Category Archives: Product Reviews

It’s getting COLD! You could go West.

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Hey guys, if you think I’m talking about surfing out West somewhere you need to think outside the box a bit. lol I am talking about West Wetsuits! West was one of the FIRST Wetsuit companies that gave us a chance, so we’ll give them a SHOUT OUT and talk about them first! West Wetsuits are SOLID. Most of their models are made from the BEST limestone based neoprene available. Limestone based neoprene is not ONLY the new thing, but it’s lighter, warmer, more comfortable, and stretches better! (I should know, I own and use a West Lotus 3/2) Not to mention it is greener. West has been using limestone longer than most of the guys out there and they got it DOWN. If I had to choose a stand out suit I would say the West Lotus (pick your thickness) Air-O would have to be the way to go! The Lotus Air-O combines the premium limestone based neoprene I talked about with a sandwiched “waffle” layer. This is basically a thin layer of neoprene within the suit that has air holes in it. These air holes warm with your body’s temperature and then transfer that heat back to you, making this West Wetsuit lighter and warmer! Talking about the Lotus Air-O makes me want to upgrade mine! lol Anyway, if you’re cold, going West should DEFINITELY be considered. (Get the pun now?!?)

(Get the pun now?!?)

Future Fins Box Fillers: Review… Really?!?

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lol Hey guys, you know if I start a blog post with lol it’s going to be absolutely ridiculous. Today I am going to talk about one of the smallest parts in surfing that is becoming more and more important as we move further and further down the 5-Fin road. You may not know these exist, but they do and they’re IMPORTANT for any one that owns a 5-Fin board with Futures Boxes. Future Fins Box Fillers are a relatively new product. (Please understand that I say all this because it needs to be said and because a blog post about two 4 1/2 pieces of plastic has the PERFECT amount of comic relief I’m looking for) They didn’t even exist before the entrance of the 5-Fin, though they should have. (For people turning a thruster into a twin.) Basically, a box filler is a piece of plastic that you wedge into your empty Futures Boxes when you’re not using them. (i.e. running a 5-Fin as a Thruster or Quad) This creates a completely flat surface on the bottom of your board. It makes sense and it’s about time. Those empty boxes actually cause a good bit of drag. I mean if you’re buying a $120.00 5-Fin set from Futures you should probably splurge and get the $4.00 Box Fillers to fill the boxes you’re not using. Simple, but GREAT! Which begs the question… Shouldn’t FCS make plug fillers? How can you not enjoy my blog?? With that I bid you good day.

Ke11y IS 11 time world champ!

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Hey Guys! So, it was a bit delayed because of the ASP’s poor math skills, but despite the issues there, Ke11y IS 11 time world champ! (I all ready said my “told you so’s”, before Ke11y ACTUALLY won, so I won’t do it again.) With Ke11y’s victory will no doubt come a NEW Ke11y fin from FCS. (Just trying to call it now so I can say another told you so later.) The FCS K3 was made with 8 circles to signify Ke11y’s then 8 time world champ status! So, I think it’s about time! We want a new Ke11y fin, right?!? I mean we do have the FCS K2.1 PC‘s, but those are a revamp of the K2.1 in Natural. We want something fresh, something that has Ke11y’s 11 time world champ experience behind it. Certainly his surfing has to have changed (I would argue gotten better) since the release of the K3‘s. If it has, we want a NEW fin, a NEW template and a NEW material to reflect any changes in Ke11y’s style. Honestly, at the root of it, we all just want to surf like him anyway. lol With that said, I’ll get on the horn and talk to FCS about it. I’ll tell them that all of you are DEMANDING a new Ke11y Fin. lol Truthfully though, I’ll at least call them and ask if anything’s in the works. If so, you know you’ll hear it FIRST, RIGHT HERE!

Surfboard Travel Bags: They’re all the same right?!? (The Sixthquel)

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I think I just made up a new word. lol The point is that this SHOULD BE my LAST “Surfboard Travel Bag” post! (Somehow some of you will be upset and the rest of you, grateful… I don’t understand. Either way we’ll be moving on after this.) I was breaking down some KEY differences (generally) between companies. So, lets continue! Next up, Creatures of Leisure. Born in Aus., their Surfboard Travel Bag claim to be “Slim Fit”, (which they are) giving you less size and weight! Meanwhile, Dakine has the industry leading Recon II, available in both Shortboard and Longboard sizes. The Recon II is one of our best selling Surfboard Travel Bag and for good reason. It’s one of the SICKEST slim doubles we offer. It COMPLETELY HIDES YOUR 2nd BOARD! (Stick it to the Airlines! Hey, don’t judge! Those airline fees are getting out of control.) Next up is Destination Surf. With their Family Owned attitude and industry leading Manufacturer warranty, you know your set with one of their bags. Last BUT NOT LEAST is Ocean and Earth. Their price point approach gets you a SOLID Surfboard Travel Bag at a GREAT price. With all this said, we carry all these brands and more! If you want the BEST surf gear in the world there’s no better place than www.TheSurfboardWarehouse.com! If you need help sorting through our Surfboard Travel Bag, our LIVE CHAT is a GREAT place to start! Thanks again, see you soon!

BREAKING NEWS: Approval from Quiksilver and Hurley!

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Hey Guys! Just wanted to let you know that we just heard back from Quiksilver and Hurley. I am EXCITED to announce that The Surfboard Warehouse was given the green light from BOTH companies to carry their Wetsuits! This follows the recent news that we were approved with Billabong to carry their Wetsuits as well. Quiksilver, Hurley and Billabong will all be offered alongside our West and Body Glove Wetsuit lines. Making The Surfboard Warehouse one of the BEST places on the net to get your new Wetsuit! AND, we’re not done yet! I can’t say who, but we have a few more TOP contracts pending! Keep you eyes here for all the BEST industry leading Wetsuits! Thank you for all your support. Without you, our customers, this never would have been made possible! I’ll follow up with a personal note on where we (The Surfboard Warehouse) has come from and what a HUGE milestone it is to have these new partnerships. THANK YOU!

Surfboard Travel Bags: They’re all the same right?!? (Part 5)

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Happy Halloween! (If you want to see a YouTube Vid. of some of the guys costumes from The Surfboard Warehouse click HERE, FUNNY stuff!! More proof you can do ANYTHING if you put your mind to it! lol) Now, back to Travel Surfboard Bags. How much padding do they have? Well, typically they have 3/4 in foam padding sandwiched between a tarpee inner liner and a tough nylon outside. Some bags (my personal favorites) have one side Nylon and the other a heat reflective tarpee. When you’re using this type of Travel Surfboard Bag PUT THE TARPEE SIDE UP! This way your boards will stay cool whether they’re on the roof of your car or sprawled out on the beach. (Yes, it makes that much of a difference. That’s how the bag is designed!) FCS uses dual density foam on some of their Travel Surfboard Bags. I wouldn’t be surprised if this type of construction becomes the standard because it’s SICK. Prolite‘s protection and pocket placement/usage are KEY. So, if you’re the surfer that likes all their gear in it’s place, Prolite may be the way to go. I’ll highlight some of our other companies stand out Travel Surfboard Bag features in my next and possibly LAST Travel Surfboard Bag post. (Don’t quote me on that though. lol)

FCS and The Surfboard Warehouse 101

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Sorry to blog so late on a Friday! (I meant to have this up in the AM, however once again I got tied up! This time it was helping with the Finatic Fin Testing Program.) So, it’s time to let the pendulum swing the other way and talk about our INCREDIBLE relationship with FCS! FCS has been around longer than Futures, thus when we came onto the scene in 2005, FCS had to feel us out for a bit and make sure we were a good fit for each other. I think they saw me as a crazy man that may just be able to pull off such an insane online surf shop! lol Once they gave us the green light in early 2006, BOY did I prove them right! ha ha (Yes, I realize I’m admitting to being a crazy man.) The Surfboard Warehouse‘s sales have grown consistently year after year with FCS! This brings us to where we are today, one of FCS‘s LARGEST online accounts in the US! This is NO small accomplishment with the amount of competition there is on the Net now a days. So how did we do it? Well, when you pair FCS, an established global leader in both surfboard fins and surf gear, and The Surfboard Warehouse with our exclusive Finatic Fin Testing Program which has helped to fuel our FCS Fin sales, there was no doubt in my mind that it was just a matter of time before we would begin to aid FCS in setting the bar.

Future Fins and The Surfboard Warehouse 101

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Hey Guys! I’m a bit Travel Surfboard Bagged out… lol So I figured I would talk about Future Fins and our relationship with them for a bit. The Surfboard Warehouse has a GREAT relationship with Future Fins as WE PIONEERED selling Future Fins online. (Don’t let anyone tell you different.) Back in 2005 when we opened we were just selling Custom Surfboards. By 2006 we had received our contracts with both FCS and Future Fins. However, Future Fins as a company was much smaller than they are today, and to our knowledge, didn’t have ANY other all online accounts. (We’re still one of the ONLY all online accounts for many of the companies we sell.) Anyway, fast forward almost 6 years and Futures Fins is as glad they took a chance on us as we are that we took a chance on them! Because, within that time both Future Fins and The Surfboard Warehouse have experienced MASSIVE GROWTH that may not be equaled anywhere else in the surf industry! By combining Future Fins, one of the world’s leading Fins and Fin Box systems, and our effort to give everyone EVERYWHERE an equal opportunity to get the EXACT surf gear they demand, both companies have experienced massive growth that otherwise may not have happened. Now you know…

Surfboard Travel Bags: They’re all the same right?!? (Part 4)

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Rina swell otw! (If you’re not a F.L. gulf coast surfer you don’t know what I’m talking about. If you are, get ready for a head high+ shack fest!! Sat. may be the day!) Anyway, back to the topic at hand Travel Surfboard Bags. The next key factor when selecting a Travel Surfboard Bag, depends on how many boards you’re taking. If you’re trying to slim down for the airlines sake, there’s a HOST of Slim Doubles that are right up your alley! (Slim Doubles are a relatively new concept designed to hide one board helping you avoid airline fees, that’s why I’m giving the special mention.) Basically, you have Single Travel Surfboard Bags, Slim Double Travel Surfboard Bags, Coffins and Coffins with Wheels. They’re not as self explanatory as they seem. The “Slim Double” I mentioned will hold 1 or 2 boards and is PERFECT for traveling. A standard Double will, in most cases, hold 2 to 3 Shortboards. While a standard Triple will hold 3 to 4 boards; and yes some of our LARGER coffins will hold up to 7 boards! (All this is assuming that you have removable fins.) Keep in mind that a Coffin with Wheels is a stand out if we’re talking about ease of use. How much padding do most Surfboard Travel Bags have? Glad you asked! Part 5 coming soon! (If you want to take bets on how many parts there will be email me…)

Surfboard Travel Bags: They’re all the same right?!? (Part 3)

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So we’ve been talking about Travel Surfboard Bag sizing and we got to a place where we were discussing what you do if you’re traveling with different styles of boards. If that’s the case, you obviously need a Travel Surfboard Bag that will fit your largest board and not be too big for your smallest. Thus, what you need to make sure is that your surfboard bag has is internal compression straps. While they’re not as important when all your boards are relatively the same size, (if you’ve purchased a properly fitting bag) they’re EXTREMELY important if your boards are different sizes and styles. Internal compression straps are like a seat belt(s) for your boards. They will hold your smaller boards in place within the bag so that there’s no movement, which will help prevent damage. External compression straps work the same way, but personally I think if you have various styled boards you would still want the internal compression straps. There’s PLENTY left to talk about when it comes to Travel Surfboard Bags, but don’t worry! I have plenty left to say! (I always do… lol) See you soon!