Suds

Most riders land between 5'6" and 5'10" on the Suds, in the 26–35 liter band. Twin fins ride a hair fuller than performance shortboards of the same height — read the volume column on the spec table, not just the length. If you're unsure, message us with your weight, your go-to wave, and the dim of your current daily driver. A 150-lb rider in clean waist-to-shoulder surf usually lands around the 5'7" / 31.8L build (the dim our in-stock 5'7" reference board sits on); a heavier rider or someone surfing softer mornings can size up to the 5'9"– 5'10" range without giving up the looseness that defines a twin.

Waist-high to overhead. Peak performance is shoulder-to-head-high beach break and reef — Lowers on a south swell, T-Street on a clean day, Salt Creek when the sand cooperates, San Onofre's softer outside sections, Blacks. Holds a line on overhead reef when you take it on a Mexico mainland or Mentawais trip; size up to a different model for solid double-overhead and bigger. The Suds is built for the middle of the wave-range bell curve, not the tails of it — it's not a knee-high grovel board, and it's not a step-up gun.

The Suds runs a swallow tail because that's the canonical modern-twin release shape — water exits cleanly between the two points, which gives the lateral pivot a clear path off the back foot. The contour diagram for the Suds shows the swallow paired with 60/40 rails that go hard through the last 12" of the tail; that combination is what lets the board hold a line at speed without losing the looseness twin riders pay for. We can build a Suds with a squash or a round tail at no upcharge if you want to tighten or draw out the turning radius — ask Blake at the order conversation. A pin tail isn't offered; pins on twins are an unusual ask and we'd rather build them as a different model.

Yes. Glass-on twins are available as a $150 upcharge per the standard pricing in `custom-pricing.ts`. Glass-ons lock the fin template in permanently — most riders who already know exactly which template they want go this route, since the hydrodynamics are slightly cleaner without the box-and-tab interface. Everyone else takes the Futures plug system as the default, which lets you swap templates over the life of the board. The 5'7" Suds we currently have in the shop (#1622219AT) is glass-on twins — that physical board is the design intent reference for the model.

The Suds sits inside the same modern-twin field as those two boards — same volume band, same wave range, same broad design vocabulary (modern foiling on a twin outline). The pitch that distinguishes the Suds is the bite-over-bagginess balance: the rocker and rail philosophy keep it from sliding out when a wave gets steep, where a softer-railed twin in the same volume band starts to wash out. Album's Twinsman and Townsman, the CI Twin Pin, the Firewire Seaside, and the Lost RNF '96 are all good comparable twins to ride before ordering — they share the modern-twin DNA. The Suds is built to be your daily driver when you've been riding twins long enough to know exactly what you want from one.

Three finish tiers determine the timeline. Clear-sanded ($750) ships in 4–6 weeks — that's the fastest because there's no tint or gloss-polish pass to schedule around. Resin tint sanded ($900) takes 8–10 weeks because the tint pass adds a separate lam stage. Resin tint plus gloss-polish ($1,100) lands at 6–8 weeks — slower than clear-sanded, faster than tint-sanded because the gloss-polish pass runs in parallel with other queue jobs. All timelines are confirmed on order; Blake will let you know exactly where your Suds sits in the queue when the deposit comes in. 25% deposit holds your slot; balance is due on completion.

The Suds defaults to a 4oz S-cloth + 4oz warp deck and a 4oz S-cloth bottom (`4S+4W` deck / `4S` bottom) — the standard performance schedule for the 4'6"–6'7" tier. That's the right call for most riders in clean SoCal surf. If you ride heavier (over 180 lbs) or you're building this for a Mexico mainland or Mentawais trip where you'll be on overhead reef regularly, ask about a 4S+6W deck — the extra weight buys you durability without changing the ride character. The default stringer is 3/16" basswood; the default foam is US Blanks. If you have specific glassing or stringer requests, flag them at order time — Blake will tell you which combos work for the Suds outline and which fight it.

We don't run a formal demo program, but the 5'7" in-stock board (#1622219AT — used, $425, glass-on twins) is the closest existing public reference for the Suds ride feel. If you're local to San Clemente, message Blake; depending on schedule, it may be possible to arrange a try-before-buy at Doheny or Salt Creek when conditions allow. For travel-oriented riders or out-of-area customers, the combination of the spec table, the contour diagram, and a phone call with Blake is usually enough to dial the order in — most customers get the right Suds the first time without needing to ride it first.

- [ ] Q1 / sizing recommendation: confirm the "5'7" / 31.8L for 150-lb rider in waist-to-shoulder" rule of thumb. If your actual sizing math differs, replace. - [ ] Q3 / contour diagram reference: confirm the swallow-tail design rationale reads in your voice — happy to swap "canonical modern-twin release shape" for whatever framing you prefer. - [ ] Q5 / comparable boards: confirm the Twinsman / Twin Pin / Seaside / RNF '96 cross-references. None of them are exact peers; they're recognizable comparables for a customer doing multi-builder research. - [ ] Q7 / glassing defaults: confirm 4S+4W deck / 4S bottom is still the Suds default. The construction.md draft flags this as `[BLAKE: ?]` — if you've moved off that schedule for any reason (e.g. moved to a 4D+4W, different cloth supplier), replace. - [ ] Q8 / demo policy: confirm we don't run formal demos, and that the in-stock 5'7" is the closest public reference. If there's a demo program in the works, swap the answer.