How to choose a surfboard: answers from a 150-board log
Updated 2026-09-19
I have owned 150 surfboards. Twenty-nine are in the rack right now, 121 are sold, and every one of them has a record: dimensions, volume, fin config, how many times I rode it, how fast it went, and what it sold for if it went. This section answers the questions people type into a search box before they buy a board, using that log instead of a shop's buying guide.
Nobody here is trying to sell you a board. There are no affiliate links on this site and nobody pays for a mention. So when the answer is "don't buy," that is what gets written.
What this section covers
The questions are the ones I get asked, and the ones I asked myself before wasting money: how many boards you actually need, whether a mid-length beats a longboard for you, whether a fish is hard to ride, whether a cheap board is a false economy, when a custom order is worth the wait, and how volume actually works once you get past the marketing number on a sticker.
Some answers come with numbers straight from the register (as at May 2026): 97 of the 150 boards were PU, 17 were EPS, 51 were custom orders and 95 came off a rack as stock. The rest come from riding the boards, in real conditions, more than once.
If you already know roughly what you are looking for, the volume tool works out a starting number from length, width and thickness. If you are still deciding what kind of board fits your waves and your build, start with what I ask myself before any purchase.
Questions people ask
Do I need to read every page here before I buy a board?
No. Start with the one closest to your actual question. Most of these pages stand on their own and link sideways to the others when a related question comes up.
Is any of this sponsored?
No. The site earns from advertising, not from board sales, and no shaper or shop pays for placement here.
Why trust a log over a shop's advice?
A shop wants to sell you a board today. This log has 121 boards that were bought, ridden, and in most cases sold again, so the record includes what did not work out, not just the wins.
Pages in this section
- Are cheap surfboards a waste of money? I bought one to find out
- Are fish surfboards hard to ride? The direct answer
- Custom or stock surfboard? When paying for custom is worth it
- How many surfboards do you need? What 150 boards taught me
- Mid-length or longboard? What the length numbers actually show
- Surfboard for bigger surfers: what actually worked at 100 kg
- Surfboard for small waves: grovellers, fish and mids from the log
- Surfboard volume explained: what the liter number actually tells you
- Twin, quad or thruster? What 150 boards say about fin setups
- Which surfboard should I get? The checklist I use before buying
- EPS or PU surfboard? What 150 boards say about material
- Fish or mid-length? Comparing the two from 150 boards
- Surfboard for older surfers: paddle power over performance
- What is a mid-length surfboard? A definition from the log
- Which softboard is best? Four compared from the log