Equipment for Surfing – Non-boat

    I have covered the equipment you should be looking for in a boat. Now, I will cover the equipment needed which comes separate from the boat. I will skip the obvious ones (life vest, rope) which I covered in an earlier post.
    First and foremost, you need a surf board or it might be difficult to surf. There are many types of surf boards so I will cover some of the basics and a few of the brands I have used. Boards come in all shapes and sizes so let's start off with what you should look for. The longer the board, the more stable it will be and easier to get up on. It typically means the board is heaver as well which will give you more support in the water as it will sit down in the water better. A longer, heavier board is exactly what you should start off on. I started off with a CWB 63" Ride board and it has been VERY easy for people of all skill levels to get up on.

Long, heavy board for beginners.

    The next board I graduated to was a Liquid Force 58" custom board. It was MUCH lighter and shorter than the CWB board. Since it was lighter, it was much easier to maneuver on the wave and make cuts. Since it was lighter, it also stayed on top of the water more and tending to be "squirrely" and took a while to find my balance.

Shorter, light board for lots of maneuverability

    The latest board I am using is a 43" CWB Blackjack board. It is heavier than the LF but much shorter. It is also symmetrical which means it is the same on both ends of the board making it much easier to ride backside on a wave (with your heels to the wave rather than your toes) as well as some other tricks.

Short, heavy board for tricks

    Most wake surfing stores will allow you to rent a board for a couple days to try it out so you can get a feel for it.  I would recommend doing that because the boards are quite expensive.
    In general, I will switch between the LF and Blackjack depending on the mood I am in as well as what the wave is doing. If the wave is really tall, I tend to use the blackjack because it is wider and more stable. If the wave is short or longer, I will use the LF as it is faster and more maneuverable. The only thing I absolutely know is when you are teaching someone, always use a heavy, long board. I have had some very talented and athletic people attempt the other boards and every time they fail until they go back to the CWB Ride board.
    The last piece of equipment you need is weight in the boat so you can create a very large wake. This weight can come in the form of actual weights (lead, cinder blocks, etc.), fat sacks (mobile ballasts) or people which we call bio-ballasts. Personally, I like having big, fat, heavy people because they are very easy to move, however, they are not always available so I will discuss fat sacks since weights are pretty obvious.
    A fat sack is simply a big bag which you fill with water using a pump. This water is used to weigh down the boat and help create a bigger wake. Fat sacks come in all shapes and sizes so they can fit into certain areas in a boat. I personally have two 750lb fat sacks which I use almost every time we go out. The Pro Series X is one of the most common fat sacks out there and you really can't go wrong with it. You will also need a pump (Tsunami is what I use) to fill up the fat sack. It plugs into the cigarette lighter in the boat and to fill up the sack, you put the pump in the water. To empty the sack, you attach the pump to the sack and suck the water out. It is quite simple and usually only takes about 5 minutes to do. I have seen some people actually plumb into their existing ballast system and use that to fill the sacks instead of a separate pump so that is an option as well. One thing to keep in mind when you are buying a fat sack and pump is the connections to connect the sack to the pump do not come with the sack so you will need to buy those separately.
    Now that I have described all the equipment you need, my next post will focus on how to set the boat up for the best wake.