How long have you been on firewire boards?

[kdropin]

Been riding them since around 2005 i think maybe earlier???. i kinda lost track.. i know i have a first gen alternator. so whenever firewire made that first gen thats what i've been riding.. seems like ages since i first saw the boards and was sold on them immediately. still remember my first session on it as well.. first turn i was like what the f@ck was that! so stoked!!

[buzzy]

2-3 years since I first bought my Alternator I guess, but at that time I rode it less than some other boards I have. I've been riding the Firewires predominantly over the last 12 months or so.

[iggy]

Remember the first generation, too flex. Remember that episode of FIRST HAND where they shipped with no boardbag or anything and they came intact. On the same episode Nev putting the board upside down on the floor and bouncing on it... nothing, nada niente!!

[saxman1]

I have been on mine for 4 years. I got a quadraflex in 2008 and then a Dominator in 2010. The Dom still looks new and the Quadraflex is yellow but it still surfs great.

[surferireland]

Remember my first session on my 6'2 Dom, coming from riding a 6'8 which i considered short, I thought this could be a big mistake, the only mistake was I should have done this years ago! - Now ride a 5'10 Dom - I rule!!!!

[core personal training]

ever since Nev stopped shaping me "Nev's"...and a few of those over the years had new ideas/tech mixed in too...

[Slowman]

Only about 2 months! I bought my first FW, a 6'0 dom and still had to wait a month to surf it. Surgeon gave me the go ahead 9th December last year been on them since then.

[STC67]

12 months, 2 boards and looking at a third :)

[Fazza]

6 months.....sold all my PU boards and change over to Firewire and Future fins....best move i reckon.

I never liked firewire boards before I actually tried them out for myself rather than listen to shapers that bag them to pieces (probably because they can't sell them).......I love the boards, the technology and can't go back to a PU board now.

I think i have become a Firewire Junkie as i will have 5 Firewire's once my Hellrazor and Potatonator arrive :)

[Chris]

great stuff guys!! really stoked to have all of you on board.

No matter what happens in the future with board technology, I think everyone who has had the open-mindedness to experiment with our boards, or any of the new epoxy boards to hit the market in the last few years, should proudly consider themselves part of the first wave of new tech adopters. In 10 years, the market will widen even further and it will all be because people were willing to try new stuff. stoked!!!

[Chris]

also I tried Firewire back in 2008 or so while living in new england and working at surf shop out there. Met the guys at ASR in San Diego, tried the boards and was hooked. Haven't owned a PU since then. Will never go back even if I get fired, HA!

[core personal training]

Chris just secured another term in office...

[Slowman]

great stuff guys!! really stoked to have all of you on board.

No matter what happens in the future with board technology, I think everyone who has had the open-mindedness to experiment with our boards, or any of the new epoxy boards to hit the market in the last few years, should proudly consider themselves part of the first wave of new tech adopters. In 10 years, the market will widen even further and it will all be because people were willing to try new stuff. stoked!!!
I'll make a little prediction, the PU sector of the market will shrink to what will be considered a niche market. Even my local shaper is doing epoxy and carbon fibre flex (similar concept to the FW's balsa parabolic rails). It seems more local shapers are following this trend and offering the choice of PU or EPS tech, thus validating the newer technologies and gaining them wider acceptance. With the advantages that they offer who is going to choose heavier more fragile PU anymore? It is still perhaps a good medium for experimenting with new shapes as I think it is a little easier to hand shape, for those that still do - another area that is changing too, with its own contentious emotional debate I'm sure. Hand shaping or machine shaping, they are just methods, it is the design that is important to me.

For me FW was my next step after Tuflite - which I gravitated to for its advantages for travel (lighter stronger). It is still as much about the designs as the technology though, if Nev's designs weren't as good as they are, I might not be here.

[buzzy]

I reckon there's definitely a role for local shapers including with epoxy boards, even with traditional foam. The major downside for the trad shaper as I see it is you are still left with a traditional stringer. There's a few guys, including the guy who does my standard boards, who are so caught up in the traditional craftsmanship I don't know if they'll look at parabolic rails/epoxy etc. I don't include EPS foam there as to my mind that's the least important of the developments (albeit lighter). EPS does come with a downside in terms of managing dings immediately. But I reckon you'll see glassing houses getting better with epoxy. You see it already. And if a local guy with low overheads and high skills can sell you a custom shape for $750 with the durability of epoxy with relatively low weight then I reckon they'll still compete. I reckon though the days of traditional PU shapes hand shaped in big factories in Australia (and the US) to sit on surf shop racks is dead.

[Fritzkat]

18 months now, Started with the 6-4 Dominator in 2010, Then the 6-6 Quadra - 5 , then the 6-4 Hell Fire. I also sold most all my PU boards and change over to Firewire and Future fins. I save a couple of PU swap out boards for ding repair time and I have one on another Island Oahu at my brothers house, (he shaped them).

[Chris]

stoked on the good words everyone!!

[Slowman]

... EPS does come with a downside in terms of managing dings immediately. ...
The next generation of foam is coming along: IXPS, it's EPS but with closed cells and low void space. As I understand it the reason EPS will absorb water is because between the closed cells of foam there is space where the water seeps in. By using a better blowing process and eliminating the void between the cells they are solving the problem. I have an epoxy board with IXPS and it got dinged and didn't appear to absorb any water before I got around to fixing it.

[hwork50]

My pleasure Chris as it has made me a better surfer as I age!

To answer the original question I think it has been since 2007-8 as I had a Futura, old style, and then got a DOM, and then got a Flexfire, and then got a SP, and now I have the Hellfire. I am totally hooked, although I must admit I need to surf more. Once a week is not really cutting it.

[buzzy]

The next generation of foam is coming along: IXPS, it's EPS but with closed cells and low void space. As I understand it the reason EPS will absorb water is because between the closed cells of foam there is space where the water seeps in. By using a better blowing process and eliminating the void between the cells they are solving the problem. I have an epoxy board with IXPS and it got dinged and didn't appear to absorb any water before I got around to fixing it.

I look forward to that for sure.

Chris, is there any word if/when Firewire will incorporate IXPS in its boards? Or is it happening already?

[Chris]

The R&D guys have looked into it, but there is stuff in the pipeline that has our current focus. It doesn't mean we'll never work with it, but right now we aren't. Great heads up though and killer stuff!

Cheers!

[iggy]

The R&D guys have looked into it, but there is stuff in the pipeline that has our current focus. It doesn't mean we'll never work with it, but right now we aren't. Great heads up though and killer stuff!

Cheers!

Stuff in the pipeline???? hummm