JK Surfboards is one of those underdog surfing companies that everyone should know about.
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For years they’ve been designing some seriously high quality surfboards and SUPs.
The most surprising thing is how affordable all of their boards are.
Whether you’re looking for performance-style surfboards or boards that you can just kick back on and surf the weekend away with, JK Surfboards has got a board for you.
With a variety of shapes, sizes, and builds, JK has something for just about everyone.
In this article, we’re going to talk about some of our all-time favorite boards from the company.
Our Favorite JK SurfBoards
Flow Rider
- Great for an Every Day Board
- 6’2” – 6’10” in Size
- EPS Foam Black and Eco-Friendly Epoxy Resin
The Wafer
- Perfect for Small and Mushy Days
- 6’1” – 6’7” in Size
- EPS Foam Blanks and Bottom Poly Resin
The Super Fun
- Perfect for Fun-Style Surfing and Speed
- 8’6” – 7’11” in Size
- EPS Foam Blanks and Eco-Friendly Epoxy Resin
The Soul Carver
- Perfect for High-Performance Longboarding
- 6’ – 6’6” in Size
- Polyurethane Foam Blanks and Bottom Poly Resin
The Top 4 Boards
Flow Rider Shortboard
Some boards are great for days that are small and choppy while other are great for when the tubes start spilling. The Flow Rider from JK Surfboards works right in the middle and is great all kinds of days. With all of the design possibilities on the market today, JK Surfboards had their heads set on creating something fun and easy to ride, which is perfect for the burgeoning surfer.
Whether you want to ride in 8’ wave faces or 2’ mush, the Flow Rider makes anything possible. The turns on this board feel incredibly buttery while still giving you that lightweight quality to create speed. Extra volume was pushed to the chest area, making it much easier to paddle, a unique quality for boards of this size. With a single to double concave design, you can hold really well in barrel sections and turn with ease while riding down the face of a wave.
The Flow Ride comes with a Tri Futures Fin Set and is 100% hand-shaped with EPS Foam blanks and an eco-friendly epoxy resin, giving you a high-quality board feel without the hefty price tag.
The Wafer
For something a bit shorter and stouter with a nice and balanced 5-fin set up, we recommend checking out The Wafer from JK Surfboards. It acts as a bit of a groveler, making it perfect for flying around the typically un-surfable mush. The team made these boards with a much looser feel as well, giving you a longboard-like performance minus a couple extra feet.
The 5-future fin setup gives you the perfect amount of balance and speed too. Pair that with the buoyant foam design, and you have a great board for beginners or experts trying to get out on the water. The Poly Resin and Carbon Fiber Net Tail Patch give the board a beautiful lightweight feel as well. The boards come in a variety of classic striped designs that are perfect for the golden-era nostalgicphiles of surfing.
The Super Fun Longboard
The Super Fun Longboard is a board that is designed for all lovers of the logs. With a classic squash tail at slick, hard-edged rails, it’s an old-school longboard design with a modern twist. You can either configure your set-up with 5 fins or thrusters for versatility as well. The best part about this board is the featherweight epoxy resin that gives you tons of speed while maintaining solid control. Whether you’re on the tip, lip, or tube, The Super Fun Longboards is capable of being ridden anywhere.
This board really pushes the envelope of a classic longboard in design while also looking crisp and clean with the option to choose between turquoise / blue and white design in 8’6” or 7’11”. Both come in a beautiful matte finish. The deck is made from two slick layers of high-quality 6oz Fiberglass with the bottom being one 6oz layer. If the waves aren’t really kicking or you just want a smooth, laid-back ride, The Super Fun Longboard might just be your new daily tool.
The Soul Carver
Sometimes you just want the feel of a longboard without all the bulk. This is where a board like the Soul Carver comes in handy. It’s a high performance mini longboard that comes in 6’ and 6’6” sizes. Unlike a traditional longboard, you can easily make big cutbacks and solid bottom turns on the Soul Carver. It holds incredibly well on large waves while still retaining the ability to fly through mushy sections too. In all, it gives you the best of both worlds.
After riding the Soul Carver for quite some time, we don’t know if we ever want to go back to a longboard. With excellent stability and a high-performance shape, you can’t really ask for much more. The board comes with a 4+1 set up with two sides of two fins and one larger center fin. The boards themselves come in two classic designs, either a clean white or turquoise, glossed and sanded for a pro finish.
Company & History
JK Surfboards started back in 2008 when two college friends and, Jason and Kiyo, were hanging out in the early morning lineup at El Porto in Califronia. As two avid surfers, they had been passing the idea back and forth for years of becoming a part of the surf industry, though not knowing exactly how to attack it. The company began producing stand up paddleboards to fit within the SUP industry that was seemingly booming. JK Surfboards was born.
After only a few months of research and development, Jason and Kiyo received their very first boards. They figured out how to manufacture incredibly high-quality and professionally shaped boards while keeping the price low.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are each of these boards best for?
Thanks to the shape and size, the Flow Rider is the perfect board for all-around, every day surfing. If you know what it means to have a daily driver, you’ll know what it means to have the Flow Rider in your quiver. It rides like a Shortboard while keeping balance like a fish, and acts as a nice hybrid for all kinds of riders.
The Wafer on the other hand, works more like a groveler. Grovelers are perfect for the small and mushy summer days when the waves are only up to 3’ high. They retain nice balance and speed in small conditions, though aren’t the best in terms of performance.
The Super Fun is a very unique board in that it provides the feel and riding characteristics of a longboard while giving you a bit more performance. It’s excellent for small days because of the longboard build, though can perform well as the waves get waist and head high.
The Soul Carver is excellent for smaller days because of its longboard-like design. It balances really well and paddles easily, making it perfect for surfers who are just getting into the water. It’s also excellent for little groms who may need that extra volume, though can’t control a longboard over 8’.
What Other Products does JK Surfboards Manufacture?
Though we spent a lot of time talking about their surfboards, JK is truly known for their stand-up paddleboards, as they were their pioneering products. From recreational flat-water surfing to big-wave riding, the company makes SUPs for a wide variety of riding styles and skill levels.
They also manufacture an array of high quality SUP paddles and board bags, as well as craft custom made boards.
What makes JK so Eco-Friendly?
JK Surfboards utilizes renewable and recycled materials to manufacture their boards. For example, they use recycled EPS Foam blanks instead of polyurethane or polystyrene. They also utilize an eco-friendly ballistic polyester instead of fiberglass, and are one of the few companies that is doing so.
Overall Rating
JK Surfboards is one of those small surfing companies that you may have never heard of, but will soon be making huge splashes on every coast.
Their boards are meticulously designed and crafted, eco-friendly, and made with high quality materials. Overall, we have to give their boards an A+.
They’ve figured out how to craft some serious boards for about half the price of what you’d pay for a board shaped from a boutique company like this.
We hope you use this information wisely and pick out your own JK Surfboard to shred this season!
