JS Blak Box
The JS Blak Box isn’t just another board from JS Industries, it’s the board. From coast to coast, the Blak Box has been getting rave reviews. It seems the ideal is to ride about 3 inches shorter than your standard shortboard and with a slightly larger fin setup than normal. In the chest high range, the board comes alive, even on a soft weak summer wave.
Volume. There’s a lot of volume built into the Blak Box boards and that helps you ride them shorter than you would a normal shortboard. It’s really beefy in the chest area which helps a lot when paddling into mushy surf and helps make it around sections. The tail reminds me of the classic Tom Curren Huntington Beach board tails – wide and thick with a sharp rail right on top of the fins. Enough meat to get you through the flat and enough edge to bury that rail in the lip.
Rocker. Pretty flat rocker, but not super flat. In gutless thigh high surf, this isn’t going to be the magic board. For the really small stuff, you would probably like a Nitro or a Lost RNF better. The Blak Box is more of a performance rocker than pure dribble rider, but it’s fast. Low pull in the tail is another classic design but with a much deeper modern concave to give it a lot of drive, but still lose in the juice.
Width. A 5’11″ is 19.75″ wide and that’s pretty wide for a small board, but that also makes it really stable and adds volume. It’s really easy to paddle for the size and is still easy to turn.
What size? Well, Occy rides a 6’0 and weighs around 185lbs. Parko rides a 5’8 and weighs 175lbs. Jordy rides a 6’1 and weighs 190lbs. A lot depends on where and when you’re going to surf your Blak Box and if you’re going to be wearing a wetsuit and how good the waves are.
Overall. It’s a really great board, but not for super small surf. If you’re looking for something that is fun in the thigh to waist range, there are better boards, but if you’re looking for waist to head+ high, the JS Blak Box is the one. If you’re looking for a shortboard to surf some of that summer windchop or south swell, the JS Blak Box will make you really happy and you won’t regret riding one.
Where to get the Blak Box. Your local shop is the easiest, but you can find a Blak Box online with free shipping for around $660 which comes out about the same as in the shop once you add taxes. The Future fin models are pretty hard to come by, so if you see one, you might want to go ahead and grab it.
