Burton Panhandler 2018 Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 152
Days:  1
Conditions:  soft, wet snow that was better than we thought.
Riders: James, Jimbo, Tim, Peter
Boots: Burton Almighty, Adidas Tactical ADV
Bindings: Burton Genesis
Set Up:  Set back a bit, but not a ton.  22.5″ wide, 18 front -6 back

Our Recommended Boots:  Adidas Tactical ADV, Burton Imperial, Burton Ion,
Our Recommended Bindings: Union Atlas, Burton Genesis,  Burton Genesis X, Burton Cartel, Union Force, Salomon Hologram, Now Pilot

Approximate Weight

Felt light until you factor in you are on a size 152, then you would say oh, it’s normal for its size.

Flex

Pretty medium-ish flex that butters pretty well and feels like what you need for a powder board.  Not too stiff and not too soft.

Sizing

The 152 felt good for Peter and me at sizes 8.5 and 9. We could do the 156, too, but it felt like it rode big enough and synced up well, turning with our feet, which is always more important than height and weight.  The 156 would for sure be better for our size 11ish friends Tim and Jimbo. With the old Mod-Fish the 156 was the call for Peter and I but now with the new short fatty specs, the 152 would be a much better call for us.

On Snow Feel

The Burton Panhandler is very true to the personality of flat-to-rocker profiles like this.  It’s a nice, stable, and catch-free ride.  It’s made for powder, but it’s easy to one foot off the chair and flat base down long cat tracks.

Edge Hold

Not much going on.  We didn’t get to do much hard snow testing with the Burton Panhandler, but this isn’t made for hard snow days.  It’s only important here and there, like in windy mountains, when you need to traverse some icy shit that’s blown off at the top to get to the deep stuff a little bit below.  Be prepared to have the edge want to skid out underneath your feet in those situations.

Turn Initiation

The Burton Panhandler is a very good turner for us, and it was pretty quick for how fat it was.  We felt the 152 was a much faster board edge-to-edge compared to the old Mod Fish 156 I owned.  Peter and I could dart in and out of trees with the 152, but with the 156, we would have to be a little more careful about how to approach tighter spots.

Turning Experience

The Burton Panhandler feels like a grubby miner or as Peter thought a dirt twirler trying to rally money to get to the next show when compared to the strong poppy feel you can get from almost all directional camber rides at Burton. You can go out and make some good turns, but 10 times out of 10, I’d rather be on a board like the Dump Truck or Skeleton Key over this.

Carving

Super boring.  It can carve in soft snow and look good, but the feeling just isn’t there compared to Burton’s directional camber.  When it comes to turning and carving, it’s best just to leave the Burton Panhandler at home and save it for a powder day.

Skidded Turns

The Burton Panhandler’s flat-to-rocker profile is super easy to skid a turn.  It’s fine when you get off your game and need to skid out.  You can still catch an edge if you are out of control enough but it’s a far cry from the camber days.

Speed

Decent but not great speed. All you need for surfing powder.

Uneven Terrain

We all would be fine weaving out of bumps to get to some good stuff as long as we had the right size board.

Powder

Now, we didn’t get in the deep-deep with the Burton Panhandler, but I did with the Mod-Fish 156, and that’s what this board replaced.  The 56 Mod-Fish could float all day no matter how deep.  I personally think this will be a touch better, but both are super great cruisey, super deep powder surfers.  Rocker in the really big nose, a big setback on sidecut as well as board, and a very tapered tail make this float well.  It has less setback on the sidecut than the Mod-Fish (-35mm vs. -50mm), but it seems like it’s about the same setback on board, which is what really counts. The 152 has a lot of surface area compared to the old Mod-Fish and Peter and I would be fine on this.

Buttering

It’s doable for sure, and if you like to butter off the tail or nose, you can.

Switch

Not very good.

Jibbing

Doable…..I guess.

Pipe

Not ideal.

Jumps

The flat camber off the tail does make for decent pop, but we like that more loaded feel that Directional Camber boards from Burton offer.

So, all in all, we like the Panhandler and it does what it should well.  Just don’t get this thinking it’s more than just a powder board. If you realize it’s just a snow surfer in powder, then you will probably be pretty happy with this ride. It’s a fun powder short fatty.