at the James Lick school in Noe Valley. He was probably the best player for the better part of a decade, having played hockey at some Ivy League school, IIRC. Another startup connection is one of the founding or very early members of Zynga used to play in that league as well.
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- notadoc 9y ago> "You've read your last complimentary article this month. To read the full article, SUBSCRIBE NOW" I don't remember clicking a newyorker.com link until now, but apparently at some point I reached some limit. Is it just me, or does this sort of article limit behavior train you to simply not click those links, knowing you won't be able to read them?
- likeclockwork 9y agoIt's not just you.
- rdiddly 9y agoGotta say, I never really cared or knew much about surfing, but I always still kept an idea of it in my head that it was this solitary, cool, independent, zen-minded thing. This article shatters that illusion into a million pieces. Come to find out it's just another "sport," with everybody obsessing over $$$gear, and grasping for their place in some kind of hierarchy that has doctrinaire douchebags at the top, and way too many clumsy ignorant pretenders at the bottom. You know, like cycling. Which I actually do care and know about, but I avoid "cyclists" like the plague so I can maintain my illusion that it's this solitary, cool, independent, zen-minded thing. (It is when I do it.) So of course in hindsight I'm not sure why or how I was surprised by any of this. Humans ruin everything.