Equipment and Skills for Surfing (Part II of II)
Take a Lesson
A lesson or two will help you identify waves within your limits and practice the basics of paddling and standing up enough that you feel confident going out and experimenting. It is an investment in safe surfing.
Look for a school that offers equipment with the lesson. An instructor can answer questions about the gear you're using and other choices available to you.
Whether you take lessons or not, get to know the local surf shop. It's a great source of information about equipment, local conditions, and, well, surf videos (and often skate and snowboard videos, too).
Shortboards and Funboards
Shortboards come in many sizes (under about 7 feet), shapes, and fin placements. Shortboards are so specialized and so much more challenging to use that a longboard is almost always preferred for learning. A hybrid type, the funboard, is about 8 feet long and has many of the properties of a longboard with some of the rapid response of a shortboard.
Longboards
Longboards start at 9 feet. With their larger surface area, longboards catch waves more easily, are faster to paddle, and float better. Choosing your first board is daunting, but custom boards are similar in price to brand-name boards. Spend some time with the local shaper and be honest about your skills and abilities; you can get a unique and appropriate board both for learning and the long term.
Glass or Foam?
Today's surfboards have a shaped foam core, wooden reinforcement strips, and a fiberglass skin. The fiberglass is very hard but also brittle, and "dings" must be covered promptly or the core will soak up water. There is a low-maintenance alternative: the foam board, which uses a different foam and no wood or fiberglass.
The two most popular foam makes are the Doyle board, with a soft foam top and a plastic bottom, and the SofTop, a denser foam board with a sticky-rubber surface and a more rigid epoxy resin bottom. Surf schools usually use these boards, and you may be able to pick up a used one cheap. As your surfing improves, you may want to go to higher-performing, more rigid fiberglass. A SofTop can also be a good choice for casual surfing and is virtually indestructible.
What Gear Will I Need?
Equipment could be just a surfboard and shorts or could include a wetsuit. Wherever you surf, booties are a good idea for foot protection. And no matter how much clothing you wear, you'll always be attached to your board using a leash.
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