Review: Badfish Shuvit

Summary: Every river surfer should have a board like the Badfish Shuvit in their quiver for waves that are tricky to catch.

I find big river waves like Glenwood, Springdale, and Pipeline can be frustrating to dial in. Hitting the wave at the right time and right spot with enough speed can be tricky. Having a board like the Badfish Shuvit makes learning these waves much easier even for an experienced river surfer.

For a beginner river surfer the Shuvit is a board that can catch waves easily, especially when there’s a foam pile involved. And with enough fin(s) the Shuvit is a stable platform making popups easier. I’ve seen a lot of brand new river surfers getting their first rides ever on the Shuvit.

At 3 inches thick and 45 liter of volume, the Shuvit works great in foamy, small and slow waves/holes. However I would be careful using it on shallow waves due to the fiberglass construction. If you’re looking for a board to primarily use on rocky, low water river features, I’d consider either an inflatable like the Badfish Wavo or a durable hard board like the Hydrus Blisscuit.

Although it can be used on shortboard waves like RRP and Salida, I don’t recommend it. If you’re an intermediate or better surfer, the Shuvit will be too big for you. Something less thick and wide would be a better choice (like the Lib Tech Puddle Jumper or Badfish Wave Farmer, among many others). If you’re a beginner and learning to surf on a shortboard wave, something durable will be a better choice (checkout the Catch Surf Stump and Badfish Bomb Drop).

If you’re an intermediate or better river surfer looking to surf bigger river waves, you should also consider the Lib Tech Freak Flag Bean Bag. I find it works well in similar big river wave situations as the Shuvit. The Shuvit will make quicker turns, but feels like it’s rotating around the fins more than rail carving. The Freak Flag Bean Bag makes slower turns, but does so more off the rails of the board in the form of long carves. However I don’t recommend the Freak Flag Bean Bag if you are a beginner river surfer or if you are mostly surfing smaller, foamy holes, in both these cases the Shuvit is a better board.

Badfish also offers the Snapper. It’s very similar to the Shuvit, but in a larger package. For me, at 160-ish lbs, the Shuvit feels like the ideal size and the Snapper feels waaaay to big. But I know that bigger surfers prefer the Snapper over the Shuvit.

If you’re into surfing big river waves like Glenwood, the Shuvit is a nice board to have. Waves like that change day to day as flows fluctuate. Learning and relearning the wave is easy to do on a board like the Shuvit. Or if you are learning to river surf for the first time, the Shuvit is a good choice as well… just avoid the rocks.