My buddy is getting back into surfing after a long drought and he is looking for some new boards. He is middle aged, fit, weighs about 150 and was a good surfer back in the day. He wants "shortboards" and asked my opinion, but I'm old and have had a personal shaper for decades, so I'm clueless when it comes to other boards, volume especially.

Any ideas?

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I was right.

Summertime>small waves>fit, 150lbs>used to be a good surfer>shortboard=Pylon!

The Firewire Tomo Evo is a pretty good option. Lots of volume in a short board, makes it easy to paddle and pop up. Its basically a short performance fun shape. Its my go to for weak surf.

Edited: 07/17/2021 at 06:33 AM by MR

What's the sizing on the Tomos? If I ride a 6-0 shortboard, what's the Tomo equivalent?

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I was right.

Firewire Seaside. I tried my friends and didn't want to give it back, worked well even with dimensions oversized for me. Hard to find used, hard to find new, going to have to shell nearly $1k to order.

Cole- I'm selling an Al Merrick shortboard.. Surftech in really great shape for very cheap.

PM me if youre interested

Tomo Evo

Edited: 07/18/2021 at 06:59 AM by MR

Check the "Hippo" at Another Ride.

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Dora Hates You

How tall is he? Based on info given I'd say around "30 Liters" go with a 5'8" to 5'10" Quiet Flight Mahi Mahi or a 5'8" Double Agent....no need for a short board anymore LOL

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I troll 2L.com to be a better person in real life

Neilson FFF, sized appropriately.
He can downsize to a potato chip after his gills get less dry and brittle, still keep the fish for small days.

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Superior suggestions, if he's your bro he rips and no need wasting time with anything less than something good albeit a little harder to paddle. I go with pandaroo, at his weight about 30 liters is good. I might add a couple liters if he's surfing with you and Griffen so he can get a wave.

He can get back his skills if... we get some damned waves!

He lives out west, so that's why I'm asking about production boards and general dimensions. He's about 5-9 tall at 150 pounds. Rock climbing is his main addiction.

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I was right.

If he lives out west, add a liter or so to compensate for the wetsuit.

If he lives north of Point Conception add 3 or 4 more.

What is a base liter for his weight with a slight addition for age?

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I was right.

Lost surfboards site has a pretty good estimator for volume based on weight and surfing ability.

What kind of volume are you riding Cole?

I have no idea, I still go by length and thickness, hence all my questions.


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I was right.

Something epoxy, with the 5 fin option so he can tinker with different fin setups, from 31-34 liters with a wide tail and wide nose. Should be plenty of paddle power, and not too big for a 150 pounder to surf high performance.


All of Mayhems/ Losts small waves boards are fun.

(And in my opinion a swallow tail on small wave boards gives you extra bite and hold versus a big wide squash, so I'd recommend a fish )

Cole I would have him use Lost's volume calculator. I'm like you and my current board is the first one I have ever known/used the liters measurement for. It's important that your friend is honest with himself when he answers it though. lol My buddy swears by the liter calculator Channel Islands has on their site.

Edited: 07/23/2021 at 06:48 PM by larenyon