Slick Rick
Hamboards Fish
side to side in the process. That
said it didn’t really strike us as
a distance board. We had
way more fun sweeping
tight spaces and carving
with all manner of slides,
front and backside.
h t t p : / / w w w. l a n d p a d d l e u k . c o . u k
We couldn’t resist
putting the Fish
through its paces on a
ramp. Unfortunately
this didn’t work as well
as hoped, which is
hardly surprising. There’s
no kick block on the tail,
or rocker/camber, the Fish
being pretty flat on the deck.
And the board’s weight
doesn’t really allow for tight
tail led pivot turns. Instead it
was back to the flat for us and doing what the Fish does best.
(Note: more skilled riders may be able to throw the Fish around
on an incline).
Hopping aboard and the looseness of the ride is tangible.
Being able to rail right over on an edge, to the point where the
sides may be about to touch the tarmac, is off putting to start
with. Many land paddlers won’t have been aboard something
so wobbly – read manoeuvrable. Give it chance, however, and
pretty soon you’ll dial into the board’s carving ability. Before
long you’ll be whizzing about all over the place, banging in
snappy turns and swivelling on a six pence (this isn’t an
exaggeration. You really can carve/turn almost on the spot with
the Hamboards Fish).
Something else paddlers may be unfamiliar with (at first) is
how easy it is to slide the tail out. With the brand’s Classic we
thought we’d found the ultimate sled for busting loose but the
Fish takes it to a whole new level. Carve hard, push slightly, and
whip the board into a proper carving slide. For those with heavy
footed tendencies and not looking to slide you’ll need to back
off the gas a touch for standard
carving. But that’d be missing
the point of the Fish.
CONCLUSION
The Hamboards Fish is probably one of the best land paddle boards
we’ve used for flat land paddle surf mimicking. Having tested a raft
of land paddle boards over the last few years we’ve used a variety of
sleds that are really carver/sliders, yet none quite as efficient as
the Fish. Turning on a dime, with tail releases at will, it’s super fun,
forgiving and a tool that’ll get riders into this side of the sport in
fun fashion. Thanks to Gary at Land Paddle UK for the demo gear.
Price: £249
In a straight line riders
can keep the momentum
going easily, edging from
Info: http://www.landpaddleuk.co.uk/longboards/68-hamboards-
fish-natural-bamboo-longboard.html
We loved the Hamboards Classic – the biggest of the HB’s line
up – so it was with eager anticipation the brand’s Fish model
was about to land. When it did, and as with all Hamboards
gear, it’s noticeable just how substantial everything is. Wide
robust decks, super tough trucks and oversize wheels designed
to roll and roll. They mightn’t be the cheapest skaters in the
world but you do get bang for buck.
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