The next logical step building the Firewire quiver after the Dominator

[Slowman]

The FST Dominator is the first Firewire board I've ever owned and after getting it to work and surfing it a bit I like it and I like the FST feel, especially for travel - lighter and stronger, what's not to like? I get the feeling I still want another higher performance board to complement it. For a while I was thinking of getting a Spitfire but I think the Hellfire is probably it as I think there would be too much overlap between the Dom and the Spit and probably not much extra reach, whereas the Hellfire still has some overlap but probably gives you more reach into bigger and better waves of quality and consequence - at least that is what I think I'm hearing from the reviews. What do others think?

[hwork50]

I am in the same situation as you, I have a Dominator(6'2" probably could go 6'0") and just bought a used Hellfire (6'2"). I am going to sell a futura (6'2'") that I have and want to get a Sweet Potato. That way I will have the whole range covered. At least that is the goal.

[iggy]

Basically the spitfire is a higher performance dominator due to the tail. Is the exact same board from the front fins up as the dominator.
Hellfire is a healthy choice. Still on the hybrid department with more rocker and a thinner nose. I love my 6'0" for better conditions.Fits nicely on late takeoffs
The quadra5 could be another interesting option to consider as well.
I've tried the lost Stealth and was pleasantly surprised.Very responsive, stable, and fun to ride.If you have the chance to try one please do!!!

[core personal training]

hellfire...hellfire..hellfire..........this message brought to you by the Nev Hyman school of thought........

[Slowman]

hellfire...hellfire..hellfire..........this message brought to you by the Nev Hyman school of thought........
After reading your review, I thought you might say as much!

[iggy]

jejejejee

[core personal training]

my stock answers to every surfing problem are...
hellfire...hellfire...hellfire...
6'2 flexfire...6'2 flexfire...6'2 flexfire... or
more rocker...more rocker...more rocker...

but this could soon be augmented by....

hellrazor...hellrazor...hellrazor...
spartan...spartan...spartan...

[Chris]

yeah all good options. the next board is obviously going to be a function of the waves you are after. I think the dom and potato are a good combo as is the dominator and alternator.....just depends.

[buzzy]

I have the Dom and Alt and they seem to compliment each other really well. The Dom works perfectly up to around the wave height that the Alt comes into play, and you surf them in much the same way.

[Slowman]

I plan to ride the Dom in 1' to 6' and this next board will be say from 3' to 8'+, from 6' to10' I have an Aloha AF2 SLX.

BTW, does the Hellfire FST come with FCS plugs?

[core personal training]

whatever plugs you want..."3 to 8 ft"..i assume you mean face height here..?? not island style?

[prjwebb]

Can be ordered with either plugs.

[Slowman]

whatever plugs you want..."3 to 8 ft"..i assume you mean face height here..?? not island style?
I have no idea anymore! 8' to me is 1.5 overhead, I guess if the wave face is 10' I'd call it 8' I guess to eliminate the shallow curve at the base of the wave. Approximately from beginning of the knee in the curve of the wave face, I guess from where the slope of the tangent would be 30 degrees, if that makes sense. It's not island style but it is not trough to peak either - I learned this way from when I was a kid. Probably best described as from that point where the wave starts to stand up.

[core personal training]

i'm old school..(or just old??)...i suppose that's island style...basically understate the size, and its more a perception of conditions...not purely heights, which are impossible to judge anyway... eg.. head high is 2-3 or maybe 4 foot depending on how heavy it is...and how hard it swatted me...!!!....or what board i'm on...how much i kooked out...or how many times i............you get the picture.... :)

[buzzy]

In Australia at least 3 foot is head high, 6 foot is 2x overhead etc. stupid system IMHO. That's why I mostly describe height with reference to the body ( eg waist high, 2x head high, etc).

[Ben]

Yes, my friends here i Brazil always talks about the height on the backside of the wave, kind of confusing too, so when its like 2 meters, is 2xhead high....quite funny sometimes when you arrive at the beach to discover its massive....

Buzz, you write that the Dom and Alt is complimenting well, great, I am aiming to get the same comb in 4-5 weeks, I am though still in doubt about what volume to get...how is the alt working for you in head to 2x head high, as I understood you weigh less then me. Im 95 kgs. the more I read the more I am leaning towards the 604 Dom and 608 Alt....however my friends kind of continue to say that a 608 is too big for beach breaks???... head high... Its kind of confusing for me this discussion about length vs volume....BUt I just dont see how I can ever come down to at 600 or 602 regular shortboard unless I get to 80 kgs...

cheers

[buzzy]

Ben, the Alt works absolutely great for me in 2x head high. I haven't had any skipping or times where I've felt out of control. I will, however, be getting a 6'6" Alt at some point before winter as 6'6" has been my favoured length the past 6 or so years, and I figure if it paddles fine it'd be a better board for days where it's quite hollow. That has nothing to do with the length, and more to do with reducing a little bit of volume.

A 6'8" board is perfectly surfable at a beach break! I'm not sure why your mates say that. I have surfed the Alt in as small surf as waist high and it went fine. I certainly didn't notice any excess length in waves that small. The reality is though you won't be using an Alt in really small surf...you'd be using it in around head high plus. It'd be fine for that.

One thing to bear in mind with the firewires is they are light so you can throw them around a lot easier than a heavier PU board. That means the board surf "smaller" than a similar lebgth PU board.

I honestly think you could go either of a 6'2" and 6'4" in a Dom or 6'6" and 6'8" in an Alt. At your weight I reckon the 6'4 Dom and the 6'8Alt are the safer bet, but it is more sensible I think to stagger the purchases. I'd suggest getting a 6'4" Dom to start off with. You'd surf that board much more frequently than the Alt. If you discover you're overfoamed at that length(which would be marginal anyway) the board would still be absolutely great for smaller days. That would then give you more precise guidance for volume for the Alt. If you feel you could go down in volume get the 6'6". If you think it's perfect go the 6'8".

I took the Dom for a surf on Saturday expecting 2 foot (ie chest to shoulder high) surf and got surf head high to head high + (ie 3-4 foot),and quite hollow. The Dom surfed that fine. My point here is that the Dom will be quite a versatile board as a one board quiver as you work out your favoured volume.

[Ben]

Buzz, thanks for the advice, makes sense to try out the 604 Dom initially, I will have a couple of days to test the 602 and 604 Dom, four weeks from now. If I feel that the 602 has too little volume compared to the blackbox and dont give the flotation I was looking or, I will go for the 604, and afterwards get the Alt in corresponding volume.

Realistically it rarely becomes overhead around here, so the 604 will likely be more useful and as you say more safe from where I am with my surfing right now. I am looking forward to get my hands on the FW boards to feel the lightness of these rockets, makes sense about the weight and ease to move less mass around easier.

This about length, its kind of a trend around here, shorter is better, skateboard style....however you see alot of these guys kind of 'under foamed' sitting deep upto their shoulders on their custom sledges. One of my other surf friends is kind of more 'old school' his weight is around 72 kgs and he surf a traditional 602 and a 608 step-up, both PU customs, the 608 when it becomes overhead, we were discussing why some of the local guys are so keen on this short stuff, we kind of agreed its also because the waves at the local beach 'Praia Brava' are fast and you never get the chance to make more then 1-2 turns and its over, the waves stands up very fast so when you goes for the cutback, the lip is very thing and many times already breaks before you reach the top and you are kind of pushed out from the wave, so turns in the pocket is kind of snappy and not very arching, like a non complete turns, and thats maybe why many guys around here like the shorter boards so it can be moved around very fast. Anyway, I am no expert and in a few weeks Ill be more knowledge about the FW boards.

PS: whats your weight these days?

Cheers

[buzzy]

I haven't weighed myself recently but I'd think I'm somewhere in a range of 89-91 kg.

I definitely agree with you on the underfoamed thing. I went for a pre-work surf this morning in knee to waist high, gutless surf. There were a lot of guys on shortboards in the fashionable lengths and volumes who would paddle, take off in the white wash and stay there, or if they managed to get on the face they'd wiggle one turn and that'd be it. Now, I surfed pretty bad myself but at least I was (mostly) doing proper turns.

So yeah, maybe there is something to the full arc vs flicky turn. If it's not a full blooded turn I personally couldn't be bothered.

[Ulle]

Got to say I found my perfect quiver with Dom 5.10 and Alt 6.2 at the start and then I just bought Sweet potato 5.2 and I love it:-)

[iggy]

now you're complete...well wait and see this year's models. I might to sell one of my boards to get my hands onto an ACTIVATOR model ;)
Well I guess I'll wait until July to have an excuse jejeje

[Slowman]

i'm old school..(or just old??)...i suppose that's island style...basically understate the size, and its more a perception of conditions...not purely heights, which are impossible to judge anyway... eg.. head high is 2-3 or maybe 4 foot depending on how heavy it is...and how hard it swatted me...!!!....or what board i'm on...how much i kooked out...or how many times i............you get the picture.... :)

In Australia at least 3 foot is head high, 6 foot is 2x overhead etc. stupid system IMHO. That's why I mostly describe height with reference to the body ( eg waist high, 2x head high, etc).

Yes, my friends here i Brazil always talks about the height on the backside of the wave, kind of confusing too, so when its like 2 meters, is 2xhead high....quite funny sometimes when you arrive at the beach to discover its massive...
Yes imagine what 2' at Teahupoo means. Backside wave height measurement is inadequate (even at places like Voodoo on occasion), I prefer the old yardstick of roughly 2/3 to 4/5 of wave face height which is what everyone used in Sydney at least ...a long time ago. I think I'll call it by wave face height from now on, I'll only get it wrong if I exaggerate!

My Hellfire apparently has made a round trip back to QLD, sent to the wrong shop...maybe next week I'll have it (I am repenting now for the levity in the signature line:-).

[iggy]

Jesus is coming...look busy jajajajaaj!!!!!
Buddy believe me it's worth the waiting!!!!. That board is insanely good!!!.Hold tight, it's coming!!!
I get confused myself sometimes. 2ft, 5ft...from where??? the front?? the back???. Like better the corporal height chart (head high,waist high etc), gives you a more visual idea

[core personal training]

voodoo...have not surfed it for yonks...gettin old now...not sure i want to..!!

hey iggy, how the hell can you measure your wave..???????....how many km's/per hour the river flows i suppose..!! :)