I surf/foil equal time.
Daily Driver = Progressions or Eagles. They both turn/pump/glide really well.
Progressive surfing = Sk8.
I try everyone’s gear whenever I get a chance. I ride Uni, but have tried Lift, Armie, Code, F one, Axis.
Uni and F-One surf the best IMO.
idk Mike’s Lab I guess?
Wondering what the answers might be if the question were just what 4 foils do you need for the ultimate quiver. Not foil / manufacturer specific, just what characteristics are you looking for?
I think I’ve gotten the most value from the comments where people actually state what they’ve ridden and want to keep riding. For example more people have said Sk8 than Silk and I was starting to lean away from F One but now am not anymore. Also not many comments about Code which has surprised me (but its a newer brand so probably less people have tried).
This is a good question
I think it maps nicely to surfboards, like @beepityboppityboop posted at the top
And a huge caveat, it’s all very location specific, skill specific, and condition/seasonal, but I have had surfboards and foils across this range, for these reasons (in order of importance for me):
The biggest gap between the comments here and what I see in the water on Oahu is that Code has a huge following right now among the people I see in the water. Of the people who bought into a new foil system since 2023, id say its 40% Code, 35% F-One, 25% Unifoil (almost all progression 125 w/ some 140 users). Plenty of Lift, Armstrong and Axis riders happy with their old gear too. I think I have seen one AFS in the wild, which is weird because everyone owned a kujira not too long ago.
I’m currently prone foiling on the Progression 140, 170 and 200.
If money was not a concern my dream prone quiver would be:
Progression 125
Omen Operator 850
Code 860R
Florence 110X
The other part of this dream quiver is a single mast that fits all of these wings without adapters.
My daily driver is a P140/125 - same as you. I just demo’d the Silk 850 recently (paired with the progression stab) and it blew me away. I haven’t tried the AFS stabs because I heard they weren’t great but the progression 14.5 stab + 850 silk was love at first sight coming from the 125/140. Turning has never felt so easy. It was the exact feeling I felt I was missing in my current quiver.
Highly highly highly recommend trying the Silks. I just put in an order for the new cedrus evo surf mast so I can swap between the Silk and Progression front wings depending on how big the surf is. I’ll probably continue to use my chopped Progression 14.5 stab for both setups because it just feels so good and familiar.
This is kind of exactly what I’m hoping to do also, I’ve got a Cedrus surf and I am looking for 1-2 more wings with a lower wing span than the Progressions for some harder carves. Would be ideal if I could just grab an AFS Silk and use my P13.5 rear with it.
Do it!! All you need is the wing because the fuse is built in - and the progression stab goes so well with it - no shim needed. I’ve heard from multiple other people it adds glide and improves pump over the silk stabs and still turns sooo well.
I’m stoked on my new quiver!
Great info! How do you compare the pump specially between the 140 and 850?
We’re really straying for the topic here, but from what I saw it was mostly that the Progression, Eagle and Code S were all also seen as viable downwind wings at the time. Code getting the R series to market quickly really helped further adoption, and Unifoil not really having a comparable wing has hurt them. AFS was just too slow to market, but if those new DW wings start making an impact, I bet the adoption will come.
Pretty spot on. I left the Uni progressions entirely because the Code R series existed. I got an S series too for prone, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised how much I prefer it to my old setup, but it was the specific DW wing that got me to swap.
69Kg rider - can pump small foils enough to catch a couple waves if glassy enough - small 0,5 to 1.5m face waves - can get solid headhigh some rare days - and mostly short period beach breaks, mostly 6 to 7 seconds and the good clean days 8 to 9secs - and a couple hurricane waves that can get up to 10 to 12 secs a year…
Silk 650/132 for towing and anything from chest high that’s clean and opening enough - with proper technique it’ll let you pump 2 or 3 waves - and have the carves of your life! It’s ver fast and glidy for me even in small conditions. Which there were a SILK 500-525 for Chicama overhead kind of swells, but not an issue were I live. I remember Bennets asking AFS for a 450 in one video on Bali riding some really big waves ja. (My shortboard)
riding now an 850/132 Silk as my small/medium waves groveler - I think here I would replace it for the new incoming Enduro 700 which they claim can carve as good as the 850 but you’ll get more speed and glide and I guess It’ll sacrifice a little low end vs the 850 but I can take that shot for a better pumper/glider that still can turn at 11AR. (My midlenght)
For riding the small rollers and just wanting to pump around and stay on flight for like 5 waves and not focus too much on the carve - just glide and do some open lines - I really loved the PURE 800HA, the 1100HA too and get better pumping and better low end, but the 800HA still can get some open hard carves- So perhaps I would go for the new ULTRA 750 here as it gets better glide and more user friendly. (My longboard style)
To be fair, I haven’t surfed the silk at my home break where I pump more often so with limited use I would say it requires more precision to pump well.
I can still connect waves but I definitely can’t dig myself out at low speeds and need to exit waves with much more speed. The 140 literally feels like a electric assist sometimes and the 850 absolutely does not.
That said, they go so well together as I wouldn’t need the progression if the silk pumped as good.
Yeah the code s blows away the silk for pumping. I would only contemplate the silk for a tow wave or if I was not really looking to pump around alot.
I think a P140 or Code 850S all rounder + 2 mid aspects of varying sizes that will be more fun on the wave but worse at pumping is a good prone quiver.
One of the reasons I’m okay going worse on pumping is because I have a Kruzer 5’4 18 33.5L on the way. The theory is to use with the Silks or Sk8s mostly with that on bigger days, as the paddling should be much easier and the pump back out will not be as crucial.
Totally agree!
Sometimes my home break gets these epic hurricane swells with wave after wave forever - those days are the best for my P140 as I can glide so easily from one wave to the next.
Other times we have beautiful long period sets roll through with long waits in between sets - the silk will be perfect to make the most of those waves as there aren’t as many opportunities to connect.
I am amazed that Axis isn’t mentioned by anyone (yet?).
It remains one of the most popular brand among the average foilers.
Is it so overrated compared to Code, Unifoil, F-One and AFS which are mentionned over and over?
It’s because this thread is about prone foiling, not dockstarting or downwinding, which is what Axis does.