5/25/2023 0 Comments Radio ripper review![]() My first session on the RAD Ripper was anchored by Futures’ P6 Legacy fins. Thanks to our friends at Futures, it was an easy fix. As someone who likes to feel totally in-control on turns, this posed an issue. On the biggest waves (head-high), it held off the bottom – probably thanks to that hip in the tail – but had a tendency to slide off the top. On smaller waves, the RAD Ripper had a tendency to stick and bog, so I wouldn’t call it a groveler. The RAD Ripper put me somewhere in the middle of those two, maybe like Tomas Hermes. Generally I’d describe my surfing as round, or perhaps even square, but never tight or acute – akin to Adriano de Souza rather than Kolohe Andino. I also found myself able to turn very tight in the pocket on this board, especially on my forehand, which is a feeling I’m not accustomed to. I wouldn’t call it a ‘fast’ board compared to others that I’ve ridden (especially epoxies), but the RAD Ripper’s flat rocker and wide tail certainly aid its propulsion. The RAD Ripper needs a little help to get going, but once it does, Newton’s first law applies. The best way I can describe the board’s relationship to speed is that it has inertia. There’s no straight answer to that question. ![]() You’re probably wondering if the board was fast. I enjoyed this feeling but found it somewhat difficult to control. On my first wave, the board felt instantly slippery – not loose per se, just kind of S-ey in its movements, like it had been shot from a Roman candle. Standing nearly three inches below my personal height, the RAD Ripper felt small when paddling, but the extra foam in its belly aided flotation and its flat, beaked nose plowed through any surface texture or wind. The conditions weren’t great but they suited an amateur board test, especially on a craft that’s designed for average surf. The night before I’d performed the classic surfer’s equation, measuring swell angle x size x period x tide / wind, all of which pointed to a historic Orange County beach break, known for its large hill and peaky wedges. Overnight the waves came up, with a short period windswell pushing chest-to- maybe -head-high surf into exposed beach breaks. “Ok, you win,” I submitted to cautious Ben, before promising to surf it the next day. There wasn’t even any cracking – the fiberglass just… bent. It felt like I’d stuck my thumb straight into one of those styrofoam coolers (the ones that Igloo is doing their damndest to eliminate). So I gingerly pushed my finger into the glass, testing the legitimacy of Ben’s claims. “That thing was glassed yesterday, so it’s gonna be really sensitive if you surf it right now.” “Mmm, you might not wanna do that,” said Ben, whose cautious name aligned with his proposal. There were still a few hours of light left, so I thought about rushing down to the SC pier and bashing a few before sunset. Is anybody with me on that? Like, are the pros pulling a hilarious long-con on us all, or is there actually knowledge to be gleaned from vigorously flapping a board beneath our wing?Īnyways, the point is that I was enchanted by the RAD Ripper and wanted to ride it right fucking then. The under-the-arm test felt good, but then I never know how I’m supposed to discern a board’s quality from that ancient practice. Square rails, flat deck, slight beak in the nose, and a not-so-subtle tail hip – these are the defining characteristics of Mayhem’s post-modern slider, which he defines as being “ scaled for small, sub-par, everyday surfing.” By the time I’d returned there was a sparkling white, foam-dust-covered, resin-reeking 5’2-and-a-half RAD Ripper with my name on it. Inside was a man named Ben, who told me to pick out a tail pad from their traction closet. Two days later I rolled up to …Lost Surfboards’ factory, which sits way up high in the San Clemente’s industrial playground. “I’m in Australia right now,” Matt continued, “but let me see what my team can do. Matt explained (in gentler terms) that because my height and weight are that of an average fifth grader, there was no suitable stock option available. “Is there a stock board that would work?” “I’ve only got a small window to film,” I said. He replies with something along the lines of, “Whoops, everything not on track!” I decide to send Matt a courtesy email, just to make sure everything’s on track. Jump ahead one month, and I’m scheduled to pick up my RAD Ripper in three days. This Joyride board test, featuring …Lost’s new 80’s style pocket rocket, the RAD Ripper, had been scheduled more than a month in advance, but after Matt ‘Mayhem’ Biolos shaped me a 5’3 shooter that failed to meet his quality control standards, followed by him hopping on a plane to Australia, the board was all but forgotten. They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I recently learned that a surfboard can be.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |