Bandit or Beater?

[Patrick]

I suppose this question is for Slappy. How heavy is your Wave Bandit? Can the Wave Bandit be used as a skim(for my son)? How do you think the Wave Bandit compare to the Beater? Heading to Maui this November and would love a multi purpose light wind board!
Thanks

[Slappy]

I've never ridden a Beater but I think it's probably the better option for LW and skimming as it has less rocker.

The Performer 4-10 is only 19 inches wide and has decent rocker so it's not great in LW. It does manage well in the air though even in LW because it's such a light board at 5.6 lbs.

You could take the fins out and use it as a skim and it would work, but probably not as well as the Beater. They even sell plastic inserts to cover up the holes if you want.

You can probably paddle surf the Beater a lot easier, although Ben Gravy paddle surfs the Performer 4-10 in steep conditions just fine, but that's Ben Gravy.

There is another soft top that's looks like it could work Rock-It Chub 4-11. It's a tiny bit more money at $175 USD and it's quite a bit heavier at 7 lbs but that extra inch of length and 1.5 inches of width would make it more versatile.

You can watch Ben rip it on the Performer 4-10 here

[Patrick]

Thanks Slappy! Looks like a couple of shops in Maui carry the Beater. This should be a good "family board" haha. I don't think I will be ripping it up like Ben

[Slappy]

I picked up a Stump 5-0 for $200 USD during the Black Friday sale.

It feels noticeably heavy compared to my 4-10's

I got out the scale and gave them all a weigh.

Performer 4-10 new: 5.6 lbs (same as before)
Performer 4-10 used and sandy: 6.0 lbs
Stump 5-0 quad new: 8.2 lbs

I like the Stump as a 1 board travel quiver that I can paddle surf too.

We'll see how it kites though. I don't think it will be the aerial machine the 4-10 is.

[Slappy]

So Catch Surf has decided to only sell the Wave Bandit series in stores for the future so it might be hard to get a hold of the Performer 4-10.

There is basically an exact copy of it from Storm Blade surfboards that I just got on amazon for $150 after tax and shipping.

Storm Blade Funboard 58"

The board is the same weight, 5.6 lbs, 6.0 lbs with fins.
The fins are exactly the same, I guess they are made by a 3rd party.
Picking it up it feels a tiny bit thicker than my Performer 4-10's.
It might have a tiny bit less nose rocker.
It might be a tiny bit wider.
It comes with a leash.

Haven't had a chance to ride it yet, but I'm happy to still have a source for these boards online.

My two wave Performer 4-10's are holding up well. I have about 15-18 sessions on my main dark blue one with lots of big boosts and a few hard landings.

I took my light blue one to Tenerife and only put a couple sessions on it but it took some abuse. I cracked the HDPE base hitting a rock at speed. Also I was rescuing someone's surfboard via the leash and I wiped out and his board popped way up in the air and landed right on top of mine. His fin cut right through the tail of my board and even split the HDPE base a bit.

I fixed both with a hot glue gun.

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