Are there any Commercial Paipos available on the market ?

[Paipo Jim]

To me, I have used 3 categories of prone vehicles:

1) bodyboard - sponge

2) bellyboard - foam & glass; buoyant

3) paipo - neutrally buoyant board that is not a sponge or mini surfboard

^^^This for sure, and category 3 should cover everything down to but not necessarily including handboards (although a two-handed one would definitely be in paipo territory.)

[spudnut]

To me, I have used 3 categories of prone vehicles:

1) bodyboard - sponge

2) bellyboard - foam & glass; buoyant

3) paipo - neutrally buoyant board that is not a sponge or mini surfboard

Not quite sure what you are saying?

Id like to have the term 'Paipo' cover a greater range of craft so that it covers EVERYthing thats (as you said)...not a sponge or a mini surfboard...
Id like Paipo to refer to all solid skin prone craft, be they wood, resin, glass, plastic or concrete !
So where you say youd call a foam and glass craft a belly board , Id like to call them a paipo as modern materials shouldnt be excluded from forwarding the basic design.
Im sure if the Ancient Hawaiian Kings had UV cure epoxy they'd be making paipos out of it.
Modern materials may not be the traditional materials but in the spirit of the design and for the progression of the sport and build-craft, all materials should be included, imho...
Except sponge. Because thats just wrong!!

Based upon what you are saying, paipo would include sponge! You just have a personal preference to not want to include it

[soulglider]

.

[rodndtube]

To me, I have used 3 categories of prone vehicles:

1) bodyboard - sponge

2) bellyboard - foam & glass; buoyant

3) paipo - neutrally buoyant board that is not a sponge or mini surfboard

There are somethings that are simply overcome by events. In the UK they call their wood boards "bellyboards" and used to call them "surfboards." This was true to a certain extent through out the lands of the former British empire.

Bodyboards include all manner of surf riding craft intended to be ridden prone. Popular usage also includes sponge craft ("boogie boards"). Another form of popular usage of such a term is xerox and photocopy (is that scanning?).

Paipo is the Hawaiian term used for describing surf riding craft intended to be ridden prone. Well... as the home page has stated for over a year now the term paipo came into written form in the mid-1950s and evolved during the subsequent ten years (both in spelling and what it describes). One school of thought in Hawaii these days is using the grammatical spelling form of paepo to mean wooden, finless prone riding craft (I am not sure what term is used to describe all the other forms of prone riding craft).

To remain "core" in using the old term for the meaning of finless wood surf riding boards for riding kipapa-style, one would use papa li`ili`i, in the same manner you would say riding an alaia or olo board. Those are boards anchored in time to describe types of board, such as we would bellyboard, shortboard and longboard today. Of course, using some of these terms would exclude an HPD from being called a paipo -- it would be a bellyboard.

[Paipo Jim]

Bodyboards include all manner of surf riding craft intended to be ridden prone.

Bodyboard is a term invented by the marketing droids of the "action sports industry" to describe their knock offs (and improvements) of the Morey boogieboard.

Bodyboard = booger. Period.

[rodndtube]

Bodyboards include all manner of surf riding craft intended to be ridden prone.

Bodyboard is a term invented by the marketing droids of the "action sports industry" to describe their knock offs (and improvements) of the Morey boogieboard.

Bodyboard = booger. Period.

Sorry, but the term bodyboard pre-dates the invention of the boogie board by Tom Morey in 1971. However, you are correct that when somebody generically says "bodyboard" that they are referring to the boogie board style prone riding board.

[Paipo Jim]

Sorry, but the term bodyboard pre-dates the invention of the boogie board by Tom Morey in 1971.

Bullshit. I've been surfing since the 1950's and nobody used the term before the the boogie boom despite what authorities whom you might have talked to might have "recalled." And even if some dork in some obscure brochure or newspaper in some seaside resort in Western Australia actually put the word in print in 1928 you're still wrong.

Bodyboard = booger. Period.

[jbw4600]

I don't think you need to use words like "bullshit" in this forum. This is just a friendly discussion.

[GeoffreyLevens]

I don't think you need to use words like "bullshit" in this forum. This is just a friendly discussion.

"Well, he's just an excitable boy"

"Excitable Boy"
(Warren Zevon & LeRoy P. Marinell)

Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best
Excitable boy, they all said
And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest
Excitable boy, they all said
He took in the four a.m. show at the Clark
Excitable boy, they all said
And he bit the usherette's leg in the dark
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
He took little Suzie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
And he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy

[rodndtube]

Sorry, but the term bodyboard pre-dates the invention of the boogie board by Tom Morey in 1971.

Bullshit. I've been surfing since the 1950's and nobody used the term before the the boogie boom despite what authorities whom you might have talked to might have "recalled." And even if some dork in some obscure brochure or newspaper in some seaside resort in Western Australia actually put the word in print in 1928 you're still wrong.

Bodyboard = booger. Period.

The term "bodyboard" has been around for quite some time.... at least before the invention of the boogie board, in 1971. Subsequent use of the term "bodyboard" was to work around trademark infringements. There are several references to body-board surfing in Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand and elsewhere in Oceania. [See: Finney, Ben R. 1959. Hawaiian surfing, a study of cultural change.]

[bgreen]

It's a bit like who invented the shortboard. People of both genders had been riding shortboards for ages. It is a completely different question regarding who popularised the shortboard (and term bodyboard).

Rod,
I've been meaning to update my online history. It is now called:

Paipo - Belly boarding in Australia. Subtitle is: The 1950s and beyond (includes online links to pre-1950 photos from Australia and New Zealand).

Bob

[soulglider]

.

[mrmike]

you said it all . that what I get when someone ask me what the heck is that thing

[Paipo Jim]

There are several references to body-board surfing in Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand and elsewhere in Oceania. [See: Finney, Ben R. 1959. Hawaiian surfing, a study of cultural change.]

Just as I predicted. Some obscure reference in a book no one has read. The fact of the matter is "bellyboard" was the operative generic term for decades before the boogieboard industry glommed on to "bodyboard."

Bodyboard = booger. Period.

[GeoffreyLevens]

Booger = nose candy

bodyboard = what the ambulance guys strap you to after you do a head plant in booming shore break, whatever you are riding

Oh, wait... that's a body board, two words

[jbw4600]

Words and their meanings change with time and location. When I was young (here in Northern California)we always called fiberglass surfboards that you surf laying down "Bellyboards". The soft foam boards that came along later, have been called "bodyboards" by the general public. (Boogie board is a brand name.) I never heard the term "paipo boards" until recently. But in Hawaii the surfing has been used "Paipo board" all along. Now I have learned from this site that in the UK they use the word for "Bellyboard" for a wood board that you surf laying down. And according to Rod they are many references in the literature to paipo boards for a variety of types of boards.

So I think it all depends on who you are talking to. If I were in the UK and I told some that I ride a belly board, they would think I ride one those wooden boards and wore a bathing bonnet. I usually tell an older surfer that I ride a paipo. And a younger person I say bellyboard.

When I rode a bodyboard I always corrected the person when they said boogie, sponge or anything else. Bodyboards are are denegrated very often. But I rode some custom built boards that really flew right along side guys on their fancy short boards in some the major breaks on the west coast. To me a booger or sponger is a put down.

[rodndtube]

There are several references to body-board surfing in Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand and elsewhere in Oceania. [See: Finney, Ben R. 1959. Hawaiian surfing, a study of cultural change.]

Just as I predicted. Some obscure reference in a book no one has read. The fact of the matter is "bellyboard" was the operative generic term for decades before the boogieboard industry glommed on to "bodyboard."

Bodyboard = booger. Period.

Jim, I have not been seeing common references to the term "bellyboard" prior to the early- to mid-1960s. Please sent me some references!

This debate sometimes reminds me of people arguing over whether they are using a laptop, netbook or a handheld/tablet. There are several gray areas and performance specs and functional specs do not necessarily clarify matters when comparing a 2011 tablet with a 2007 laptop.

[rodndtube]

Words and their meanings change with time and location. <snip>

Very much so. It is somewhat challenging to read Hawaiian pre-1920s texts (books, newspapers, journals, songs, etc.) and know for sure what is being discussed: swimming, body surfing, prone board riding or foot board riding. The challenge exists despite a piece being written in English or translated from Hawaiian to English.

[Paipo Jim]

Jim, I have not been seeing common references to the term "bellyboard" prior to the early- to mid-1960s. Please sent me some references!

Look at your own site and especially surf research au. The different prone machines going back a century are referred to in many of the listings (among other names) as "bellyboards." This was the common generic name for riding prone from at least as long as I can remember: 1950's. Never bodyboard.

[rodndtube]

Jim, I have not been seeing common references to the term "bellyboard" prior to the early- to mid-1960s. Please sent me some references!

Look at your own site and especially surf research au. The different prone machines going back a century are referred to in many of the listings (among other names) as "bellyboards." This was the common generic name for riding prone from at least as long as I can remember: 1950's. Never bodyboard.

It is difficult finding pre-1960 references that are primary sources -- I don't see many. Many period references actually call our sport surf riding, surfing or surfboards in the pre-1960 period. We need to differentiate between post-1960s writings of the earlier period and the actual earlier period writings. Even with titles of engravings and photos. Sometimes modern titles are given to older figures.