Sanctum Box 'N dice

Delivered for $470 – I've bought many boards from Sanctum and I think they're great value and very good boards. Had two of the Switch which are great boards. Why spend a grand on an Al Merrick when you can have two of these? The Box and Dice was good as well just needed to buy the 6'5 not the 6'3. Will get one when they're back in stock.

Solid, medium wave all rounder – I ride a Box ‘n’ Dice 6’6”, 38.5L. I’m 30 years old, 100kg, a strong-intermediate surfer, been surfing 5 years and surf 5 days a week. This is a really solid board. The board gets four stars. First, the quality. This is the first question people tend to have with a ‘budget’ board. But honestly, I have zero problems with quality on this board. I have had it for over six months and surfed it a lot – must be at least 40/50 sessions – and there are only minor imprints on the deck. I copped a fin chop and had the board professionally repaired, the guy said he was really impressed with how thick the glass is (he didn’t know the brand). Apparently they use ‘S-cloth’ on their newer models which, according to the repair dude, is some of the more expensive and strong fiberglass you can buy, which is crazy given the price. I guess without any retailers that’s where they recuperate the cost. As a comparison I have a couple of much more expensive boards in my quiver – a 7s Salt Shaker in epoxy (global surf industries) and a DHD Black Diamond in PU. The Box ‘n’ Dice ids easily a more durable board than the 7s. Its much stronger and ding resistant – the 7s had serious foot depressions after 10 months and eventually creased badly. In terms of build quality, the Box ‘n’ Dice and the DHD are about equal, they probably use the same ‘S-cloth’ glass.

Second, the way it surfs. This is a really solid, well balanced performer. Its not a hard board to surf for an intermediate. Its got a forgiving but still nicely responsive round tail that, combined with the medium rails, holds really well off the bottom. I have surfed this board up to double overhead at powerful reef breaks in indo and it handled those conditions really well. To be honest I really liked the extra length, volume and the generally stable and ‘drivey’ feel and the confidence I had in the hold of the nice round tail in heavier conditions. It isn’t the easiest board to turn at the top of the wave however. I think that has something to do with how heavy the glass is and how long the board is generally: it has a fair amount of weight up front which make ‘snappy’ turns a little sluggish in my experience.

Compared to the more expensive boards in my quiver it lacks some of the ‘spark’ – the 7s is amazingly responsive under the back foot and the DHD is explosive under the front foot – and the Box ‘n’ Dice is neither of those. All that being said the Box ‘n’ Dice is a really solid, fun all round board – it does practically everything you want it to and is honestly a little easier to surf than both of the above. I think it’s a combination of the round tail with the way the foam is distributed, but the board has a really settled, confident feel to it. It’s not lackluster however, it’s certainly a performance all-rounder and with the double concave under the back foot and medium rocker/rails it gets on rail easily and provides good hold and drive through your turns. For me it’s a board that loves doing bigger turns on the open face. They market this as a groveler but, for me anyway, it’s too slow and too long for anything under waste high. It’s really more of a medium-bigger wave (2 to 6 foot) all-rounder for me.

To sum up, the box ‘n’ dice is a well-balanced, stable and easy to surf, medium wave all-rounder. It’s easy to get on rail, holds well through your turns but isn’t amazingly fast. This is a great board for an early intermediate looking to move up from a really short and wide board into more of a proper all round shape that will allow you to surf in bigger/better waves and start working on your turns. If you are a better surfer this is still a really fun board that is capable of providing plenty of smiles, but properly advanced surfers may want a little more spark. The build quality is really good, if not excellent. It’s better than boards which are literally twice the price. The value is literally off the charts, I got mine brand new for $450 on sale, and it came with a decent set of fiberglass fins. I really like my Box ‘n’ Dice and its actually more of a step up board for me at the moment. I’ve had some epic sessions on it and do not plan of getting rid of it.

Four star board, for the money five and a half.