My brother’s truck decided to stop working and I was looking for any excuse to get a van of some kind. So I gave him the keys to my Lexus. I began the hunt for my perfect river surfing mobile. All my friends have sprinter vans. So that’s where I started.

It is going to take me to all the best waves I can think of.

I looked at full size sprinter style vans and cargo vans. But they all felt empty. They just didn’t seem to fit my lifestyle. I needed something I would be able to balance between my home life and river surfing. Finally I found a mini van that was perfect for what I needed.

DIY river surfing camper

A Car that Fits your Lifestyle

This may not be the van everyone had in mind for me. But it is mine and it is perfect for my life. It gets better gas mileage than a sprinter or cargo. Has just about as much room as a cargo (4 ft X 8 ft). Oh yeah, and the seats fold into the floor! So I can take the bed platform out and easily accommodate passengers. Best part of it is that it is going to take me to all the best waves I can think of!

When I converted the van I made sure everything could easily be taken out and put back in! It’s like a transformer van that is super stealth. I mean who sees a mini van and thinks someone is camping out in it?! Take a look at the video to see my transformer conversion!

The post How to Turn your Vehicle into the Ultimate River Surfing Mobile appeared first on Riverbreak.

Design, Volume and Shape

When choosing a surfboard for the river the most important thing to think about is design. Would you rather surf a board shaped for the ocean or a board specifically shaped for a river? Don’t get me wrong an ocean board could do the trick just fine. I surfed on them for years. But nothing will beat a board shaped specifically for the river.

Volume is the next thing you want to think about. Volume of a board is really important because it is a board floatation. Most river waves are pretty mushy and a higher volume board will surf better and ride more waves than a lower volume board. A lighter construction and overall weight can help add to the volume of a board.

Nothing beats a board shaped specifically for the river.

Shape of the board is equally important. A lot of river waves will require a shorter board with proper nose and tail rocker to fit into the wave and surf well. From my personal experience a nose rocker should be anywhere from 3”-3.5” and a tail rocker from 1”-1.5”. You are also going to want to look for a little wider tail. A board with a wider tail is going to allow for more push while on the wave. Which means on a smaller and softer wave, your board will stay on the wave better.

One Board Quiver?

Would you rather surf a board shaped for the ocean?

A lot of people are looking for the answer for the one board quiver. There are really not many boards out there that will meet all these specifications and surf pretty much any wave you will encounter. The Badfish Sk8 is one of the few boards that I have found to be a perfect answer to the one quiver board. I ride the 5’ which is a whopping 48.5 liters. It has perfect tail and nose rocker. I know that it will surf the powerful high performance waves (like River Run Park, Boise and Bend), it will surf the mushier waves that require the higher volume (like Glenwood Surfer Left and other local small waves) and it will definitely surf big waves (Glenwood Surfer Right, Pipeline and Lunch Counter)

So I go back to the question everyone river surfer should ask themselves … Would you rather surf a board shaped for the ocean? Or, something shaped specifically for the river? Something that will perform well no matter what wave you end up at? It’s a no brainer!

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more useful videos and tipps on river surfing!

The post How to Choose a River Surfboard appeared first on Riverbreak.