Skip to main content
  • Albania

    Albania

    (ALL L)

  • Algeria

    Algeria

    (DZD د.ج)

  • Andorra

    Andorra

    (EUR €)

  • Angola

    Angola

    (USD $)

  • Anguilla

    Anguilla

    (XCD $)

  • Antigua & Barbuda

    Antigua & Barbuda

    (XCD $)

  • Argentina

    Argentina

    (USD $)

  • Armenia

    Armenia

    (AMD դր.)

  • Aruba

    Aruba

    (AWG ƒ)

  • Australia

    Australia

    (AUD $)

  • Austria

    Austria

    (EUR €)

  • Azerbaijan

    Azerbaijan

    (AZN ₼)

  • Bahamas

    Bahamas

    (BSD $)

  • Bahrain

    Bahrain

    (USD $)

  • Bangladesh

    Bangladesh

    (BDT ৳)

  • Barbados

    Barbados

    (BBD $)

  • Belgium

    Belgium

    (EUR €)

  • Belize

    Belize

    (BZD $)

  • Benin

    Benin

    (XOF Fr)

  • Bermuda

    Bermuda

    (USD $)

  • Bolivia

    Bolivia

    (BOB Bs.)

  • Bosnia & Herzegovina

    Bosnia & Herzegovina

    (BAM КМ)

  • Botswana

    Botswana

    (BWP P)

  • Brazil

    Brazil

    (USD $)

  • British Virgin Islands

    British Virgin Islands

    (USD $)

  • Brunei

    Brunei

    (BND $)

  • Bulgaria

    Bulgaria

    (BGN лв.)

  • Burkina Faso

    Burkina Faso

    (XOF Fr)

  • Burundi

    Burundi

    (USD $)

  • Cambodia

    Cambodia

    (KHR ៛)

  • Cameroon

    Cameroon

    (XAF Fr)

  • Canada

    Canada

    (CAD $)

  • Cape Verde

    Cape Verde

    (CVE $)

  • Caribbean Netherlands

    Caribbean Netherlands

    (USD $)

  • Cayman Islands

    Cayman Islands

    (KYD $)

  • Chad

    Chad

    (XAF Fr)

  • Chile

    Chile

    (USD $)

  • China

    China

    (CNY ¥)

  • Colombia

    Colombia

    (USD $)

  • Comoros

    Comoros

    (KMF Fr)

  • Cook Islands

    Cook Islands

    (NZD $)

  • Costa Rica

    Costa Rica

    (CRC ₡)

  • Croatia

    Croatia

    (EUR €)

  • Curaçao

    Curaçao

    (ANG ƒ)

  • Cyprus

    Cyprus

    (EUR €)

  • Czechia

    Czechia

    (CZK Kč)

  • Denmark

    Denmark

    (DKK kr.)

  • Djibouti

    Djibouti

    (DJF Fdj)

  • Dominica

    Dominica

    (XCD $)

  • Dominican Republic

    Dominican Republic

    (DOP $)

  • Ecuador

    Ecuador

    (USD $)

  • Egypt

    Egypt

    (EGP ج.م)

  • El Salvador

    El Salvador

    (USD $)

  • Equatorial Guinea

    Equatorial Guinea

    (XAF Fr)

  • Estonia

    Estonia

    (EUR €)

  • Eswatini

    Eswatini

    (USD $)

  • Ethiopia

    Ethiopia

    (ETB Br)

  • Falkland Islands

    Falkland Islands

    (FKP £)

  • Faroe Islands

    Faroe Islands

    (DKK kr.)

  • Fiji

    Fiji

    (FJD $)

  • Finland

    Finland

    (EUR €)

  • France

    France

    (EUR €)

  • French Guiana

    French Guiana

    (EUR €)

  • French Polynesia

    French Polynesia

    (XPF Fr)

  • Gabon

    Gabon

    (XOF Fr)

  • Gambia

    Gambia

    (GMD D)

  • Georgia

    Georgia

    (USD $)

  • Germany

    Germany

    (EUR €)

  • Ghana

    Ghana

    (USD $)

  • Gibraltar

    Gibraltar

    (GBP £)

  • Greece

    Greece

    (EUR €)

  • Greenland

    Greenland

    (DKK kr.)

  • Grenada

    Grenada

    (XCD $)

  • Guadeloupe

    Guadeloupe

    (EUR €)

  • Guatemala

    Guatemala

    (GTQ Q)

  • Guernsey

    Guernsey

    (GBP £)

  • Guinea

    Guinea

    (GNF Fr)

  • Guinea-Bissau

    Guinea-Bissau

    (XOF Fr)

  • Guyana

    Guyana

    (GYD $)

  • Haiti

    Haiti

    (USD $)

  • Honduras

    Honduras

    (HNL L)

  • Hong Kong SAR

    Hong Kong SAR

    (HKD $)

  • Hungary

    Hungary

    (HUF Ft)

  • Iceland

    Iceland

    (ISK kr)

  • India

    India

    (INR ₹)

  • Indonesia

    Indonesia

    (IDR Rp)

  • Ireland

    Ireland

    (EUR €)

  • Israel

    Israel

    (ILS ₪)

  • Italy

    Italy

    (EUR €)

  • Jamaica

    Jamaica

    (JMD $)

  • Japan

    Japan

    (JPY ¥)

  • Jersey

    Jersey

    (USD $)

  • Jordan

    Jordan

    (USD $)

  • Kazakhstan

    Kazakhstan

    (KZT 〒)

  • Kenya

    Kenya

    (KES KSh)

  • Kiribati

    Kiribati

    (USD $)

  • Kuwait

    Kuwait

    (USD $)

  • Kyrgyzstan

    Kyrgyzstan

    (KGS som)

  • Laos

    Laos

    (LAK ₭)

  • Latvia

    Latvia

    (EUR €)

  • Lesotho

    Lesotho

    (USD $)

  • Liechtenstein

    Liechtenstein

    (CHF CHF)

  • Lithuania

    Lithuania

    (EUR €)

  • Luxembourg

    Luxembourg

    (EUR €)

  • Macao SAR

    Macao SAR

    (MOP P)

  • Madagascar

    Madagascar

    (USD $)

  • Malawi

    Malawi

    (MWK MK)

  • Malaysia

    Malaysia

    (MYR RM)

  • Maldives

    Maldives

    (MVR MVR)

  • Malta

    Malta

    (EUR €)

  • Martinique

    Martinique

    (EUR €)

  • Mauritania

    Mauritania

    (USD $)

  • Mauritius

    Mauritius

    (MUR ₨)

  • Mayotte

    Mayotte

    (EUR €)

  • Mexico

    Mexico

    (USD $)

  • Moldova

    Moldova

    (MDL L)

  • Monaco

    Monaco

    (EUR €)

  • Mongolia

    Mongolia

    (MNT ₮)

  • Montenegro

    Montenegro

    (EUR €)

  • Montserrat

    Montserrat

    (XCD $)

  • Morocco

    Morocco

    (MAD د.م.)

  • Mozambique

    Mozambique

    (USD $)

  • Namibia

    Namibia

    (USD $)

  • Nauru

    Nauru

    (AUD $)

  • Nepal

    Nepal

    (NPR ₨)

  • Netherlands

    Netherlands

    (EUR €)

  • New Caledonia

    New Caledonia

    (XPF Fr)

  • New Zealand

    New Zealand

    (NZD $)

  • Nicaragua

    Nicaragua

    (NIO C$)

  • Nigeria

    Nigeria

    (NGN ₦)

  • Niue

    Niue

    (NZD $)

  • North Macedonia

    North Macedonia

    (USD $)

  • Norway

    Norway

    (USD $)

  • Oman

    Oman

    (USD $)

  • Pakistan

    Pakistan

    (PKR ₨)

  • Panama

    Panama

    (USD $)

  • Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea

    (PGK K)

  • Paraguay

    Paraguay

    (PYG ₲)

  • Peru

    Peru

    (PEN S/.)

  • Philippines

    Philippines

    (PHP ₱)

  • Poland

    Poland

    (PLN zł)

  • Portugal

    Portugal

    (EUR €)

  • Qatar

    Qatar

    (QAR ر.ق)

  • Réunion

    Réunion

    (EUR €)

  • Romania

    Romania

    (RON Lei)

  • Rwanda

    Rwanda

    (RWF FRw)

  • Samoa

    Samoa

    (WST T)

  • San Marino

    San Marino

    (EUR €)

  • São Tomé & Príncipe

    São Tomé & Príncipe

    (STD Db)

  • Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia

    (SAR ر.س)

  • Senegal

    Senegal

    (XOF Fr)

  • Serbia

    Serbia

    (RSD РСД)

  • Seychelles

    Seychelles

    (USD $)

  • Sierra Leone

    Sierra Leone

    (SLL Le)

  • Singapore

    Singapore

    (SGD $)

  • Slovakia

    Slovakia

    (EUR €)

  • Slovenia

    Slovenia

    (EUR €)

  • Solomon Islands

    Solomon Islands

    (SBD $)

  • South Africa

    South Africa

    (USD $)

  • South Korea

    South Korea

    (KRW ₩)

  • Spain

    Spain

    (EUR €)

  • Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka

    (LKR ₨)

  • St. Barthélemy

    St. Barthélemy

    (EUR €)

  • St. Kitts & Nevis

    St. Kitts & Nevis

    (XCD $)

  • St. Lucia

    St. Lucia

    (XCD $)

  • St. Martin

    St. Martin

    (EUR €)

  • St. Vincent & Grenadines

    St. Vincent & Grenadines

    (XCD $)

  • Suriname

    Suriname

    (USD $)

  • Sweden

    Sweden

    (SEK kr)

  • Switzerland

    Switzerland

    (CHF CHF)

  • Taiwan

    Taiwan

    (TWD $)

  • Tanzania

    Tanzania

    (TZS Sh)

  • Thailand

    Thailand

    (THB ฿)

  • Timor-Leste

    Timor-Leste

    (USD $)

  • Togo

    Togo

    (XOF Fr)

  • Tonga

    Tonga

    (TOP T$)

  • Trinidad & Tobago

    Trinidad & Tobago

    (TTD $)

  • Tunisia

    Tunisia

    (USD $)

  • Turks & Caicos Islands

    Turks & Caicos Islands

    (USD $)

  • Tuvalu

    Tuvalu

    (AUD $)

  • Uganda

    Uganda

    (UGX USh)

  • United Arab Emirates

    United Arab Emirates

    (AED د.إ)

  • United Kingdom

    United Kingdom

    (GBP £)

  • United States

    United States

    (USD $)

  • Uruguay

    Uruguay

    (UYU $)

  • Uzbekistan

    Uzbekistan

    (UZS )

  • Vanuatu

    Vanuatu

    (VUV Vt)

  • Vietnam

    Vietnam

    (VND ₫)

  • Zambia

    Zambia

    (USD $)

You Need A Small Board in Your Quiver

You Need A Small Board in Your Quiver

You must have a small board in your quiver, even if—and especially when—it pushes you outside your comfort zone. 

Keeping a smaller board in your active quiver requires you to use a more proactive approach to wave riding and a different approach to reading waves—all of which benefits your surfing across all of your equipment. 

We have been putting more emphasis recently on the way you build your working quiver, specifically how to construct a perfect Three Board Quiver to suit your personal surfing needs. 

Every great arsenal of surfboards needs:

  • a reliable Daily Driver
  • a familiar Primary Alternate
  • a "when the situation calls for it, it's essential to have" Third String

Anything beyond those four likely has something to do with sentimentality, or a very specific feel under-foot.

One of those three slots listed above should be a small board or fish.

The inherent glide of a longer board (noseriders, longboards, and mid-lengths) is delightful.  It's part of what makes them so fun to ride—you simply direct your board to the pocket, and allow the energy of the wave to be translated into forward acceleration by all the foam under your feet.  Whether you choose to stay low in the pocket, or take a high line, the longer boards will generally harness enough energy to pull you through. 

You can even set your weight on your inside rail, and plane through whitewash—often catching up to a section that has closed out—when riding a longboard.

Those generous margins aren't quite there when you ride a fish or small board.  You have to be a bit more mindful of where you take off and where you draw your line—often having to take a more proactive approach to pumping and generating speed.

I wrote an article last week about reducing your surfboard's drag in the water by taking a higher line.  Too often, I see surfers get stuck at the bottom of the wave where they can draw little energy from the wave's power for speed-generating.  Sections run by them, and they're forced to kick out and try again.  If they had only taken a higher, more efficient line from the take-off, they could have made that section and been riding to the beach.

Transitioning down from longer equipment to smaller equipment is an exercise in delayed gratification, but it's a process that is well-worth the investment of time and humbling moments.  

Putting time in on smaller boards will yield great results in your ability to read what a wave is doing, and respond to it—a skill that translates across any wave-riding equipment you might find yourself on. 

Two areas to focus on when riding smaller equipment:

Your Chest: when paddling a smaller board, focus on getting your chest up and chin high.  We put a good amount of emphasis on getting foam under your chest to assist your paddling.  Raise your chest and chin high when you stroke into a wave.  The earlier the wave is doing the pushing for you, the larger your window of opportunity is for getting to your feet—and the sooner your arms can stop doing all the work.

Your Back Foot: A crucial skill for developing your surfing is knowing when to shift your weight between being centered on the board and to your back foot.  Too often, I see surfers—longboarders especially—jutting their front hip out toward the nose, as though they were on a longboard skateboard.  Except for some very rare moments, your weight should never be out over your front hip.  Far more often, you should have your weight over your back foot, giving you the most control over the direction of your surfboard.

If you are looking to add a fish or small board to your quiver, I wrote this to assist in your search: Almond's Guide to Fishes & Small Boards.

If you are uncertain about adding a small board to your surf routine take a good, long look at the 5'4 R-Series Secret Menu.  It is an incredibly cost-friendly way to dip your toes into the realm of riding smaller equipment.  And at 36.4 L, it's enough to float a surfer 200+ lbs. (don't take our word for it, read the customer testimonials

Where to Begin:

The 5'4 Secret Menu packs a generous amount of foam under your chest for building confidence paddling a smaller board (stick with it, it may take a couple sessions to get the hang of).  That board carries the same amount of volume as a 5'10 Sandia Fish would—just packed into a smaller outline.

We refer to the Secret Menu as "a longboarder's favorite shortboard" for a reason, the wide tail is great for shifting your mindset toward generating speed on a smaller board.

Take a major leap forward with your surfing and add a small board to your active quiver.