take off rocket fish 7 4"

[mox1968]

has anyone tried one of these boards out?I am about to buy one to make the step down from a 9ft longboard but cant really find any reviews about them.just heard they are good ,fancied a 7s superfish xl but out of my price range.

[kayu]

DVS Rocket Fish???

[Chai Wallah]

Look like cheap mass produced epoxy boards - speak to a UK based shaper - for not much more you will get something a lot better.

If you want epoxy speak to Escape - if you want a pu speak to the usual suspects B&W, Royal, Fluid Juice, Adams, K bay etc etc

[mox1968]

so no you havent heard of tried it or otherwise thats all I wanted to know.I aint in the uk either Im in ireland where to get a board from the uk I get shafted on postage so no winners there.If uk shapers would play the game on postage I might have used them.I know people dont like take off epoxy boards but I have been riding a take off longboard for a few years and I have found it to be a good board super tough and catches waves like a good thing.Take off sell affordable boards that do what they say on the tin ok I would use a shaper if I was on the next asp tour but Im just ordinary joe bloggs that has to count the pennies and is happy to surf 3ft chop when theres nothing else so why pay an extra couple of hundred quid on some snobbish notion??At the end of the day if local shapers charged the same as take off I might have used one.

[Chai Wallah]

You have shapers in Ireland - chat to AB3 far better boards and better value for money - as an old Chinese proverb says "buy badly buy twice, buy wisely buy once"

[coxie]

Take off, cortez etc are all pants mate.
The worst of the worst in my books.
If you wanted to go down the epoxy pop out route you would do better to get a second hand surftech or santacruz for £300

But the best advice has already been given, save a few extra pennies and see ab3

As an old chinese proverb says. "man that go to bed with itchy bum, wake up with smelly finger".

[mox1968]

like I said I can ride the longboard I have I used to have a 9 2" bear with a concave nose the full shit!! it cost me near a grand at the time I can do the same moves on the take off 9 1" noserider I currently have.The post asks has anyone tried out the rocket fish not does any one think take off boards are shite?If I ask you that in my next post cut and paste your opinions there,in the mean time if you havent tried it I aint interested in your other views.Thats not what Im asking is it?Incidentally the noserider has taken some severe abuse for about 3 years and theres no pressure dings and barely a scratch on it.its not what you surf its how you surf.coxie how many take off boards have you owned if you are so sure they are all pants?
surfboard sbobbery is a great thing we cant all get a hold of the best or most expensive due to financial or geographical reasons.I have seen guys ripping on an old beat up surfboard and other struggling to get off there knees on an al merrick.
" a peacock who sits on his tail is just another turkey!"

[flacky]

like I said I can ride the longboard I have I used to have a 9 2" bear with a concave nose the full shit!! it cost me near a grand at the time I can do the same moves on the take off 9 1" noserider I currently have.The post asks has anyone tried out the rocket fish not does any one think take off boards are shite?If I ask you that in my next post cut and paste your opinions there,in the mean time if you havent tried it I aint interested in your other views.Thats not what Im asking is it?Incidentally the noserider has taken some severe abuse for about 3 years and theres no pressure dings and barely a scratch on it.its not what you surf its how you surf.coxie how many take off boards have you owned if you are so sure they are all pants?
surfboard sbobbery is a great thing we cant all get a hold of the best or most expensive due to financial or geographical reasons.I have seen guys ripping on an old beat up surfboard and other struggling to get off there knees on an al merrick.
" a peacock who sits on his tail is just another turkey!"

Quite possibly the most sense that's ever been posted on here.

[Chai Wallah]

.coxie how many take off boards have you owned if you are so sure they are all pants?
"

Coxie is probably the best and busiest ding man in the UK based next to the most crowded waves in the England, therefore his opinion is valid. He has probably worked on more boards than you are or I will see in our life times

I hear what you are saying about surfboard snobbery which is why I dont own, a frye, merrick, dahlberg, tyler etc but buy boards from qood quality underrated local shapers.

If you have bought the board good luck with it, if you have not it is not too late to chat to Paul at glide (AB3)

Coxie - is it worth keeping a log of how many repairs you do to different brands of boards - perhaps then we can start to see whose last and whose dont. obviously volumes produced come into it but I bet you rarely see Blacker, Gulf stream, Royal, Diplock etc boards through your doors compared to the numbers that they sell

An Indian man once said "a one eyed man is king in the land of blind"

[mox1968]

chai,
I have no doubt he is the best ding man in the world I asked "has anyone ridden the take off rocket fish surfboard?!"
he could have said yes I have or no I havent thats all I asked .if you want to go to my first post and read it again.
I like the take off surfboard I have ,I can catch waves with it I can scream down the line on it I have a lot of fun on it.most of the surfers down here I have seen locally are riding take offs (landers tralee) or cortez(jamie knox castle gregory).these are the only 2 local surf shops near me.landers only sells take offs and jamie knox sells a few other types but they are expensive so I can only assume the cortez is popular because its cheaper.that said I have seen guys rip on both types in overhead surf etc.as well as other more expensive boards.I spent a couple of years in plymouth when I first got the surf bug and I went through about 4 boards at that time.A ) because I had the cash at the time!! I bought a funboard from a local shaper in wadebridge it was fine after a while I thought time to move up went to annes cottage in polzeath explained what I rode was told yeah you want this one next paid at the time about 450 for an aloha shortboard was like a matchstick under me took it back .i got yeah well too bad you shouldnt have bought that one we will give you 200 for it I HAD USED IT FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR.I thought ok Im fucked here so I traded it against a "longboard" only turned out it was a 9ft gun!!!!only when I got talking to a local guy in newquay called lee ryan who was a longboard champion at the time (it was him told me it was a gun).I then paid a lot of money for the bear which was a great board cost me around 900 quid at the time.
so what am i getting at?
every ones an expert but not everyone is right!!
I am happy with the take off board I have so why not buy another?
I wouldnt dream of telling some one what to or not to buy though because im no expert thats why I was asking for info on a specific type of board.wasnt looking for a fight but if you want to give out opinions you have to be willing to accept the fact different people have different opinions I do and I accept yours and coxies but thats what they are opinions I also have my own about what I know (take off 9 1" nose rider) and you als have to accept that .

[coxie]

Mate we were only trying to steer you away from badly made junk, if you don't want sound advise then don't ask questions.

Even if i had ridden one and it went great i would still tell you to go down the second hand surftech route as they don't have the same problems over and over that the take offs and cortez boards do.

It takes 30 seconds to take the extra steps to bond the fcs plugs in properly on these boards and they don't do it, how many other corners are cut to produce these things at a cost that undercuts true board builders.

Just trying to help fella

[mox1968]

ok I accept your advice and I asked the question about the rocket fish that question still stands to any one that wants to answer it.I have taken your advice on board and will keep it in mind when making a final decision cant say fairer than that can I?and cheers for taking the time too.
john

[Black]

Sorry still no advice on your original question except......
A good shop will have demo boards to try of the boards they are confident about - ask to try one!!! Why should you buy an unknown quantity?

Also as stated above, if you get one made by the man you can come back to the man if its crap or advice is crap as long as you've been honest. You are not faced with an intermediary sales chap/ess. From my experience, who you talk to depends massively on what advice you get & as such can be pot luck. Talk to the source.

[kayu]

has anyone tried one of these boards out?I am about to buy one to make the step down from a 9ft longboard but cant really find any reviews about them.just heard they are good ,fancied a 7s superfish xl but out of my price range.

....."you just heard they are good"...? sounds like youve already got your answer.. ....are Take Off a Chinese import ?...are you selling or promoting them ?....there is no such thing as surfboard snobbery.....most thinking surfers prefer to ride quality rather than chinese imported , because , in the long run , its keeps the price of real surfboards equal to the quality you should expect !.....cheap imports give short term profit to greedy cunts , and force quality local builders to cut corners to compete so they can stay in business......NO WINNERS.....support your local surf industry or remain a kook forever and ride sub-standard garbage...

[AB3]

and they are just as expensive as a shapers board over here around €400

[Vince Noir]

i work in a shop that sells them and would never dream of buying a cortez or take off board

[Chai Wallah]

Hi Mox - sounds like Anns cottage ripped you off big time - but Anns cottage resells others boards and the staff there arent close to the shapers even if they surf themselves. The bear also seems expensive for £500-600 you can currently get a board as good as a bear in the UK from some of the top shapers.

I was shocked a few years ago on a trip to Ireland how poort the choice of boards was - Ryan air snapped my log on the over to Dublin and despite going to Bundoran, Easky. Sligo, Rossnowlagh and North Donegal I was shocked by the price of the boards and very poor choice of boards infact most boards available were Cortez pop outs etc, I ended up not buying anything and lost a weeks surfing holiday.

If I was in your boat I would drop AB3 a PM and see what he recommends - but my gut feeling is if you can already surf well on a log an epoxy 7'4" fish will probably be much too floaty and big for you

[mox1968]

was thinking that but with out anything to compare it to I wont know till I try it.I did message ab3 and will maybe see him in the future about gettin a board shaped but Id already ordered the other one so will have to see what its like.Im sure I will be dropping down again anyway Im aiming to get down to a 6 10 or something in the near future,

[flacky]

I bought a board shaped in Ireland a few years back. Seemed like the deal of the century. 6'8 terry fitz shaped bump wing pintail. Turned up, was a lovely looking board. Just couldn't get my head round how light it was. For my money the worst glassed board I've ever seen. 6oz I think on top. Was awful, and it felt awful in the paddle. needed a lot more glass on it. Shame, as it was well shaped. Just felt like they had missed the point a bit.

[rodent]

Its all relative

You can buy from one of the best shapers and still get a shit glass job, cortez boards are crap but you can't agrue with the price, 380€ for board, leash, fins and bag

Just don't dump the fecker off anything or touch the fcs fin plugs

[flacky]

It wasn't as simple as a bad glass job, just not enough glass or resin used. For me "retro" boards need the weight. Going off on a tangent so I'll get off.

[Adz]

Hey There

I have recently bought the board you describe albeit the 7ft version, and to be honest it doesnt ride half bad. The reason i bought it was ive just got back into surfing after 6 years away from it and didnt have any equipment so just needed to get hold of a relatively cheap bundle. Went to a local surf store in Plymouth and got into a discussion about the Take Off rocket fish they had, it was £410 with 5 fins, bag, leash, wax and soft roof rack (everything i needed to get started again)

Ive been out on it pretty much every chance ive gotten over the past two weeks and so far so good, works well on overheads and even your little ankle slappers. The only qualms ive got with it so far is due to its epoxy construction its very floaty, hard to use in choppy/windy conditions. But overall ive been able to pick it and get to grips with basics again and seems to perform well.

As people have mentioned before a shaper would be the best option, im currently having another board made by a shaper near Constantine to serve as my fun/keep forever type board.

But if your looking for a cost effective board then i dont think you can go wrong with this TakeOff board. seems to be a good all rounder

[mox1968]

thanks for all your replies lads will give it a go see how it works then later in the year all going well get a board shaped for me.adz does it duck dive your board or is it too floaty?(will find out anyway soon enough but Im offshore for a few weeks so cant try it out myself yet)

[jackrussell]

I bought one of these boards 2 years ago as a cheap option for a board that I could use in sloppy crap that frustrates everyone trying to surf a low volume board, I bought it for around £300 quid from a shop in Devon, I have a 3 board quiver (6'4 maurice cole quad, 6'8 Bruce Mckee pin tail & 7'4 rocketfish)
I'm from the UK but live in S France now, apart from my local spot I visit Hossegor and Baleal/Peniche a few times a year, when I travel by air I bring 2 boards....the 7'4 always comes with me as it's proven itself as a board that will allow me to have fun on the sloppiest of days.

It's been used and abused for 2 years and the finish is still very very good, I've numerous dings which have been repaired and cannot be seen...including when the baggage handlers decided to snap around 4 inches of the nose off, when the nose was smashed I got to have a look at the construction, it has a wooden stringer much like my other PU boards.

I ride the board as a quad, it's super fun in everything from Med slop to 2M+ solid waves.

I can't say anything bad about it, I love the board and have so much fun on it, I also have progressed a lot quicker by using this board as my learning tool for new tricks.

It may be thought of as crap as it hasn't got Al Merrick etc on it, it might be produced in some 3rd world country by a robot (I'm not actually sure where they are made)....but it's been the best £300 i ever spent.

I came across this article by typing in Takeoff rocketfish into google as my chick always wants to use mine and I want to buy another one so we have 2 for the 'sloppy' days.

Hope this helps