This may be the most beginner of questions but it is something I've never thought about. Have been recently reading about people being hospitalised after the nose has hit them causing lacerations etc so it dawned on me. Why? Can't you still achieve the same performance with a nose that is more rounded?

They look nicer are easier to duck dive and also help to add more curve to the rail / overall bottom curve of the board. People have experimented with cut off noses before - Nat Young rode boards like that for a while. Lots of new shapes like the Nano do not have a pointed nose. Lots of longboards do not have them as the nose works as a functional part of the board for standing on - hence its designed to hold the volume of a person.

There are loads of diff nose shapes out there with lots of diff reasons for them. But do the last few inches need to be pointy - I reckon not on 99% of them.

Very occasionally I use every inch of the nose rail of my board. And on those occasions I'm generally thankful for the pointy nose.

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Legion said..
Very occasionally I use every inch of the nose rail of my board. And on those occasions I'm generally thankful for the pointy nose.

Yeah, nah. I challenge you. Remove 2inches from the nose and round to suit the profile. You won't miss it in the waves I know you're talking about.
Except on a gun. And then only if you surf like Legion.

Cut off your nose to save your face.
Only a few weeks ago the nose of my board sprang back into my face as I surfaced.
Nose hit me in the eye socket. I say eye socket because luckily it was a fish I was riding with a blunt enough nose to not take my eye out and leaving me with a shiner instead.

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Cuttlefish said..
Cut off your nose to save your face.
Only a few weeks ago the nose of my board sprang back into my face as I surfaced.
Nose hit me in the eye socket. I say eye socket because luckily it was a fish I was riding with a blunt enough nose to not take my eye out and leaving me with a shiner instead.

In Hawaii i wa surprised at just how many boards have plastic "Nose guards" on..

My Vanguard doesn't have a pointy nose, but then i could only ever dream of surfing like Legion

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Cuttlefish said..
Cut off your nose to save your face.
Only a few weeks ago the nose of my board sprang back into my face as I surfaced.
Nose hit me in the eye socket. I say eye socket because luckily it was a fish I was riding with a blunt enough nose to not take my eye out and leaving me with a shiner instead.

Yeah - I have a 'tired' right eye from that sort of injury. Many years ago surfing Trigg Pt and someone dropped in and nose dived. I wore their board in the face... only 6 stitches, but my right eye tends to half close now when I get tired. Must be either muscle or nerve damage... After that I used to use the rubber nose guards (that you never see any more). These days I ride boards with a different nose profile...

We used to "dream" of pointy noses ,i was too poor to afford a pointy nose on my fence paling!

Ahhh understandable. Yeah guys, I've had a few close shave with the pointy end and sometimes wonder with my next board what a shaper would think if I asked him to simply round out a HPSB. After all, I'm no Kelly Slater

Guy I work with lost an eye and I got centre punched just below the nose stitches hurt more than the injury.

One problem I have had is the nose guards come off pain in the ar$e

What Ted said.... plus.... not all shortboards do have pointed noses. Performance wise.. may not make a lot of difference...but some just wont bring themselves to try or buy a stick with a blunt front end....

I agree with Legion. I have looked at my nose while dropping into a 10 footer late on a 7'8". I was wondering why I wasn't nose diving as I was way late. Turns out I had done everything right and had that thing on rail and committed to an extended bottom turn. I literally had about an inch of nose rail NOT buried and was so thankful for that little kick at the end.

Conversely I have looked back at my tail tail as I was skating down a 10-12' wave with a nor-Easter sending 1-2' ribs up the face. On the 7'8" only about the last foot and a half of tail was in the water. Did I need the other 6' of board?

The late drop was not typical of me btw. More typical would be nose dive cartwheel into the pit as the 10 footer went top to bottom on top of me and ragdolled me onto the inside ledge before letting me get a breath.

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IFocus said..


One problem I have had is the nose guards come off pain in the ar$e

Prepping the board properly before application is key. Then if it does come off, Sikaflex.

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Buster fin said...

IFocus said..


One problem I have had is the nose guards come off pain in the ar$e

Prepping the board properly before application is key. Then if it does come off, Sikaflex.

Just go with Sikaflex. You could build a house with that stuff.

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thedrip said..

Buster fin said...

IFocus said..


One problem I have had is the nose guards come off pain in the ar$e

Prepping the board properly before application is key. Then if it does come off, Sikaflex.

Just go with Sikaflex. You could build a house with that stuff.

But it may be cheaper to use bricks and mortar..

Sika is crazy priced and always goes off after you open it, no matter what you try