Why do you Kneeboard?

[DEZDIG]

Sorry about the typo's . I should proff read before submitting

[dua anjing]

.....and because kneelos are MY kind of eccentrics...

[Basswombat]

Until this thread I don't think I've ever really thought about it!

Started in the late '70s simply because a couple of mates were on kneeboards. Dabbled with stand-ups but it just never felt as satisfying. That said, there was a fairly long period when I spent more time on a longboard than the kneeboard - although in hindsight I still have no idea why! The past year has seen my kneeboarding passion completely reignited.

When I think about myself in other areas it starts to make sense: I play bass rather than guitar; I used to like monoskis more than normal skiis (which in Australia was really weird); I was using a snowboard before most (I lived in the snow for several years); I like motorbikes more than cars... Maybe I just like taking a different approach, as a few of you have said.

[loonylen]

I also started in the late 70's and I also had a couple of mates into kb's, I tried a Moray Boogie first then a stand up but found the KB was a nice mix between the two. My first kb was an old Jackson scooped out stinger style single fin, man I loved riding that board but alas it came to a premature death on one of our south coast road trips to Ulladulla thanks to a dodgy occy strap. I've been KBing so long now its just as natural as walking or swimming we just do it.

[KneeBumps]

Sooooo, guess I'd have to admit I'm NOT just a kneeboarder.

I surf. If the waves are hollow, quick late drops, there's no choice for me- on my knees, looking for the special place. If it's big and soft-ish, easy take-offs, I'd probably rather stand (shortboard). I still haven't mastered the cutbacks, turns and pumping speed on a kneeboard that I can accomplish standing, because even though I've been kneeboarding since my late teens, I don't do it enough to be good at it.
If it's long small lines, it's time for my longboard. If it's dumpy shorebreak, it's a body board and fins. If it big, sloppy NE'ster, it's bodysurfing (might be my fav). Only one thing missing- gotta get one of those mats- go back to where I started as a six year old, on a rented surfmat, 1958, Sea Bright NJ, hooked for life on riding waves.......

I'm still happy to know all of the 'eccentrics' on this forum and be a part of this great community.

[C J Gagner]

I started bodyboarding as a kid at ehukai in the very late 70's early 80's. not to many spongers then. i rode stand up boards some but for some reason i always went back to that damn sponge (curse you tom morey) then in the late 80's looking for a change of pace tried a kneeboard. OH THE SPEED and i still felt close to the face like my trusty old sponge. i was already used to being made fun of hell in high school i rode a sponge and was a 111 pound haole! so the transition was easy AND FUN FUN FUN so here i kneel today (as much as i can) and yes from time to time i grab that old sponge for a good romp in the shore break! i even have a couple of stand ups in the board rack that have more dust on them than my great grandmothers rocking chair. but alas i still kneel. why you ask ...............because its FRICKEN FUN!!!!!!!!!

[skansand]

I kneeboard cause the voices in my head tell me too


..Just got a HP Mat from paul gross for 200........ small waves beware!...

[Remaxman]

I've always loved a challenge and appreciate skill. Like when I was a kid and went hunting with dad, It was easy to make the shot with a big caliber gun. In fact it became boring. So I started using a compound bow. What then was boring became a real challenge. When I started driving I loved going to Carlsbad Raceway and drag race. Doing an 11 sec. 1/4 mile was easy with a big block. So, I then bought a V.W. bug Stripped it, tricked it and believe me doing an 11 sec. 1/4 in a bug was unbelievable! Maybe thats why after being a stand up for years when a friend was selling a 5'6" Sunset Fish, I just had to try it! After that first day at Oceanside Harbor, I was hooked. Now I ride "MEZ" boards. My favorite is my 5'6" Quad Fish. Now I'm in my late 40's and have come to realize It's easy to do almost anything with "Perfect tools" but, true satisfaction really comes when you can do those same things with much less. Then and only then the ordinary becomes truly remarkable....

[kneelingBROTHA]

I have been kneeboarding exclusively for the past few weeks, so I guess I'll update my response and throw my hat in the ring:

Getting on rail on a kneeboard is more fun than a bodyboard. I could carve long lines for days on a bodyboard, but once you're up a bit, its a different sensation. The mundane feeling of rail-to-rail transitions becomes exciting, and the speed on a kneeboard seems to be unbeatable in a lot of conditions.

Its different. Its unique. And not everyone and their mom tries it, or even wants to try it. People either love it, and ask all about it, or just flat out hate it and make fun of it--but that's part of the reason I am so stoked by kneeboarding. The reaction is polarized, but the ride is always great.

I've always been into things that are a bit unusual or counter culture--I skated before it went big, I bodyboarded because some of the underground rippers at my high school were dedicated boogies. Along the same lines, I shot with a manual focus, manual exposure film camera well before digital, even though the world was already shooting digital by the time I picked up an SLR. I'm all "caught up" now to the digital norm, but for the longest time I just had fun dabbling in B&W darkroom work, Kodachrome, Fuji Velvia, and any random film that looked good. I have always like graffiti, well before Obama went OBEY. Of course, its not as if I started any of these trends, but I just like niche markets that are not oversaturated with fans and consumers.

The main drawback of kneeboards I see compared to proning on bodyboards is the chance of breaking one in heavy waves. Yes, bodyboards do snap. If you're at Pipe for a few weeks, or at Wedge on a macking swell, I'm sure you would see some snapped bodyboards with stringers poking out of the core. But the chance of breaking a bodyboard is much less, and creases--which are comparable to delamns and heavy pressure dings--actually enhance the performance of the board at reefs and shorebreaks.

Memory in the foam can be good for a bodyboard, but is never good for a kneeboard!

One of the other drawbacks when comparing kneeboards and bodyboards is that bodyboards do go deeper in the barrel and are easier to control in there, but kneeboards are the close second, so if I want to have fun doing turns, I might as well do it on a board I can get stuffed with!

Other than that, its just fun. People who usually see me bodyboard tell me that I make kneeboarding look so easy. I can do cutbacks, but snaps and floaters are boggling my mind at the moment. Weight distribution seems so logical when going on rail, but the snaps are a bit confusing, and so is the split second weightlessness that I usually flail/fall through on the floats.

But like they say--rail as opposed to tail is the best style. But man, if only I could get those snaps down!

[fooj]

Here are some ancient threads along the lines of this one:

viewtopic.php?t=34

viewtopic.php?t=223

viewtopic.php?t=356

viewtopic.php?t=910

This one is interesting: viewtopic.php?t=192