Really keen on a hellfire but strugling for size

[timmy]

Hey guys, Name is Tim and I'm from Vic (Melbourne, Australia)

I am looking for a new DD (Daily Driver) and struggling to find something. Current quiver is Simon Anderson XFC 6'1x18 1/2x 2 3/8 (used for big days 4-6ft range dependent on wave type) and a lost Sub Scorcher 6'0x 19 1/2x 2.44 (bit to much volume but i got it brand new for $400 at a closing down sale and they didnt have a 5'11 which would of been better and its my groveler so the volume help on fat and slow days 1-4ft but starts to struggle with late drops at 4ft)

My stats are im 24 Y.O, 5'10 and 74kgs been surfing for 3-4 years, consider myself and intermediate to low intermediate
(surf 1-6ft waves ie, 13th Beacon, Juc, Bells, Flynns reef, Smiths, Forest caves / waves which tend to be ledgey fast and hollow to sometimes fat to powerful beachies dependent on tide, swell and wind)

was originally looking at a Alternator (still considering it) in 6'0 which is 28.7L according to the Firewire website which is the volume that works pretty well for me, although I've seen the response the hellfire has had and it gets me excited especially if it really goes as well as everyone says it does but i have the problem that there just isn't a size for me closest thing being a 5'10 which i feel is to small for me to feel comfortable on and i wouldn't be confident paddling something that small into bigger waves (3-4ft no worries but not any bigger) and it cant be CBD.

Ive ridden a 5'11 Taj in Bali (probably as small as i would want to go) and it was pretty sweet and loved how the firewire felt in the water although i dont always get to ride waves like they have very often so i need something with versatility + i already have the xfc for big point break/reef days

Opinions? Options? Advice? anything else you wanna lay on me

[prjwebb]

I'd say 511 HellRazor would fit you well. It's got the versatility to handle a pretty broad range or conditions thanks to the extra width and thicker tail but is still refined enough to surf full tilt in good waves.

[Piha Local]

Hi Tim, I have not ridden a Taj but I have ridden a Flexfire and currently ride a 6/4 Hellfire. I would think a 5/10 Hellfire will feel a lot bigger on the wave than a 5/11 Taj. Check the board compare section and the relative planing surface areas which I think will give a good idea of how much lift/support you are going to feel from the board once it is up and running on a wave. The Hellfire feels nice and loose, but with much less rocker than the Taj and more area in the tail it will be more consistent in its flow and more versatile through varying wave qualities. Coincidentally, I called a good friend of mine this afternoon to see what he was up to in Auckland NZ, [our home city] only to have him tell me he had just got out of the water at Jan Juc after a nice surf in 2-3 ft waves! Small world.

[timmy]

Piha thats crazy mate i was out there this arvo

such a shame that you cant CBD one and that they don't make a 5' 11 god knows why they make some models in 5 '11 but other models they dont?

6'0 has to much volume not sure if the hellfire is in store in aus yet to be able to throw a 5'10 under the arm although i highly doubt i would buy a 5'10 without demoing it and firewire demo's are as rare as rocking horse shit in vic

[indodreaming]

I live down Phillip island and ride a 5,10 hellfire mostly surf beachies between magic lands and Forrest caves, I'm about 5,8 about 75kg the board goes fine in the island waves ride it mostly as a quad, I ride my 6,3 flex fire (that is similar to a taj model) on better days.

Full circle surf shop stock Firewires but don't have many test boards and any they do have are in boat like dimens you can also order in any FW board they also normally have a few second hand FW boards, but mostly taj and flex fires, dominators.

[timmy]

the woolies store yer? been in there before and your on the money with the demo range being boats, what size waves you riding it in at the island?

starting to think about a stacey or chilli now hhhhmmmm

[Will.]

I'm with Phill, get the 5'11 hellrazor!

[Chris]

Yeah both the Razor and the Alternator are great options.

Keep in mind the Hellfire is a little more like a hybrid so if you go that route, remember it has a bit of a different feeling than your more traditional thruster short board.

Cheers!

[timmy]

i do like the Alt shape but from what i have read on here from opinions its more geared to wards the good days 4ft+ and clean only? how does the Razor compare? and how well will either board go in the 3-5 junk to the 4-6 clean and pumping

[prjwebb]

I'd say both boards would do well in anything a little over waist high up to 1.5x overhead as long as you're light on your feet. Bigger guys seem to prefer the Alt in bigger waves, for smaller guys its a fuller, more versatile shortboard.

[indodreaming]

the woolies store yer? been in there before and your on the money with the demo range being boats, what size waves you riding it in at the island?

starting to think about a stacey or chilli now hhhhmmmm

Yep the Woolies store, if your in there talk to the owner/shaper Russell he is the older guy about 50+, if theres a new van parked out the front he is about, extremely knowledgable about boards and design.

I surf my hellfire from knee high to overhead (basically as small a woolies gets to the days when its closing out and reforming) but board goes best IMO from waist to head high.

BTW. one good thing about FW boards is although there not cheap even if you decide after a few months you don't like the board and want to sell it generally there condition will still be near to new and you shouldn't lose much on resell.

[indodreaming]

BTW. for others giving comments 90% of our waves here in Victoria are peeling fat kind of waves both beaches and reefs (think bells style) lots of cutbacks rarely any sections for vert style surfing waves often end in deep water so often don't get an incoming section to hit.

When we do get hollow sections there normally just slab sections with fat sections straight after, waves where the shape of the sea floor seems very uneven, often with lots of chop from rips even on clean offshore days, we rarely get short clean hollow wedgy peaks or ruler edge long barrel sections with that nice even shape from start to finish, like indo waves or points on east coast of Australia can have.

Be interesting to hear what FW models do people think suit these kind of waves?

[Will.]

I havnt surfed the alt but I like the look of it. The hellfire iv surfed a fair bit but still havnt really clicked with it, iv surfed it in knee - double overhead and it is a nice board but I think it's too much foam for me and that's why Im not finding it anything special. As soon as I got on the hellrazor I clicked with it straight away. Iv surfed it in knee - headhigh so far,the HZ grovels supprisingly well, better than HF, found it paddled as well as the HF perhaps even better and it has less foam ,im guessing this is due to the slightly flatter double concave. It grovels great but comes into its own when the waves get to around head high, i found this is when the board really started to feel alive! HZ feels more refined, feels like a hpsb which can handle a wide variety of conditions. I think I'll probably end up getting rid of the HF and getting another hpsb such as the MB, Alt or flexfire. Although the spit and HZ would probably have me covered for everything. That's what I have to say anyway, I think the HZ would be your best bet for a daily driver it's a sick board.

[timmy]

now the question comes to HZ or ALT???? Alt i would go for the 6'0 28.6L OR HZ i would go 5'11 27.2L

i originally first wanted a ALT then i found out about the HF which got me real keen from the reviews now im down to ALT or HZ (or Chris be a good bloke and shape me a custom 5'11 HF :D )

whats going to grovel better when i want to ride a HPSB in choppy junk?

[prjwebb]

I'd give the not to the Hellrazor. Thicker tail and wider in the centre. Still refined enough for when the waves are good.

[steveo]

Timmy, I have the Hellfire 5 10 and i am the same height and weight as you and sounds like similar ability.I wear a 4/3 wetsuit here in tassie most of the time.For me the hellfire is now my everyday board (wouldnt mind a potatoenator though) it paddles well, is super fast and turns like a dream, this board is really starting to improve my surfing,i have it set up as a thruster with fcs al merrick am2s. I highly recommend it.

[timmy]

Steveo brother two hours to late!!! Picked up a 5'11 hell razor today for $550 yeewww cant wait to give it a crack although at 2 1/4 thick it scares the piss out of me that its a bit to thin... but i am a light weight so hopefully it rips for me, only down side is that it has futures fin box's and ive only ever run FCS so need to invest in new fins now, really hope this holds up in the big stuff bells was 6+on sets today and by plus i mean double overhead was very choppy though

[indodreaming]

Really I just got in from surfing woolys, pretty crap solid sets but would't have thought bells was that big, must be heaps of south in the swell.

BTW. looks like a good buy.

[timmy]

yer got a pretty big onshore and it was big but this was at 9.00am maybe 7ft at its biggest, had two brazilian tourist almost drown screaming for help so yer was full on, only got one though very choppy and got punted off my board as i headed down the line

[delmarsurfer]

timmy, how has the 5'11 Razor been going for you?
What are you thinking about the thickness after having ridden it?
Details...

[timmy]

haven't picked it up yet mate been away for work and wont be back until next week, but when i get it ill be sure to report in. Hoping for some good clean 3-4ft conditions on the day i pick it up

[timmy]

picked up my HR on friday and rode it yesterday (saturday) pretty impressed floats me really well at current 76kgs was tempted to change to a 6 '1 but glad i didnt scored clean 4-6ft waves at Forrest caves but unfortunately was frothing so much to get out i under waxed my board and my front foot kept slipping off, the board was easy enough to paddle but i could deferentially notice the reduced volume compared to my 1-4ft board, struggled to find my positioning and was quiet hesitant putting the board into the bigger sets as on the first few waves it really struggled to paddle on but i put that down to operator not equipment, once i found my sweet spot and caught a decent wave the only thought that crossed my mine it "fuck this thing is a jet" it flies never had so much speed on the drop as this thing jesus didnt have a bad session but wasnt good due to the lack of wax most wave only lasted 10 seconds before my front foot came unstuck.

took it out again in the arvo and absolutely waxed to the walls,went to a little beachie maybe 2ft waves and closing out. Board paddle onto wave pretty well but required a bit of extra gusto, couldnt really do much as waves just closed out in front of you or some little prick was just sitting in the way and made no effort to move (damn schoolies)

rode the board as a thruster all day with WCT's cant say to much about the combo other than felt pretty sweet only really got to pump down the line and pull of the back as the section in front was un-makeable and closing out, feel like in the smaller stuff it would really benefit from a good quad set up

all in all very happy with it and cant wait to get rid of my other pu boards for a all FW quiver

[iggy]

Yewww, thanks for the report Timmy, looks like you were having some fun out there!