MyPaipoBoards Forums

Hey Ted,

Bottom line....between the Austin and the Xylem concept...if you could ONLY have one board......which would you choose?

Thanks

I haven't ridden the Malama Kai in really good surf yet, so my opinion is half-baked.

The Austin 50" thruster setup is great in most surf and makes me confident in crowds.

The Malama Kai, with a leash, will probably do almost everything the Austin does.

If I had to pick right now, I'd pick the feel of the Malama Kai over the slightly greater performance of the Austin.

Ted wrote: If I had to pick right now, I'd pick the feel of the Malama Kai over the slightly greater performance of the Austin.

Wood is Good!

ya ya

Ted/Josh, how tall are you guys? I always think paipo should be somehow scaled to body height, esp torso length as #1 consideration though not sure of how to define parameters i.e. what you get in terms of the ride if this ratio vs that ratio

Ted.....I will be interested to get your take after riding some larger waves with the Xylem. I transitioned straight from boogie boards to an Austin because I always felt a board without fins expended considerable energy slipping and sliding sideways toward shore rather than going straight down the line. I love the Austin.
Having said that....I remember when Spudnut and his Son Sam got their Austins many months ago. They rode them a couple of times and they have been sitting in their garage ever since. Ron is back to wood without fins and especially loves his Xylem. Sam has a custom built boogie board as his go to ride.
Neither ride has fins and neither Ron or Sam complain of the sideways slide I wanted to avoid. Nor do either look like they are losing any progress down the line. I don't understand that.
Hmmm.....maybe I should experiment with the Austin without fins and see if I have hallucinated this fin versus finless slip and slide conundrum.

Steven, The HPD and my plypos with squared off rails can definitely slip sideways. With the Xylem, I do not know if it is the knife rails, rolled bottom, or the combination of them, but the hold is better than my Austin as a twin and faster. Sam & I were surfing this morning and he was shocked that I made it through some sections; the board allows me to take a very high line by not falling out of the pocket and fly. My latest plypo design modeled after my sons bodyboard with a few adjustments will be my next Xylem

For sure the rolled bottom will help hold and rider reports from tuning alaia seem to also indicate a strong effect from getting the rails thinned/knifed enough and squared off nice and clean. So I'm voting for both in combo

In my experience, thin finless boards hold very well in the steeper parts of the wave and side slipage, or slide ass as they say, seems to mostly come into play when you get out onto the flats and the rail has nothing to bite into.
Many times if you tip towards the inboard rail, the edge will grab allowing the rider to get back on track......

Watching the video again, looks like length of board is very approximately distance from shoulders to knees...

GeoffreyLevens wrote:Watching the video again, looks like length of board is very approximately distance from shoulders to knees...

As far as length goes, my 50" x 20" was the length for me from knees to head as I like riding in a bodysurfing style aka superman, width was 40% from Lindsey Lord. If I rode bodyboard style I would go shorter such as a 42" board. Your riding style may dictate the size board you ride just as much as your height & weight. When I ride in superman position, I like to pull my fins out of the water bending at the knees to reduce drag as much as possible.

Definitely fins out of the water except to touch as needed to hold a line! Though even on a bodyboard I tend to lift them out. By bb is long for my height though so maybe I ride in more bodysurf style...I do also end up keeping head and chest low to the board, carry over from riding mats.

Thank's for the breakdown Spudnut. You likely mean top of your head as opposed to "bottom" i.e. chin?

Thank's for the breakdown Spudnut. You likely mean top of your head as opposed to "bottom" i.e. chin?

Correct!

Thanks, that puts it at 46" for me. Conflict of interest between that and how long I can have it and hide it in a box and slip it in under the radar on airlines as regular checked baggage. Most seem to limit at right around 62 total inches outside (L + W+ H) and of course it will need 1.5-2 inches for thickness of boxed shape. Hmmmm....

Geoffrey,

I am 5'-7". My go-to Austin is 50" and the Xylem is 47". The square tail and relatively straight plan of the Xylem allow most of the 47" length to be effective as an edge.

Ron, I'll bet you'll find the Austin 50" to be completely different as a thruster with 2" sidebites.

When you come back let's get all the toys out in the water and we can mix it up.

Ted,
What do you think of the Xylem now that you have had it a month? Of course I am assuming that you have been surfing.

Sadly, I have done very little surfing this last month - only one day on the 50" Austin in Waipio and one day in tiny surf with Austin 50" and Malama Kai 47".

The Malama Kai is going to get an O'fishl deck mount leash anchor with carbon fiber overlay at Christmas, and both Austins plus the Malama Kai are going to Samoa in February. I hope to get some solid surf and some decent photo/video of the trip.

Spudnut,

How did you attach a leash to your Malama Kai?

I bought a leash attachment from a local surf shop that uses an adhesive made by 3M. It had a small piece of fine sandpaper and a wet wipe(yeah I have kids). I just followed the instructions, let it set for 24 hours and presto! I do not remember the brand.