Author Topic: Hankering back to my old Laird Pearson Arrow- what's the modern equivalent ?  (Read 9694 times)

devon_sup_surf

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You can order a Pearson from Bob Pearson. If you call him he will extract all the information from you that's required to build you a board that makes you crazy. The end result will be like my Kenny Tilton custom longboard that sits in my garage--delaminated, totally unusable, but I'll own it until I die. Pure magic. I look at it and remember how it surfed--it made me a better surfer. Those perfect things are worth the effort. Good is the enemy of great.

I made Cacio e Pepe two nights ago with prawns and morels. I've been practicing this ridiculously simple but infinitely difficult recipe off and on for years. I came very close to perfection two nights ago. My wife and our house guest are still talking about it days later. Some things just don't allow a substitute,

What a great post. I love you way with words.

Why did your board become useless ? I have read the original pearson arrows were badly made- have they fixed this ?

surfcowboy

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You have specific stories from a time after he was building some of the first boards ever or are you just going to put Bob Pearson's decades long reputation in question on the internet?

Sorry but people should be more careful. That is a family business, not some faceless corporation shipping stuff from china. What happened and when?

Sorry, just a gentle reminder that that's an artisan, not just a licensed brand. Surftech deal was short. Life is long. The internet is forever.

PonoBill

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You can order a Pearson from Bob Pearson. If you call him he will extract all the information from you that's required to build you a board that makes you crazy. The end result will be like my Kenny Tilton custom longboard that sits in my garage--delaminated, totally unusable, but I'll own it until I die. Pure magic. I look at it and remember how it surfed--it made me a better surfer. Those perfect things are worth the effort. Good is the enemy of great.

I made Cacio e Pepe two nights ago with prawns and morels. I've been practicing this ridiculously simple but infinitely difficult recipe off and on for years. I came very close to perfection two nights ago. My wife and our house guest are still talking about it days later. Some things just don't allow a substitute,

What a great post. I love you way with words.

Why did your board become useless ? I have read the original pearson arrows were badly made- have they fixed this ?

It wasn't a Pearson, it was a Kenny Tilton board, and I rode the shit out of it for five years. It was custom and was built lightly, to my specification. If you get enough heel dents from some huge dude walking on the board for five years it's gonna delam, and it did. Plus I'm just really hard on equipment.

I've talked myself into getting a Pearson Arrow. I might even get it as a prone longboard, though my pop-up is ridiculously slow these days.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2022, 09:38:56 PM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

devon_sup_surf

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You have specific stories from a time after he was building some of the first boards ever or are you just going to put Bob Pearson's decades long reputation in question on the internet?

Sorry but people should be more careful. That is a family business, not some faceless corporation shipping stuff from china. What happened and when?

Sorry, just a gentle reminder that that's an artisan, not just a licensed brand. Surftech deal was short. Life is long. The internet is forever.

Fair point mate :)

One owner who owned two pearson arrow sups both of which were poor build quality he says.

But details and specifics I don't have. And I mistakenly thought the chap above board was a Pearson Arrow. And as he said- it was built lightly.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2022, 04:20:13 AM by devon_sup_surf »

devon_sup_surf

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You can order a Pearson from Bob Pearson. If you call him he will extract all the information from you that's required to build you a board that makes you crazy. The end result will be like my Kenny Tilton custom longboard that sits in my garage--delaminated, totally unusable, but I'll own it until I die. Pure magic. I look at it and remember how it surfed--it made me a better surfer. Those perfect things are worth the effort. Good is the enemy of great.

I made Cacio e Pepe two nights ago with prawns and morels. I've been practicing this ridiculously simple but infinitely difficult recipe off and on for years. I came very close to perfection two nights ago. My wife and our house guest are still talking about it days later. Some things just don't allow a substitute,

What a great post. I love you way with words.

Why did your board become useless ? I have read the original pearson arrows were badly made- have they fixed this ?

It wasn't a Pearson, it was a Kenny Tilton board, and I rode the shit out of it for five years. It was custom and was built lightly, to my specification. If you get enough heel dents from some huge dude walking on the board for five years it's gonna delam, and it did. Plus I'm just really hard on equipment.

I've talked myself into getting a Pearson Arrow. I might even get it as a prone longboard, though my pop-up is ridiculously slow these days.

If you're getting a beautiful custom board- why not get it into a shape you will  use lots? Or do you still prone quite a bit?

PonoBill

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I don't prone surf at all anymore, it's wishful thinking. My pop-up pooped out long ago. I'll get it as a SUP.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

surfcowboy

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Yeah, fair enough.  If you buy a custom glass board and compare it to sandwich construction that's likely going to be seen as "not rugged" because they aren't.

Sort of like complaining that your classic car doesn't get good mileage. ;) I love those things but yes, dings are part of surfboard ownership at times.

Night Wing

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I'm now 72 years old. I still do prone surfing and I love it since I started surfing when I was 15 years old. I've got a pinched nerve in my lower right side of my back right above the right pelvis bone.

I've also got a partial tear of the meniscus in my left knee. And a partial tear of the meniscus is not the same thing as a torn meniscus because of where the partial tear is in the meniscus. The partial tear does not cause me any pain at all.

Anyhow, doing a pop-up at my older age, the pinched nerve let me know sometimes it didn't like me doing a pop-up. And when it let me know it, it was a rude awakening because it made me yelp. I had to change the way I did my pop-up.

Which means I had to modify the pop-up. I started looking at every surfing video of men I could find on YouTube to see if could modify the pop-up. My biggest mistake was watching men doing their pop-ups and I finally realized none of the men were old like me. And the men's pop-up looked more like "hard work". So I figured there had to be a better way.

So I had to switch gears so to speak and started watching women prone surfers doing their pop-ups on their longboards and quite a few women, speaking just for myself, "had the better way" because some women modified their pop-ups into what I call a "push-up".

I found one woman named Haley Otto on YouTube and I copied her pop-up (push-up for me). The only difference between her and me, besides age, she is a goofy footer whereas I am a regular footer. So I just reversed her moves since I'm a regular footer.

The two minute YouTube video below is a drone video of her surfing. Watch the very first pop-up, what I call the push-up, and you'll see how easy she does her pop-up.

Not much effort with the least amount of energy expended which gives the best result. The best view of the modified "push-up" starts around the 29 second mark of the video. You might have to start and stop the video, quite a few times, to really see how she does her pop-up.

So when you get to be my age and you have lots of miles on your body where you're not as limber as you were when you were younger, you learn to surf smarter. Not harder and when you surf smarter, your body will let you know it.

So when I prone surf my 9'3" Parallax single fin longboard, I don't have any pain in my lower back anymore from that pinched nerve when I do a "push-up".

BTW, the video is best viewed in high definition and in full screen mode. I've got good graphics cards in both of my desktop tower computers so I watch this video in 2160p60 (4K) high definition which looks real good on my 27" external monitor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7UPOvRuVek

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sflinux

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The 10'6" Pearson Arrow is a classic, I wouldn't change a thing about it.  Hopefully you can order one.
Other options that come to mind are:
Dogman 146L 10’2 x 29″ by Deep
Longboard 147L 10' x 31" by Starboard
Longboard 149L 10' x 29" by JP
New Deal 152L 10' x 31" by Infinity.
LongSUP 152L 9'8" x 30" by RRD
Noosa 154L 10'6" x 31" by F-One
Turbo 161L 9'10" x 33" by Blue Planet
Black & Blue Machine 164L 10'1" x 31" by Jimmy Lewis
« Last Edit: June 13, 2022, 10:19:52 PM by sflinux »
Quiver Shaped by: Joe Blair, Blane Chambers, Jimmy Lewis, Kirk McGinty, and Bob Pearson.
Me: 200#, 6'2"

PonoBill

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I started surfing fairly late in life after I tore up my shoulders and couldn't windsurf any more. so I always "popped" up like Haley does--pushing up, gathering my feet under me and then pushing the board backward, under my feet as I stand. It's worked well for about 15 years, but now when I bring my front (left) foot forward and get my weight over it I get a stabbing pain in the joint which leaves me wobbling while the wave insists on not waiting for me to get my shit together. I can get away with the hesitation on a wing foil board because I'm just getting to my feet, the action starts later when the wind lets me pump up onto foil. I'm doing a lot of PT, and my knee has been fairly happy with the winging.

Sooner or later I'll probably have a knee replacement and I'll have to figure out how to keep doing the stuff I love. For now it's just PT and exercises. So far, so good.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

devon_sup_surf

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The 10'6" Pearson Arrow is a classic, I wouldn't change a thing about it.  Hopefully you can order one.
Other options that come to mind are:
Dogman 146L 10’2 x 29″ by Deep
Longboard 147L 10' x 31" by Starboard
Longboard 149L 10' x 29" by JP
New Deal 152L 10' x 31" by Infinity.
LongSUP 152L 9'8" x 30" by RRD
Noosa 154L 10'6" x 31" by F-One
Turbo 161L 9'10" x 33" by Blue Planet
Black & Blue Machine 164L 10'1" x 31" by Jimmy Lewis

I want some glide and so want to keep the length above 10' and the width 30" or less. 140-150L volume seems about right.

There are lots of options out there as you suggest. But what are the pros and cons between each one I wonder ?

The JP, SB, Infinity and dogman all look pretty great to me.


devon_sup_surf

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If you are in So Cal..

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/spo/d/woodland-hills-laird-106-standup-sup/7488325549.html

Ah sadly I'm in the UK!

What's the difference between the above board and the surftech ones ? Is the above a genuine Pearson?

SUS4Life

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'That is a production model that is made in China, I have similar one but in 8'0 and it one of the best board i surf with.  I'm not sure how it compare to custom one that is made by Pearson but I assume it will be the same.  The price seem high for SoCal, I bought mine from Amazon when they were closeout all the Laird/Pearson board for super cheap.

Fog City Rider

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I'll chime in since I've owned a Surftech Pearson Laird 10'0 & also have a custom Pearson Laird 9'0. I also own a 2017 Naish Nalu Pro 10'0 (the one reviewed on SUPboardermag.com).

Agree that the Pearson Arrow shape is the BOMB for surfing. Having owned both a Surftech & a handshaped custom, I would go custom over Tuflite 10 times out of 10. Tuflite is heavy and stiff and feels lifeless on a wave IMO. Sure it's indestructible, but I'm not a beginner anymore and know how to treat my boards. I've had the 9'0 for many years and it's going strong.

I will say this - IMO the Pearson Lairds are excellent surfers but sluggish paddlers. HUGE nose and low entry rocker doesn't do any favors for glide, especially in bumpier conditions where the nose is underwater a lot and gets pushed around. But in clean conditions, it's all good. My 9'0 slashes turns and noserides with the best of them. Surfers are often surprised at what I can pull off on that thing.

The Naish Nalu Pro is a totally different animal. More pulled in nose with heaps of rocker. Paddles well in all conditions, really shines in larger swell and rougher conditions thanks to the banana rocker fitting nicely in the troughs between waves. Fun in small waves, but absolutely rips when the swell picks up. I prefer the Laird on a small glassy day, but I've learned to love this board for it's versatility. It works in overhead waves & I haven't really found its limit yet. IMHO it's kinda a "fun gun" disguised as a longboard SUP.

I imagine the Starboard Longboard might sit right in the midde of these 2 boards, but can't say for sure. For cleaner, lined up conditions and a perfect blend of carving and noseriding, Pearson wins. For versatility and easy paddling and especially if noseriding isn't your thing, you can't beat the Nalu Pro. Of course if you go custom with Bob, he can make you anything!



San Diego, CA
10'0 Naish Nalu Pro (2017 version)
9'0 Pearson Arrow Laird custom
9'3 Pearson Arrow custom (prone)
9'8 Takayama In the Pink (prone)

 


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