I would highly recommend the ELF for your waves. It is a great down the line board and most of those waves on the south shore seem to have that characteristic. I think I remember in the old forum Nev saying he wished he had an ELF on the south shore. Steep bowls may be a problem, but on a normal day it would be perfect.

I had heard that the timber tech will eventually replace rapidfire tech?

haha right on! I'll have to follow to see more 5'4 cheater fives. I have definitely been stoked with it. So far no longboard this week!I did like the BP quite a bit too though-a little tighter.

Ok so I have had a chance to ride this board in anything from chest high upper trestles to knee/thigh high swells at home. I am pretty stoked. It definitely catches knee high east coast waves and if it gets a chance to get a speed line it will take it. I can't believe that I have been able to do fast and aggressive maneuvers on waves that I swore were only longboardable. I have had quite a bit of fun on it the last few surfs. It took me a little while to figure it out, but once I started using my back foot more it really took off. Shoot I have been so front footed for much of my surfing life I hope it helps my surfing more. I am definitely happy that my long board won't see the light of day as much haha. I also have the schmitter fins. Anyone have any experience with those? I have V2F4s as well but those are small for me as it is.

Regardless I am stoked. And the 5'4 is plenty of board.

Picked up a 5'4 spud from usedsurf for a good price. I got to demo the 5'5 baked potato the other day-fun board, it held pretty well in shoulder high waves, I probably would have gone the BP route but from what I can gather the SP goes a little better in the micro stuff. The volume on the 5'5 though gave me an idea of what I was looking for. SO glad I did not go for the 5'6 spud. Thanks guys. I put controllers on it and now I am just waiting for the right time to try it out. Can't wait to try those fins on the el fuego too. I'll post once I get a chance to try it out in some diverse conditions.

Thanks Hawaii,

Yeah that paddle out to threes is not fun! First time I missed the channel a little and got stuck on a coral head I felt pretty haole after that one hahah. In my experience the 5'2 wasn't that great of a paddler. I am assuming it is just the length of the board, not necessarily the volume correct?

Thanks guys!

Iggy I surf mostly in NJ, but haven't done Maine, but I know you can relate to having the extra weight with the 5/4/3...two more months here with that! Hawaii boi I imagine this board goes insane at places like threes/fours?

I am going out to the west coast in a month. I am going to demo it one more time, but most likely will purchase one out there. I am hoping to find one in the white RF.

Thanks guys. I just wanted to see if it would work well in knee high stuff. I live on the US east coast so while at times our waves can get juicy ( and I have boards for that) , most times the period is below 10 seconds ( 6-8 more so). I demoed a 5'2 last year and it just felt meh it felt like my ELF almost would have been better. I didn't know if more volume would help in those types of waves ( I am 180...ride a 6'1 ELF). I was thinking even 5'6..although I know I could do a 5'4, I want all the help I could get with knee to waist high waves.

Also thank you so much for your contributions to this forum! It helped me greatly last time!