My first hand plane from Slyde was the Phish, and it blew my mind! Growing up I was always at the beach, but I never bodysurfed, except for a few occasions when swimming in to retrieve a leash-less surfboard. Not too long ago, I finally tried bodysurfing with some fins and just my hand, I couldn’t believe I could actually translate my surfboarding knowledge over to surfing my body. After a couple years, I found Slyde. As soon as I got in the water with the Phish, I was instantly hooked. The Phish is soooooo fun! It’s soft rails, rocker, and concave tail let’s you blow down the line super fast, and slip and slide however you want. My only complaint about the Phish, is the spray back you get, because of the bull nosed design. The spray back is especially annoying if you’re trying to film with a forward-facing GoPro. Regardless, after a year with the Phish that’s my only complaint, such a fun board! Next we bought a Bula, and that thing is incredible! It grips the face like a NASCAR tire, and is really great in hollow fast waves… especially when it’s too big for the Phish. Finally I bought the Wedge, in hopes that the hard edges would grip more like the Bula, with the full-length concave mitigating the splash back. It was a success! The Wedge flys! I love how I can use the hard edges to climb up and down the wave as needed to position myself, like with a surfboard. Something that was not as expected, was the maneuverability, being a bigger board. The concave/winged tail lets the water friction break free right behind your palm, where you need it. Because the water is channeled from nose tip to tail, what water was spraying in face before is all but gone. My only complaints are because of it’s increased width, I find myself having to use my second hand almost like you would your elbow on a body board, in order to provide enough pressure to dig the rail into the face at high speeds, and/or with steeper faces. Your wrist just isn’t strong enough, or at least mine isn’t. It’s amazing how much pressure it puts on your shoulder, compared to the Phish, or the Bula. To be fair, the Wedge is new for me, so perhaps I will simply build up more muscle and strengthen the tendons, and I will feel less fatigue on my shoulder? I do remember a bit of a adjustment to the shoulder strain with the Bula and the Phish as well. Along the same lines, because of its surface area and added buoyancy, I do feel the added torque on bigger days, when the wave closes out on me. Regardless, the wedge feels like a powerful Lamborghini and can power through sections and keeps me on the shoulder. The Phish might be more like a Ferrari, fast and smaller, but with the ability to “drift”. The Bula is like an Indy car, and grips the wave, tracking like you’re on a rollercoaster. My only regret, not having these when I was little. Had I known how much fun this type of body surfing could be, I seriously would’ve preferred it over surfboarding anyday. As an added bonus, if you know what you’re doing, you can really spread the stoke through the line up, as they watch you drop in on huge sets, surrounded by chandeliers, with a permanent smile on your face!
