boogs
Grom
Reged: 02/18/06
Posts: 18
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Hey guys, does anyone have an opinion on this board? Especially the ones that are imported from Thailand? Supposedly he's a good shaper right? But then he has some shaped in the Cobra Factory. And I'm talking about the poly boards not the surftech...what are your thoughts?
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freddybeaum
Gerry Lopez status
Reged: 10/12/07
Posts: 970
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Someone will be right with you, sir.
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F. Baum
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Oceanslide
Miki Dora status
Reged: 03/04/08
Posts: 5186
Loc: Oceanside, CA
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They work damn well! Have ridden the Thailand board and
it flat-out works. Sold it because I couldn't
feel too great about riding it with that little stamp on the
bottom  , but they....do....work!
If you can get your hands on a hand-shape, do it!
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"Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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DougMoody
Legend (inyourownmind)
Reged: 05/04/06
Posts: 449
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If I see a guy on a Walden coming down the line, I'm going.
There isn't a bigger kook in all of surfing than Steve Walden, except maybe for the kooks riding his boards.
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dudeman30
Legend (inyourownmind)
Reged: 04/23/08
Posts: 428
Loc: Long Island
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Quote:
They work damn well! Have ridden the Thailand board and
it flat-out works. Sold it because I couldn't
feel too great about riding it with that little stamp on the
bottom , but they....do....work!
If you can get your hands on a hand-shape, do it!
same here. board surfed really well and was very manuveral, but the chatter was a bit much on anything buy glass. The whole boardworks thing was to much to bear. I would like to try a walden poly. Every board I have seen has a happy person on top. They look like they surf really well.
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Lankameese
Billy Hamilton status
Reged: 09/26/06
Posts: 1741
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Quote:
Quote:
They work damn well! Have ridden the Thailand board and
it flat-out works. Sold it because I couldn't
feel too great about riding it with that little stamp on the
bottom , but they....do....work!
If you can get your hands on a hand-shape, do it!
same here. board surfed really well and was very manuveral, but the chatter was a bit much on anything buy glass. The whole boardworks thing was to much to bear. I would like to try a walden poly. Every board I have seen has a happy person on top. They look like they surf really well.
you rang? yes...
my older brother was given one as a gift from his wife, the poly cobra version(for the record they're ALL POPOUTS at cobra), for his 40th.. and this was after she asked me what to buy him and I instructed her to get him a new CI Flyer (shes a non-surfing, clueless to surfing, mother walking into a retail shop, figured I might as well point her in as much a positive direction I could give her) and then she said "well I looked and he has that board already.." (the flyer) of course I knew that but my bro would have appreciated the Flyer much more than a log, he's 40, and has never owned a log...and this is what the "salesman" at the local shop recommended to her once she arrived with pocket book wide open... so this is what showed up at the party as his new board...surprised?? 
I could not bring myself to vomit all over the board in front of his wife, him, the rest of our mutual friends, so I swallowed my chunks... he tried to look happy about it, but I know he was not... political correctness at it best example when they walked in a 9'0 log in a travel case as a gift to my bro in front of everyone... think his intial comment to everyone was something like "geez a longboard, if that doesn't confirm you're getting old.." it was so painful yet hilarious at the same time, and this was a surpise party for his 40th with friends/surfers he had not seen in years all standing around...
I surfed it once and thought to myself, "as much hype as this design gets or received it is not up to par imo"... what really happened is that in my mind I already thought it was (and it is) a piece of shit board made by a non-swimming asian who gets paid $3/day to feed his family by Mr Walden for pumping out trash can surfboards... no matter how good it works, performs its function, its still so much worse on many levels... performs its function, thats the best words i can use to describe it.. lifeless drone surfboard is what it felt like under my feet, the only thing surfing was me, not the board
what are these $200 or so cheaper... maybe.. than a local shaped retail board... you're not saving anything, but you sure as hell are getting an inferior product, so step right in, come right down..
I can get a nice locally hand shaped log straight off the retail rack in many local shops for 500, maybe 575 and the cobra and the local do not compare in any way shape or form... the lcoal shaped board will bring you more stoke, perform better etc and you will not be supporting the demise of our culture and art in the process... and all for spending a couple hundred extra dollars, if that much... pretty simple.
and then there is the social destruction you will bring upon yourself for owning one and bringing it to the beach, you may not know it, may not understand, but the quote below is just an intial taste for you, and this is the nameless, faceless, internets... so just imagine the possibilities when walking with your cobra under your arm to some break you might be new too...
Quote:
If I see a guy on a Walden coming down the line, I'm going.
There isn't a bigger kook in all of surfing than Steve Walden, except maybe for the kooks riding his boards.
somehow, through just being total failures of everything that they copy, not design, and being a blatant insult to everything that makes surfing and shaping unique, and also participating with a communist country known for its own sad culture of human rights violations in "entrepreneurism"... maybe this will pass... but I'll do my part in my own way, and I'll let the regulators do their part in their own way and maybe we can jointly squeeze the giant zit that is popouts off the face of surfing for good eventually..
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just lanky
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Bonzer5Fin
Tom Curren status
Reged: 05/09/06
Posts: 10114
Loc: Souther Hell
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Quote:
If I see a guy on a Walden coming down the line, I'm going.
There isn't a bigger kook in all of surfing than Steve Walden, except maybe for the kooks riding his boards.
When Walden was beaten by a 12 year old in an open division at C Street, he loudly bitched, moaned, and complained, asking for a countback. What a whiny POS that kook is. Ventura should flush that turd. For some reason, I have never seen him surf south of the Ventura Pier.
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"Waves are too important to let surfers decide who catches them! "
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susej
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 05/28/03
Posts: 3240
Loc: Japan
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Quote:
somehow, through just being total failures of everything that they copy, not design, and being a blatant insult to everything that makes surfing and shaping unique, and also participating with a communist country known for its own sad culture of human rights violations in "entrepreneurism"... maybe this will pass... but I'll do my part in my own way, and I'll let the regulators do their part in their own way and maybe we can jointly squeeze the giant zit that is popouts off the face of surfing for good eventually..
Isn't Cobra in Thailand? 
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Don't panic, you can't kill art.
-TFAD
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Oceanslide
Miki Dora status
Reged: 03/04/08
Posts: 5186
Loc: Oceanside, CA
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Quote:
Quote:
They work damn well! Have ridden the Thailand board and
it flat-out works. Sold it because I couldn't
feel too great about riding it with that little stamp on the
bottom , but they....do....work!
If you can get your hands on a hand-shape, do it!
same here. board surfed really well and was very manuveral, but the chatter was a bit much on anything buy glass. The whole boardworks thing was to much to bear. I would like to try a walden poly. Every board I have seen has a happy person on top. They look like they surf really well.
I'm referring to the poly Thailand popout, not the
Boardworks Thailand popout. It worked...and the others
on here that tried it would agree. That said, I sold it
and am stoked on the new Bullock. 
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"Surfing reminds us of how good life is."
Oceansliding
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sickdog
Grom
Reged: 08/05/06
Posts: 81
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From what I can determine the PU/PE Walden boards are from GSI, the outfit that is the low price competition that threatens the world's domestic board makers.
The Surftech, and Boardworks product being more expensive, and more durable, than boards built domestically, (with the downside of having a stiffness that is often performance inferior in surf over two ft.)
Sickdog
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Bonzer5Fin
Tom Curren status
Reged: 05/09/06
Posts: 10114
Loc: Souther Hell
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Quote:
From what I can determine the PU/PE Walden boards are from GSI, the outfit that is the low price competition that threatens the world's domestic board makers.
The Surftech, and Boardworks product being more expensive, and more durable, than boards built domestically, (with the downside of having a stiffness that is often performance inferior in surf over two ft.)
Sickdog
I beg to differ. Domestically produced boards such as a Hess, a Stretch, and anything coming out of Moonlight are, when glassed strongly, vacuum bagged well, or just made damn well by people who know what they are doing, are just as durable as a Surftech popout, etc...
A Hess is bulletproof. I recommend one.
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"Waves are too important to let surfers decide who catches them! "
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goldenarmes
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 03/31/05
Posts: 3035
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morally i am highly opposed to them...but maybe oslide got a good one because that board went really well... he couldnt handle the pressure of owning a chinaman special so he sold it.... way to go, you did the right thing.
still it coulda been worse, coulda been a stewart.... those are the ultimate in kook owned surfboards 
Edited by goldenarmes (05/26/08 12:22 PM)
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GDaddy
Phil Edwards status
Reged: 01/16/06
Posts: 7147
Loc: Carlsbad
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My different strokes/different folks meter burns out when the primary advertising hook is "increase your wave count".
I don't like the boards and, generally speaking, I try to avoid the people who surf them.
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Heavyfooted
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 10/17/06
Posts: 2669
Loc: Orange County
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Quote:
still it coulda been worse, coulda been a stewart.... those are the ultimate in kook owned surfboards
Chopping at the US made.... OUCH! (even if there is some truth to it)
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goldenarmes
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 03/31/05
Posts: 3035
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kooks are kooks whether here or there.... 
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psylum
Legend (inyourownmind)
Reged: 09/18/07
Posts: 340
Loc: Southern California
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The Walden Magic longboard is a highly versatile "jack of all trades" shape. It works well in crappy conditions and with different fin configurations, can work well in overhead as well.
I basically learned on a 9' Walden and generally felt very comfortable that it was a solid middle-of-the-road style longboard. I have brought it with me on a number of trips and it's held up incredibly well.
....now... that being said, the moment I started working with a shaper (shameless plug for OAK FOILS  ) I never went back. I've sold my epoxies (heck I've pretty much sold everything that isn't an Oak Foil board at this point) and have been focused on hand shaped customized boards ever since... I've never felt luckier or more fortunate to have such a sweet quiver.
I think that a popout has a time and a place for everyone, but sooner or later, you start to figure out what you really want as a surfer and it's pretty hard to get that from a machine made board.
Good luck!
Edited by psylum (05/26/08 06:11 PM)
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Bonzer5Fin
Tom Curren status
Reged: 05/09/06
Posts: 10114
Loc: Souther Hell
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Walden/Stewart/Becker = Kook machines. IMHO.
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"Waves are too important to let surfers decide who catches them! "
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SrPato
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 07/12/05
Posts: 2846
Loc: Ventura, CA.
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My wife had a Walden Wahine PU/PE a few years ago. Bought it brand new. After riding it for about two weeks she still couldn't get it dialed in. Said that paddling it felt like she was dragging a foot in the water. Too much rocker. Anyway, she was surfing at C-street one morning and this grey haired guy kept dropping in on her. Didn't matter if she was already up or paddling. He just kept doing it, after the third time, she called him on it. He turned around and yelled at her to "Get over it!". To which she replied "fark you Walden, I'm returning this piece of shit!" 
Now anytime someone someone mentions buying one to her, she gives them her personal opinion. "It rides like  "
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Sr Pato
"Squirrels.....never trust em, they'll steal your shyt!."
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john4surf
Miki Dora status
Reged: 05/28/05
Posts: 4329
Loc: CBS
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I met SrPato and wife at the Cardiff AB3. I would rather drop in on Dale Dobson than his missus. She's pretty damned good
I saw the P.R. Scott posted in the erBB for Walden and Global Surf Industries (happily brining containers of Asian floaters to your local break). While I have never ridden a Walden hand shaped board nor have I ever met the cat I have heard of his brand for about 30 years.
I was surprised to hear Walden sold his soul or label (is there a difference) to Global Surf Industries. I hope everyone reading this remembers Walden's move for years to come (remember this when the cheap Asian board market collapses over the weight of the current the Asian board flood) 
On a personal note, I know I should just get over it but the sell out to Global Surf Industries at the last Swarmi's surf clubs event in Cardiff still irritates me. Imagine, taking an expense paid trip to Oz to sign-up Global Surf Industries to sponsor their last Cardiff Reef event.
While there were three large Global Surf Industries tents clustered around the judges tower and a number of pop out Asian floaters laying around the racks and beach word is there were no Global Surf Industries boards being ridden by any competitors in the gathering of the surf clubs at Cardiff Reef. Several weeks before the event, I saw a Swarmi's "executive" up the hill at Channin's with his clip board (apparently trying to get local shapers to donate hand shaped boards to the event).
Swarmi's Surf Club - Global Surf Industries ruining a break near you 
"Global Surf Industries and Steve Walden have released what they have dubbed the ‘Padillac’ of Stand Up Paddle boards. Over the years Steve has shaped quite a few Tandem Surfboards this experience in making bigger boards has lead to a great paddling and great wave riding board. Steve opted for a cut down rail by using a step deck design, this allows the board to bury the rail quite easily when riding along the face of the wave or turning with easy. The board is construction in GSI’s hard shell epoxy technology that the rest of the Walden Epoxy range is made of. The 10’10” model features a recessed deck grip which is super comfortable and practical.
For more information go to www.surfindustries.com/walden "
Support your local surf industry. 
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c_olden
Michael Peterson status
Reged: 09/04/07
Posts: 3186
Loc: (48°52.6′S 123°23.6̸...
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hey,
My gripe with the Walden Magic, is that every one I've
seen has really bad orange peel in the finish.
I worked for 10 years in the fiberglass industry(working
for a company that makes camper shells), and that kind
of finish "problem" was not allowed out the door.
It makes me question the quality of the board as a whole
since the finish is that poor.
co
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"The phone's for you. I think it's the Devil..."
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Big Brother
Nep status
Reged: 07/14/03
Posts: 557
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I can’t believe people still buy those pos boards. There is nothing “magic” about those shapes other than people are magically separated from their hard earned monies to find out they are complete trash. Have you seen the rails and bottoms of those things? As for steve himself he is quite full of himself that’s for sure. I heard he’s a bit misogynistic but hey no ones perfect.
As for the whole Clyde Beatty Casey McCrystal gang that sold out to outsourcing over seas. NEVER FORGET!
How about a fundraiser for my local shaper that has a messed up back for years? He hasn’t sold out, still works his ass off and tries to keep all the other skilled craftsman busy. Atleast he deserves it. But knowing him he would never ask for help.
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Mondos11
Grom
Reged: 01/03/11
Posts: 2
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They're fun - easy to paddle & catch waves, fast down the line, nice rails & good all-around rocker. It's pretty well dialed. There's all the other issues about where it's made - labor practices, environmental issues, etc., but the shape was dialed before it got to Thailand. For my money, I can't afford to spend a grand on a hand shape that "might" be the one, or "might not" - all part of the organic experience, right?
If I want organic, I'll shape my own, incorporating all I know about what works for me, & I "might" get lucky.
The fun is in actually surfing, and definitely not about what the highly negative guys are saying. The Magic Models (pretty much all the versions) are fun in my opinion.
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Mondos11
Grom
Reged: 01/03/11
Posts: 2
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What about purposeful snakes? 4 out 5 actual surfers surveyed agree that snakes are by far, the biggest of all kooks.
Quote:
If I see a guy on a Walden coming down the line, I'm going.
There isn't a bigger kook in all of surfing than Steve Walden, except maybe for the kooks riding his boards.
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walrus
Gerry Lopez status
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 997
Loc: NJ
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I have one of the very old ones when boardworks was not in the far east. its a bisect 9'6" that i use as a travel board to place that are not very serious and it's a family vacation with lots of other stuff planned. no airline rape, fits in the rental car, easy to paddle & catch waves, fast down the line, nice rails & all-around rocker. i won't take it to panama or the maldives or probably even costa rica. but,for that wine and art tour of coastal oregon in the summer? Sure!
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if your not having FUN, get out of the water!
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chimpn
Grom
Reged: 04/15/10
Posts: 26
Loc: FL
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i have a couple of hand shaped waldens , they work good but no comparison to the harbour rapier ! much faster , better on nose and no bogging on turns
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