White Tiger or White Kitty? Pyzel Surfboard Review

The Pyzel White Tiger is a fun, stubby surfboard designed for average/below average waves. It gets up and going easily, flies through flat sections, and lets you do airs, but only if know how to do them, which I don't.
All in all, it is a fantastic board perfect for summer waves.
Surfer: 5'8" 145lbs
Surfboard: 5'3" x 19.13" x 2.31" @26.2L
Fins: NVS Orcas
Traction: Surf n Show
Leash: FCS Helix
Wetsuit: Volcom 5/4/3 Modulator hooded (I'm a big wuss)
Upcoming board for 2024, in no particular order:
CI Dumpster Diver 2
Firewire GWT
Album Twinsman
AIPA Dark Horse (quad in Varial)
Lost RNF Retro Revamp
Firewire Revo
Firewire Hydroshort
HI Moe Mini
HI Mid6 Mini (if I can get my hands on one)
Firewire Boss-up (if I can get my hands on one)
Firewire New Releases (if any new ones come out)
#surfer #surf #surfing #surfboard #surfboards #surfboardreview #surfboardreviews #surfermag #stab #surflesson #surflessons #surfergirl #asiansurfer #beginnersurflessons #beginnersurfer #learningtosurf
‪@pyzel‬ ‪@PyzelSurfboardsInternational‬ ‪@pyzelsurfboardsjapan2183‬ ‪@surfnvs‬

[@TaeKim-oq5ym]

as always a great job on the review. i like that you are leaving the paddling portion of the wave in. thx

[@fox.709]

Great review. I pulled the trigger on a Puddle Jumper HP, really happy with it. The WT was in my list but I didn't know how it went in everyday surf, until now thanks to you.

[@catinthehat8412]

great reviews 🔥

[@dchennavasin]

Another great review. And I appreciate the paddle into the waves!

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I hope it was helpful. Appreciate the support. Cheers

[@dwhiting3766]

Keep up the good work. I’m sure your community appreciates it. I know I do.

[@gilliamm.5732]

Thanks!

[@ThomyeSurfs]

bro, legend. Seriously, your support is really appreciated. You gave on that last video too(fish). :) Cheer brotha.

[@ThePokersurfer]

My friend actually bought one last summer on impulse and absolutely loves it!

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I'm so curious how it would go if they put a really shallow swallow on it. Shallow like 1". I wanted to cover how a squash feels to me compared to swallow but felt my video was getting too long. I lightly mentioned it regarding how there is a little looseness and release you get. Maybe in part 2. What is your favorite tail? or do you find the overall design of a board dominates the way a board feels? for me, swallow always seems to stand out. I guess I like that locked in feel.

[@ThePokersurfer]

@@ThomyeSurfs hands down swallows! Get this TRUE story for my 8th grade Christmas present my parents bought me a Mark Richard's Lightning Bolt twin fin for an absurd $379 back then which ALOT of money and I kept it to this day! Anyway going back to swallows the MAJORITY of my "magic boards" have been exclusively swallows aka MR twin fin , Arakawa Stubby, Coil Industries M13 and obviously fishes galore i.e Bushman Flow!

[@ThomyeSurfs]

@@ThePokersurfer i avoided swallows my entire life up until the seaside. :( didn't know what I was missing. dang it. LOL

[@clearthejunk]

Thanks! I wish i lived further south. Love looking at your takeoffs. My zuma beach break is killer for beginners. Hard to learn consistency on closeouts.😢

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I bet, Zuma is tough. I remember getting slammed up there a few times. County line isn't bad though and Leo. Love it up there in the summer, I used to go after work. I think I need to consider doing that again this summer. Cheers and thank you

[@chucks222]

Really like the straight edge in the garage lighting and the rocker comparison with the seaside for rocker and outline. Super helpful to get a feel for the board. Thanks for the review! Your reviews are the best for me in predicting real world experience on boards.

[@ThomyeSurfs]

Cheers bro. I definitely need to grind down the corners of that ruler though. It makes me nervous. it is solid steal and super heavy. If I dropped it, it would likely go through the board, LOL.

[@dannya.4325]

@@ThomyeSurfs I have an Album Plasmic with no center fin box. I’m a bit heavier at 190 lbs. Would you recommend the Nvs Orcas or Taylor Knox twin fins? I’m running the Fcs2 Power Twins now and I feel like the board lacks drive and doesn’t have that wow factor.

[@ThomyeSurfs]

@@dannya.4325 I have never tried the power twins, but from the looks of it maybe it could be that tip. The orcas have a more full round tip. I don't know how far the power twins go compared to the orcas. The orcas on a futures box hang past the box by about half an inch. I'll have to see if I can somehow measure the power twins up against it and now have a better idea.

[@ThomyeSurfs]

@@dannya.4325 by the way I have been wanting to ride the plasmic for some time now. I want some guy flowing on that board and have been very curious. I don't know if a raked back fin would be better. The knocks are much smaller. I'll try and post that in the community section if I can. That way you can see what that looks like.

[@dannya.4325]

@@ThomyeSurfs thanks for the feedback, I’ll probably go with the Orcas being larger then. Albums are excellent boards some of the best boards I’ve ever ridden. If you can get your hands on one I highly recommend you give it a go.

[@ericmcclellan1681]

Interesting on the size down decision making. I actually sized up (went with a 5’5 only because the shop didn’t have a 5’4 lol) and I absolutely think I made the right decision. I feel like I can take it in bigger surf as well vs if I’d went closer to my short board vol. Seemed like you felt that in a way going from the 5’3 to the 5’4. Awesome review as always 🤙🏼

[@Alex-it5ej]

Ohhhh yeaaaahhhh

[@ETYSURF]

Look great on that thomye

[@ThomyeSurfs]

felt great. :)

[@kayakfishinghokkaido9884]

Nice one Thomye. You looked so much better on the 5'4". That board looks like it sat better in the water had more drive and control.

[@ThomyeSurfs]

felt that way too. Thanks funny about Noel Salas's review, they compared it to the Gremlin and it was amazing to me how much better I thought the Gremlin looked on Noel. Likely cuz it was longer and bigger. I feel like lately he goes too small on his boards. I am hoping my buddy lets me ride the 5'4 again. I really want to try it as a 2+1. it felt good has a thruster but if you compare the two long flat waves where I got way in front of them, the 5'3 pushed better but likely only cuz of the fins. The big Orcas grabbed a lot more water. BTW, I love kayak fishing too. haha I suck at fishing and I hate kayaking but marry the two, and dang, I can sit out there all day. haha I have an older Hobie Outback and an inflatable pedal drive. Miss it. I need to get out there again.

[@kayakfishinghokkaido9884]

@@ThomyeSurfsAgree. Bigger has definitely been the best change I've made in my surfing also. I'm 6'6" 220# and went from a 6'5" to a 7' with a little more thickness than usual. Surfing has never been funner. BTW 2+1's FTW! Right on with kayak fishing. I never enjoyed kayaking either but when you add fishing it's like this missing link. 😄

[@g35pm]

Nice review! I have this board in 5’4” and have yet to try it as a 2 + 1. Pyzel Thruster set seems to work best so far. Is your SS3 a plus version? I got the SS3+ upgrade and while it starts tracking much quicker, it does weird things with zoom now and it doesn’t like people walking in front or it starts following surfers that cross in between myself and the camera.

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I now have the SS3+ The one thing that is better about the camera is the calibration. Super quick which is clutch when the surf is good, LOL. Everything else is hit or miss. Sometime the tracking is spot on, other times it's off. Zoom is off or on, but it is blessing when the tracking doesnt work. It has it out so wide, even if i'm not centered and way off to the side, at least I have some footage, although I look like a tiny dot on the screen. :( My least favorite thing right now about the camera is the processor. I noticed with mine, when I shoot in 4Kx30, the processor is too slow so it does this weird jerky thing. like it buffering the image before writing it. If you look at some of my video, it does this jerky motion. I thought it was the pan but when I film in 1080, everything looks good. They are a very weird company. I wish GoPro or dji would buy them out.

[@allsurf]

🤙🏻

[@surfininmy40s]

Pyzel is a great board but it gets pressure dents way too easily. Hard to grab one when it gets dented up. 😞. Great review and good surfing as always

[@ThomyeSurfs]

The White Tiger that I was on was EPS Epoxy. It held up a little better. I find that EPS tends to do wider shallower dents while PU forms exactly the shape of the denting object, in this case, heels. Cheers.

[@louiepillari7796]

How’d you like it compared to the seaside? Better or worse in small stuff (knee - waist). I’m on the east coast looking for something for summer. Have a g skate but doesn’t go as good in small stuff as I thought it would

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I did mention a bit of comparison between the SS and the WT. most of the different is in the tail for me. Granted my comparison is subjective given the 2L difference between the SS and WT that I tested. In general though, if you like slightly tighter drivey boards, then seaside. Again, this could be my perception since I have only ridden the SS with the machado quad keels. The WT had a tad less (i mean very small) drive but more loose and release through a maneuver. Again, it could have been the fins. I will need to try both boards with the same quad fins to really know.

[@louiepillari7796]

Thanks for the insight! Appreciate the reviews!

[@DavidJones-yl9kk]

How did you like the Orcas? How do they compare the the Taylor Knox find?

[@ThomyeSurfs]

@@DavidJones-yl9kk on the mashup they had a lot of drive. But not the same type of down the line speed as the Knox. On my backhand though I could push really hard and I was getting good bottom turns on the orcas. I'll need to serve them back to back to back to get a better sense.

[@DavidJones-yl9kk]

@@ThomyeSurfswere you blowing out your fins with the Taylor Knox fins? Do they hold as well or better than the MR 2+1 s? I have a HP Fish that gets so much speed in better waves that I am thinking of using the Mick Fanning thrusters for a little extra hold on those picky days. On those better days I am blowing my fins out when I really put my weight into my turns. It doesn’t happen on weaker days though.

[@Mc69927]

Hi Thomye, would you ever consider reviewing the sharpeye twin turbo?

[@ThomyeSurfs]

yes, of course I want to. I saw that sharpeye had a carbon version in my size about two month ago in stock but I couldn't get myself to buy it. I didn't have the funds. I was very bummed to have missed it cuz it sold in a few days.

[@Mc69927]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@ThomyeSurfsthanks for the reply! If you were to buy one would you buy the pure twin or one with a trailer?

[@ThomyeSurfs]

@@Mc69927 as of now, I have never liked a pure twin unless it was a keel but then you lose certain things. So having said that, trailer option is a huge plus for me. I do have a twinsman that I plan to review after the GWT. It is twin only so, I will have a better answer then. Although, why wouldn't you just have the plug so you have the option. Seems risky to leave it out. Anyways, I'll know for sure in a few months.

[@Mc69927]

@@ThomyeSurfs Awesome thanks Thomey. I asked since the fin position is further back on the pure option and Noel from the comments in the review said that he preferred it as a pure twin. But yeah it would be a huge risk spending that much on a board just to regret not getting a trailer option hahaha.

[@ThomyeSurfs]

@@Mc69927 my old Sharpeye Modern2 was a 2+1 but, the 2 front fins were in a Twin position. Further back, definitely more drive and can pivot on a dime. Also, the Aipa Dark Twin i tested was a 2+1 but it too had it's front fins in a True Twin position. :)

[@Dill_doh]

Mashup or white tiger?

[@surfgeek]

Looks similar to the puddle jumper hp , just not as wide

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I haven't tried that board yet but yes, similar. I used to have a DHD Pistol Whip that reminds me of this board too. Although this is fuller through the nose.

[@mrmr314]

No rocker whatsoever and thus if you aren't young and good the thing just isn't going to go in normal beachy waves. Note the boards shown here, and always with Salas, are very short and very low-litres. So of course they can throw them around. Can you if you weigh far more and are a couple of feet taller? Pyzel's no rocker boards don't really go - so why doesn't he put more rocker in them?

[@ThomyeSurfs]

I'm not really familiar with Pyzel boards, this the first one I have tried. When I look at his boards online and in pictures, they all seem to have too much rocker which is why I gravitated to the White vs the Red. I'm 145lbs now but used to weigh about 175lbs, more muscle more fat. Back then I surfed my boards way taller. I remember one issue I had when I weighed 175lbs was that I had to go taller to get the float and back then, it was unpopular to go wider and thicker. No one was doing it back in the early 90's. I was surfing bladey 6'4 surfboards. Sad actually, it sort of ruined my surfing in my 20's. Today, you have so many good groveler choices. The White went well for me and if I were back to 175, I'd likely go only a few inches taller but definitely way thicker. I definitely need to try more Pyzels though. I am interested in the Precious and their Wild Cat twin. But they aren't that popular so I don't see too many 2nd hand. :( Any way, thanks for the feed back. Cheers btw, what boards do you gravitate towards?

[@bsmbB]

​@ThomyeSurfs I like my mini ghost and my gremlin was good in a narrow range of conditions definitely a small wave board but not necessarily a true groveler imo. My friend loves his white tiger but he rides it larger volume then me he's 175 with a 35L not sure on dims I'm same weight but I stay around 30-32

[@Heximelt]

Thanks!

[@ThomyeSurfs]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I have to say that of all the different types of channels out there on youtube, surfing has the best viewers/subs. Cheers

[@Heximelt]

@@ThomyeSurfs keep up the great work!