[ndaiger]

Like other small subcultures appropriated for their "cool factor" by the mainstream, there is a lot of internal policing for poseurs: people who don't know or care about the values or history of the subculture, and cheapen it by wearing it as a disposable signifier.

This particularly matters in surfing, where a crowded wave is frustrating and dangerous. It's annoying when some dumb dickhead who doesn't know what he's doing (and doesn't care to learn) ruins a wave and endangers your life.

Buying a board hand-shaped by a local shaper indicates a knowledge of the community and a commitment to its values. Shapers are generally making boards because they are obsessed with surfing their local breaks and have spent years or decades honing their craft. They live for surfing and their surf community. They do not, as a rule, get rich.

One easy way to spot poseurs is by the board they ride.

Beyond the cultural reasons, hand-shaped boards by long-time shapers tend to be:

- better made

- more interesting

- more beautiful

- particularly suited to the breaks that shaper surfs (and where their customers surf)

- most importantly, support the people most committed to the sport and its values

They're making boards for the love of surfing, not for a profit motive.

But mostly it's so people know you're not a poseur.

[stdbrouw]

So is it about making sure nobody dies or about not cheapening the subculture? Because those are two very different things. And if the latter, the dickheads might be those who use the purchase of expensive handmade gear as an exclusionary mechanism.

[fricken4]

Surfing is plenty exclusionary. whether or not this is a bad thing, there are a finite number of decent breaks in the world. You can go to the ends of the earth, paddle out an hour before the sun is up, and there are already 20 guys in the water trying to catch the same wave.

If you're a kook with a $100 soft top the others will work together to keep you at the back of the lineup. Whether it's a matter of safety or subculture is besides the point, dedicated surfers don't want you around.

Surfers have no inclination to promote surfing unless they have some kind of sponsorship. Promotion is a corporate venture that has nothing to do with surfing and everything to do with making money. Mo money, mo problems.

[spaceflunky]

The whole "safety" issue is a bit of red herring, used to just keep surfing exclusionary and to accuse others of malfeasance if they get in someone's way.

The serious risks in surfing are relatively low provided you're at a sandy bottom beach break with waves under 5ft. No one is taking these soft-top boards to the Pipeline and endangering lives, they're mostly just showing up at mellow low-risk breaks.

Yeah it's annoying when someone bumps into you, and yeah you might get a bruise in the worst case scenario, but no one is dying or drowning in 3ft waves because of too many surfers.

[pbrb]

> the dickheads might be those who use the purchase of expensive handmade gear as an exclusionary mechanism

haha, you pretty much hit the nail on the head here. surfing is really bizarre. when you start out, the guys who are better and probably have more expensive boards are the dick heads in your mind. when you get better, you slowly become one of the dickheads, and of course, you're not a dickhead, so the other guys who you once were become the dickheads in your mind.

i personally try to keep it at a balance... i'll help new ppl out, won't freak out on anyone in the water, tell a new surfer to go if they're in better position, etc. that said, i will burn you (snake you or back paddle) if you've missed a couple takes offs and we're going for the same wave as long as it's not a critical take off or anything like that.. i know, i know, shitty thing to do. though, i don't discriminate based on board type in these situations. i don't care if you're on a foam board, pop-out, or custom shape. i'm just kind of a greedy asshole like most dickhead surfers from the perspective of beginner surfers.

so i guess to answer your question, it is about making sure nobody dies, but is less about cheapening the subculture and more about serious surfers getting serious with their equipment. people do go gear head with surfboards, and that can be used by some people to show perceived hierarchy in the surf ecosystem, but like the other guy said, most people surf handmade boards because they are of higher quality and you work with the shaper to come up with a shape that works for you - your style of surfing, how you want to board to surf, the waves you will surf the board in, your weight, your height, design or artwork, etc. there's really nothing better than picking up a custom stick from a guy who you know made it by hand for you, and often, you can get a custom board from a shaper for roughly the same if not less than the heavily marketed big name brand but still not total pop-out companies (the ~$500 high performance boards i mentioned earlier).

[ndaiger]

That's a whole other problem with surfing!

Surfing regularly is a terrible hobby. Time-consuming, expensive, cold (depending on location). Wetsuits are annoying. Waves are crowded. People are jerks. People are dangerous. The ocean is dangerous. Injuries are fairly common.

In a two-hour session that starts just before first light (waking up at 4:30am in summer) I maybe get 5-10 decent waves to myself that last a minute, maybe two.

The fact that people still do it tells you just how amazing it feels to ride a wave.

[petra]

So i'm just throwing ideas here - if we find some cheaper way to verify people have the skills/knowledge (maybe some sort of a test) and they can signify that in some way - surfers will accept them ?

[milesftl]

I think the person you are replying to is correct but the emphasis is rarely on the board someone rides alone. Is just a way a lot of people are going to judge a person before they are out on the water. I will judge the hell out of someone I see walking on the beach with a super shitty board shape, but if they paddle out and rip then my predisposition obviously lead to an incorrect assumption. The most apt comparison I can come up with is a musician judging someone based on the quality of someone else's instrument.

I guess my point is there really is not a problem to be solved by making a cheaper board (other then the economic/business reasons obv). The simple fact of the matter is very few regular surfers will own these boards, and mostly kooks will buy them. However, that is not to say either set of skill levels of surfers, and which boards they own, are mutually exclusive.

[gonzo]

People know you're not a poseur by how you act in the line-up, and how you surf.