NMD boards are made by Mez in indo, in the same factory that produces VS, LMNOP, HB, SCIENCE, SNIPER, some TOYS, some TURBO, MOREY, BZ, ELIT and even more brands… They’re all really good boards with a solid construction (Buzz Tech Laminators), CNC Machine precision for the cut of the core blanks, and hand shaped finitions for all boards (rails, nose and tail bumpers, nose bulbs & lamination process).
We’ve tested the NMD Ben Player 41.5 PE board in a wide range of conditions and waves. To be honest it’s the board we’ve tested the longer and the better, simply because it felt good right from the beginning and it still feels good today as we write this. Nope, we havent given the board back, we’ll keep it. Click below to read the full test.
The template is relatively narrow and straight but less then the VS Hardy or the VS Rawlins. It’s got a little more of a curvy template while still being straight. The curve from the tail to the nose is gentle and well balanced. There’s nothing extreme about this board. It’s not extremely narrow nor wide, the nose is not extremely narrow nor wide and the tail is the same way: the whole board is well balanced with smooth curves and easy to use dimensions.
As a result the board has a fair and easy behavior, it’s not tricky at all, the rails feel good and your elbow sits well on the board, the rail to rail turns are made easy, the deep and wider curves feel soft and easy to make, the 360’s and off the lip tricks feel like they’re accessible, the control in and around the pocket feels good and mostly important of all: the board is fun to ride and everytime you try something on it, it’s asking for more. It’s quite tolerant and it feels like it offers endless possibilities.
From 1 foot shit to 6 feet perfect indo waves the NMD Ben Player PE board felt good and we felt in control the whole time. It’s got mesh and a stringer which made it work really well in cold to cool waters. In warmer waters like info the PE might be slightly too soft maybe but the board was almost new when you tested it in indo so it was fine. Now that it’s older and has ridden quite a few times it feels a little bit too flexy or soft in warm waters over 22°C so we recommend riding PE boards from cold to cool conditions (20°C or 22°C max.)
We tested the 41.5 size. For dropknee, would wanna know if you can still dk with this board ? Well, for dropknee it’s not that great but it’s still ok for a couple waves each session. We would ride 42 or 42.25 (or even 42.5) for DK usually so 41.5 feels a bit small for DK and the template of the Player board isn’t really made for DK as you might have guessed. If you’re looking for a polyvalent board don’t choose a Player board.
For prone this board is simply awesome, easy and fun to ride. It’s the best board we’ve tested for prone from all the test boards we’ve ridden. How does it compare next to the VS boards we’ve tested ? The VS felt more like specialized for one thing: hollow waves whereas the Player is an all around good shape which works pretty much everywhere in any conditions.
