Review: Strongwater Runt 5′ Soft Top

Summary: The Strongwater Runt 5′ Soft Top is a great jack of all trades, master of none board for everything except small waves and holes. Continue reading for the full review…

If you surf a bunch of different spots or like exploring new river waves, it’s a good idea to bring a board like the Strongwater foamie Runt. I found this board was able to surf more waves than any other boards in my quiver. Combined with the fact that it’s super durable makes it a great choice for learning how to surf new waves. The downfall is that the foamie Runt was never my favorite board to surf on any wave.

The foamie Runt has enough speed and volume to catch and surf most large waves. It isn’t the fastest paddling board when you’re catching the wave from upstream, but it’s not too slow either. I found it made pretty good turns as well.

On adjustable shortboard waves, this board works pretty well. The durable foam construction is nice when learning to catch waves with acid drop or skate-on enterances. The volume is a little much for these fast and steep waves which makes the board feel a bit slow on the carves and snaps, but it’s not too bad.

Slow, small waves aren’t surfable on the foamie 5′ Runt. There is a 5’6″ version of the board that might work better, but I have yet to try it. These waves usually require a longer board, a higher volume board, or sometimes a SUP.

Foamy holes aren’t great to surf on the soft top Runt either, but sometimes you can make it work. The board usually doesn’t have enough volume to stay on these features. If you’re looking for a board that can surf holes well, take a look at the Badfish Wavo or the Hydrus Blisscuit.

On shortboard waves, the foamie Runt is great for beginners and intermediate river surfers. Advanced and expert level river surfers will probably want something with less volume. On large river waves, this board is best suited for intermediate or better surfers.

At $325, the foamie Runt is a little more expensive than most other foam boards. This extra cost can easily be seen in the end product. Constructed by INT Softboards, these are some of the highest quality foamies avaible. The foam is extra dense which makes the board more durable and the rails are hand finished for the best performance.

If you’re looking at the the foam version of the Runt, there’s a good chance you’re considering the epoxy version as well. Surprisingly the foam Runt often surfed better than the epoxy version of the board. The epoxy board surfed very well on a couple of waves, but on almost all others it surfed very poorly. The foamie Runt surfed decently at almost all waves.

It’s very hard to have a single board quiver for river surfing. Often times a board that surfs great on one river wave will be impossible to surf on another. The Strongwater Runt 5′ Soft Top does a good job being able to actually surf a lot of different waves. If you’re looking for a board that will surf lots of river waves and is durable, then this is a good choice. If you’re looking for the best board to surf your local spot, this board probably isn’t it.