Battle Of The Boards - Neck Beard 3 vs Phantom

It is back! The return of Boardshop’s Battle Of The Boards and we are starting off with a bang!

In this round of the Battle Of The Boards from Boardshop pits the brain child of Channel Islands Surfboards and Dane Reynolds, the all new Neck Beard 3 against the classic, quintessential daily driver from Jon Pyzel, and his Phantom model.

We will be pitting boards against each other and scoring them out of 5 in brackets that will break down the boards strengths and weaknesses to give an overview of which models will do what better than the other. We will be judging; 

Boardshop’s team have wasted no time at all getting the Neckbeard 3 in the waves and testing it, while the Phantom has been a long time go to, so we know both boards really well now.
So, lets waste no more time, time to get into the boards and then the scoring.

First up, the board that has seen more tails then Ian and Roger combined, the Channel Islands NeckBeard 3! The latest iteration from the ground breaking cut off square tail that was the Neckbeard and Neckbeard II.

They have not changed the board at all, other than taking the raw cut off tail and replacing this with a round tail. Why you ask, mainly control. The Neckbeard II quickly became a board highlights for airs or raw, fast turns, but it had issues with linking manoeuvres and carrying from transitions.

Channel Island's Neck Beard III

The round tail adds control and a silky smooth feel to the board, so you can link your turns together and get a more consistent and reliable feel. When you look at the board and pick it up, it is very Hayden Shapes Hypto Krypto-esk , and I can say, if you liked the Hypto, we found the NB3 to be as good, if not a touch better!

Being pitted against the new CI, is a modern day classic, and Pyzel’s Phantom board is THE go to daily driver for a board you can trust fully.

 Pyzel's Phantom

A friendly entry rocker, with single concave centrally, then working to a subtle double concave paired with a squash tail, all adds up to a board that packs in plenty of performance, you can push this board hard, but it keeps an air of ease and the paddling speed is one of the best for a board of this ilk.
Hard not to love this board.

Now, what are the scores on the doors:

Paddle Speed

Paddling these two boards you get a glide and ease when stroking out the back, duck diving the boards was as easy as they come and for boards of this style and design, both get moving quickly and really there was nothing between them. A solid 4/5 for the two.

Neck Beard 3 - 4/5

Phantom - 4/5

Wave Catching Ability

Sharing similar rocker and volume distribution enables both models to catch waves earlier than most other performance boards, we found both scratched into smaller thigh high waves well and also got us in early on bigger 5-6ft days to. Boring maybe, but both scored 4/5 again.

Neck Beard 3 - 4/5

Phantom - 4/5

Pyzel's Phantom

Manoeuvrability

Boards like this need to be able to turn well, hold rail and drive through manoeuvres. They both meet this and exceed this need and so much more. The NB3 feels so good when you hold a rail through a turn and then rap it back around, we did find it was a touch harder to get it towards 12 o’clock, whereas the squash tail on the Phantom gave the board a touch more release and spark on a harder, snapping top turn. For this, the Pyzel edges this and scored 4.5/5 vs the NB3 getting a 4/5. 

Neck Beard 3 - 4/5

Phantom - 4.5/5

Speed

Scoring this was easy, but needs clearing up. In black and white, the Phantom is faster down the line and through turns but the NB3 is controlled, so the speed is balanced and feels great in and out of manoeuvres, but the round tail just holds a touch more, so it does lose a touch of speed.

Neck Beard 3 - 3.5/5

Phantom - 4/5

Channel Island's Neck Beard III

Fun Factor

Both are undeniably fun, hard to split these boards when it comes down to a lot of these scoring factors and the fun factor is another that they are matched. They can just do it all! You can paddle out in a wide range of waves and really push and progress your surfing.

Neck Beard 3 - 4/5

Phantom - 4/5

Result
Yes the Phantom takes the win, but these boards are both daily drivers, that fit in any quiver. Riders from anyone half decent up to expert can grab one of these and start to shred. We have three of the staff riding the Phantom and two who have taken the NB3 and made it their go to board now.
Try either for yourself and you will not regret this.

Check out the full range of Pyzel Phantom’s and Channel Islands Neckbeard 3’s in store right now by clicking on the images and decide for yourself!

Watch the Battle Of The Boards on YouTube!