6 Years Later, Dane Reynolds Retests His Electric Acid “Swiss Army Knife”

“I still don’t understand the role of the Neck Beard in this project,” Dane said, “a thruster is just the Swiss army knife of surfboards.

In 2018, Stab produced The Electric Acid Surfboard Test with Dane Reynolds — our first psychedelic experiment and, in the words of Stab co-founder Sam McIntosh, our best.

Filmed in his beloved Salina Cruz region of Oaxaca, Dane was characteristically critical, witty, and articulate about what he liked and disliked about each board. He also made it clear that he didn’t completely know the point of the project, and maybe we don’t either — it is, after all, a far cry from the clear, calculated, and quasi-objective Stab in the Dark.

Ultimately, the Swiss blade (a variation of a Dumpster Diver that Channel Islands made specifically for this project) Dane rides in this clip, served as a sort of control in the flawed scientific method that is Electric Acid — a reminder to Dane of what a normal-ish board should feel like as he tested asyms, mid-lengths, and other mind-altering equipment.

In the end, it was an asymmetrical Ryan Burch-shaped Pickle-Fork twin-fin that aroused Dane the most.

But, this latest Chapter 11 clips reminds us a few things — Ventura gets fun, we should give old boards new tries, and 2024 Dane Reynolds is still on my list of favorite surfers.