Every day surfers check the surf reports to find out what they can expect as far as tidal information, size of the waves, wind information, rain or sunshine, temperature of the air and the water, and time of sunrise and sunset, just to name a few. All of these conditions will determine what type of water activity and which of your water sport products you will need and want to take to the ocean, lake, pool or river.
There are various places to check the daily surf report. Go online and find a surf report site where you can get just about all of the information you need for any place in the world to make a decision on whether you will go surfing, paddling, swimming, rowing, skimming, body boarding, or taking the day off and doing something else. There are many of these sites. If you can't get the information you need for your location, go to google.com or your local TV or newspaper for the current weather report.
What are the surfer's water product categories and choices, you may ask? Depending on the surf conditions, you will have to choose the type surfboard you want to surf. Maybe you will want to take more than one type surfboard in case the conditions change. Do you need a wet suit to keep you warm? How about sun block, rash guard, board shorts, wax, surfboard leash, sweatshirt, hat, and dark glasses?
Normally these decisions are relatively easy, but they are important because if you have the wrong equipment or have forgotten to bring the proper surfboard for the conditions, you can ruin your day or have to double back home to get what you need. With the price of gas today, this could be an expensive and time consuming proposition.
Choosing the proper surfboard for the conditions and your skill level requires careful consideration especially when there are so many different types of surfboards to choose from. Here is a list of surfboards types for your consideration:
· Softboards
· Hardboards
· Shortboards
· Longboards
· Funboards
· Standup Paddleboards
· Paddleboards
· Skimboards
· Alia
· Wakeboards
· Tow-in Surfboards
· Pippo Boards
Each one of these surfboard types can be further broken down into sub-categories. I will discuss them in another article, but to give you an idea, the size of the waves will determine whether you want to ride your thruster, your fish, your quad or maybe even your funboard. You may even want to go for a paddle.
Looking at the list of surfboard types, although incomplete, gives you an idea as to why many surfers have more that 5 surfboards and sometimes as many as 20 different type surfboards in their quiver.
What kind of wetsuit will I need today, or will I even need one. Wetsuits come in all different types and thicknesses to suit the water and air temperature conditions. If the water is extremely cold, you may even want to wear a rubber hood and booties. In the winter, you will want a full wetsuit and one that is thick enough to keep you warm. As the weather starts warming up, surfers then have choices between wearing a full suit or a spring suit.
Spring wetsuits could be a full suit made from thin rubber or it could be one with any combination of sleeves, no sleeves, legs, no legs, or just the torso suit. There are also a wide variety of suits that have combinations of flexible rubber materials. You can go to your local surf shop and try on and test these different suits. Of course, there is also a wide price variance. As usual, you get what you pay for.
As you can surmise from this article, there is a very wide selection of water products that every surfer has to choose from. Choose wisely and in general try to get a good cross section of surfboard types, wetsuits, and your other water products that will make it possible to enjoy just about any water and surf condition that is given to you on any day.
Always remember that surfing is a joyful and wonderful way of life, which you should apply to all of your daily activities. Surf Life and enjoy!
