Three Board Quiver: Alex Swanson (2021)

 Today, we check in with our dear friend, and valuable Almond contributor, Alex Swanson and his current, working three board quiver...

A well-appointed Three Board Quiver can cover the average surfer’s basic needs for year-round surfing.  Any additional boards beyond the core three should be in pursuit of different or unique feelings under-foot. 

The fun part of an ideal Three Board Quiver, is it will inevitably look different for everybody based on their preferences, needs, home break, and aspirations in the lineup.

Daily Driver:

4’10” Sea Kitten: I picked up one of the first renditions of the Sea Kitten a few years ago, and had the chance to take it out to overhead size local beach breaks, as well as chest to shoulder high perfect point breaks, and I was sold on the design immediately as an alternative micro board. Lately, it’s been my go to beach break board due to its skateboard like qualities, and its ability to engage in the pocket of the wave and react to oncoming sections seamlessly. It definitely takes some getting used to, being that you have to be right under the lip as the wave is breaking, but once you get going, this board is a blast.

Primary Alternate:

7’ Tracker Experimental: This was a hand me down of a hand me down that was sitting in the back of the shop, and it has turned out to be one of my most trusted outlines that I’ve taken throughout different parts of the world on various surf trips due to its reliability in all conditions. From the point breaks in Mexico, to the perfect beach and reef breaks in Costa Rica, to the diversity of waves throughout Southern California, I haven’t found a wave where this board didn’t work.

Third String:

9’4” San O Special: We had been riding a 9’2” Surf Thump for the last few years nonstop, and recently made the jump to a more friendly noserider in the San O special. A fuller outline in the nose and flatter rocker, makes this the perfect board to work on cross stepping and noseriding on all types of waves. Along with the effortless glide when locking into trim has made this particular model one of the easiest logs we’ve surfed.