Search started a few years back. First entrant was Clearwater Round Nose Fish:
- 5'8 stock
- Loved the board
- Made surfing easy
- Didn't like it so much once the waves got to shoulder high
- Snapped it shortly after purchase unfortunately

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Second entrant JS Revolution off the rack:
- 5'8 stock
- Good paddle in and take off
- Felt stiff in the pocket
- Sat too high in the water and too bumpy once shoulder high
- Rails too boxy for me.





Third entrant the Gumtree Special:
- 5'9 x 19 1/2 x 2 3/8
- Super light epoxy
- Didn't perform as well in smaller surf as the previous two, but held well in bigger surf
- Pretty happy with this board. Surfed from knee high to head+





In the meantime I surfed my nephew's 5'8" HS Shred Sled in a quad. Now we are getting somewhere. The rails were a bit boxy. I want my Gumtree Special in a quad!


Enter the Katana Skud:
- 5'8 x 19 3/4 x 2 3/8
- Super light
- Looks that farking good I can't wait to surf this thing!!




Check out that double concave:

Nice, I want one next year. 6 or 6'2...look forward to hearing how it goes for ya

I'd like that as a 6' 2" , how much?

That is one sexy board (the katana)

Jeez I should have given a bigger discount for that plug!!

Well the board is finally getting some use now that I've been down south for a while.



...and there has been some waves.



Some words about this board:

1. It's fast. Sometimes too fast and shoots out in front of the pocket. I've taken to tail stomps for stalling where required. The big positive is that sections I would ordinarily have not made on my old board can often be made on the Skud. This was not a board purchased for point breaks and pocket surfing, it's for fast beaches and reefs. It doesn't really surf up/down in the pocket but that is as expected - it's not that sort of board.

2. It's surprisingly loose. I didn't think it would be, as it's flat and double concaved. Must be the quad set up. I haven't had a quad before, but I really like the skateboard feel in small to med waves - suits what I want out of an allround board.

3. It's light and to be honest I can't tell much difference in feel to traditional PU. Maybe I'm just a crab. Regardless I reckon the EPS/compsand feels great.

4. Volume for me at 70kg is perfect and I wouldn't want to go less. I would go more volume if I was routinely surfing small/mushy waves, but maybe that's a different board all together. This board 5'8 x 19 3/4 x 2 3/8 has "extra low rails" so if you wanted more volume you could beef the rails up a bit.

5. Gets in earlier than a HPSB and I presume with more volume would paddle into anything. Seems to like late take offs also and has given me some confidence in this area.

Probably the obvious negative is in larger waves it may not be suitable. I've surfed this board up to head high and love it. Probably if you want to surf slow and in the pocket this board may not be the one.

I guess the other negative is that with the EPS core I need to be careful of noticing cracks etc due to water intake. I'm usually pretty slack with my PU boards. With the EPS board if it's dinged it needs instant filling with wax or tape in order to keep surfing. With PU I never bothered with this.

Very happy with the board. This is my first board from Katana and I seriously reckon it's the best board I've had to date.

More plugs for Dave
My new scud is 6'2, first wave at Padma bank early this week I nearly kooked it big time heaps as board was extremely loose but f a r k me almost twice as fast as my last scud.......fell off the back......this board is a f a r k n ripper ....my next 20 waves, as I worked it out......well you've seen the reaction Slater gets

Sort of!!!

It goes off...felt I was rippen the bags out of it and even the local beach boys weren't dropping in coz when the first two did I just hit the speed and flew past em while they were doing their air reverse double mctwisty things and could do big carvy type cuttys then hit the accelerator again

DO YA SELF A FAVOUR

Dave are you back at work fulltime yet?

I think its time to order another Scud!

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LateStarter said..

Dave are you back at work fulltime yet?

I think its time to order another Scud!

back at full time 8-4 weekdays unless its cranking!! does that count as full time

what size would one of these work out if they are 36-38 litres??

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pro346 said..

what size would one of these work out if they are 36-38 litres??

hard to calc due to the amount of concave and rail thickness probably around 6"3x20"3/4x2"5/8 low vol rails

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katana said...

LateStarter said..

Dave are you back at work fulltime yet?

I think its time to order another Scud!

back at full time 8-4 weekdays unless its cranking!! does that count as full time

Haha, good to hear. Email sent!

Well after 3 weeks down south decided to drive back today. But not before a 3 hr surf as it was pumping again this morning. The board just goes so well!

Hmm no one out.

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pro346 said..

what size would one of these work out if they are 36-38 litres??

Be careful going for the same volume in a compsand as you would in a PU. I've gone from riding 6'4"s down to 5'4" to 5'7"s with reduced width and thickness as well. I'm 182cm and 95kg, so I'm no lightweight.
Bear in mind I'm a cripple so I have flippers to aid in take offs, but I can assure you that these things paddle heaps better than PU. I reckon the concaves help the way they paddle too. Assists in water flow.

similar to a firewire?? ive owned plenty of them... shape looks good!!

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pro346 said..

similar to a firewire?? ive owned plenty of them... shape looks good!!

similar concept faster rebound due to carbon/bamboo deck suits heavier or powerfull surfers you really need to load them up to reap the benifits

Sounds good i definately fit the heavier bit -100kg!! i look forward to purchasing one in the future!!

Dave are you still about 8 weeks to knock out a board

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jbshack said..

Dave are you still about 8 weeks to knock out a board

2-4 weeks currently on custom epoxyies Rod

I picked up my new Skud from Dave on Friday - a 5'10 x 20 1/2 x 2 1/2

I haven't managed to wax her up yet, its been miserably flat all weekend....