One board quiver

[Wandi]

In this age of extensive quivers, High performance boards, hybrids, fishes etc
If you could ride only one board for the next year what would it be?
Hard one isn't it
I think I would choose my 5'10 Hell

[iggy]

Agreed on my part

[prjwebb]

My 508 Sub has been a good 1 board quiver for the last 5 months or something. Not ideal in all conditions but it's been working.
I think if I was going to pick one it'd either be the 600 x 18.75" x 2.38" Michel Bouzez or the 511 Hell Razor. I'd like to add 1/16 thickness to the HellRazor though if it was going to be my only board.

[saxman1]

For me it has been my 5'8" Dominator. I only use my quadraflex when it is really good and I only use my fish when it is really really bad. If I had a hellfire or razor maybe it would be one of those.

[saxman1]

Keep in mind that I surf trestles 90% of the time and I stay away from lowers. I surf lowers probably 3 or 4 times a year. Middles, Uppers and Church can all get as good or better than lowers in the right conditions.

[hwork50]

I second that on the Dominator, although I think if I had to pick it would be a 6'0" Spitfire. I don't own one but my Dom. has been so good to me that Spitfire can only make things better.

[Slowman]

Yeah the hellfire is good but I want to try the spitfire I think it will cover more just going by chito's reviews. Maybe a custom spit with a slightly narrower nose and I reckon it will cover from ankle snappers to nearly double overhead.

[prjwebb]

The Spitfire's weakness for me is the low entry rocker and a bit too much volume in the tail. I don't have the leg strength to boss that thing around and my lazy paddling means I'm usually taking off pretty late. I couldn't imagine riding it in nearly double overhead conditions. I think the Hellrazor and Hellfire would combat these weakness for me and because I'm a little lighter on my feet I think it'd work in the Spitfire conditions also.
I guess for a slightly bigger guy the opposite could be said, in conditions where I'm over-foamed on a Spitfire, they have the power and weight to muscle the board and keep control in more critical sections, but in smaller days where the Hellfire would still work for me, they need the extra foam from the Spitfire.

[hwork50]

I am all legs, so it would work for me. I have a 6'2" hellfire and I still prefer my DOM for the mushy stuff around here. Have not had a good enough day to take it out. Cannot wait!

[buzzy]

If I had just one board I suspect it'd be the Hellfire.

[Slowman]

The Spitfire's weakness for me is the low entry rocker and a bit too much volume in the tail. I don't have the leg strength to boss that thing around and my lazy paddling means I'm usually taking off pretty late. I couldn't imagine riding it in nearly double overhead conditions. I think the Hellrazor and Hellfire would combat these weakness for me and because I'm a little lighter on my feet I think it'd work in the Spitfire conditions also.
I guess for a slightly bigger guy the opposite could be said, in conditions where I'm over-foamed on a Spitfire, they have the power and weight to muscle the board and keep control in more critical sections, but in smaller days where the Hellfire would still work for me, they need the extra foam from the Spitfire.
That pretty much sums it up for me, though I don't have a spit. I've had my dom out in solid surf a couple of times before I received the hellfire and it was ok so I expect the spit with its tail will have even more more bite and won't need to be nursed quite as much. In fact I have plans of using a spit to replace my one board quiver that I have at my in-laws up in the tropics.

[core personal training]

510HF or 602 x 18 3/4 x 2 1/2 flexfire if i want to be conventional or knew i'd be in serious waves more often...either tho....or maybe my upcoming 602 x 2 11/16MB will cross over both of them???????????....i'll know soon enough

[Chris]

I think I am an Alternator guy.

[Wandi]

Looks like the Sub mini could be the one board quiver by the sound of things
Lots of people frothing on this one

[csarqui]

If I was forced, I would go with my Spitfire. It's pretty much all I ride anyway. Everything else that I try is just to mix it up and keep things interesting. I have swapped with 2 friends in the water and they said that they couldn't turn it (in bigger waves). No problem for me though. The Hellfire looks like the Spitfire but it doesn't ride anything like it. I would compare it to a CI Flyer which has a very different outline. It wasn't for me.

[Slowman]

Yeah the hellfire is good but I want to try the spitfire I think it will cover more just going by chito's reviews. Maybe a custom spit with a slightly narrower nose and I reckon it will cover from ankle snappers to nearly double overhead.


The Spitfire's weakness for me is the low entry rocker and a bit too much volume in the tail. I don't have the leg strength to boss that thing around and my lazy paddling means I'm usually taking off pretty late. I couldn't imagine riding it in nearly double overhead conditions. I think the Hellrazor and Hellfire would combat these weakness for me and because I'm a little lighter on my feet I think it'd work in the Spitfire conditions also.
I guess for a slightly bigger guy the opposite could be said, in conditions where I'm over-foamed on a Spitfire, they have the power and weight to muscle the board and keep control in more critical sections, but in smaller days where the Hellfire would still work for me, they need the extra foam from the Spitfire.

That pretty much sums it up for me, though I don't have a spit. I've had my dom out in solid surf a couple of times before I received the hellfire and it was ok so I expect the spit with its tail will have even more more bite and won't need to be nursed quite as much. In fact I have plans of using a spit to replace my one board quiver that I have at my in-laws up in the tropics.

Since writing the above I have acquired a spitfire, for a few months now, and I've decided the Hellfire is it. I am in the process of purchasing another one now...well it hasn't arrived yet to my other home (my wife's really), so I'm here without it! Fingers crossed it comes soon and before the next typhoon. I've found the HF quite versatile and can handle the steeper hollower waves nicely and yet still goes OK in slop and small stuff but it lacks the paddle power of the spit. But I suppose I'm glad to trade that for that extra range of wave types. The spit does become a challenge when it starts to get hollow, the take off has to be angled more to avoid too much of a drop. As I said before a CBD spit with a slightly narrower nose but maybe some more rocker in the nose too.

[buzzy]

Too right about the low nose rocker. You do need to take off at an angle in bigger waves on the Dom if it's throwing. If you get boxed in and have to go dead straight on takeoff a nose dive is, for me, a real chance.

I reckon for East Coast non-super bank type conditions the Alt, Hellfire and Futura would be the obvious candidates for a one board quiver. I think I'd choose the Alt of that lot but it definitely wouldn't work as well as the other two in belly waist high waves. Then again the Hellfire would cover a greater % of days. That's why at least a two board quiver is the way to go.

[Chris]

i concur buzzy!!!

Good stuff!

[benny81]

So thinking of swaping my boards around to get a one board quiver. Sold my ELF as it just didn't work for me (even though it looked like a great shape) maybe not enough volume. And i've been offered a swap for my 6'0 PN for a mint 6'0 Spit. Had a 5'10 before which I loved but think the 6'0 would be even better for my local waves which are high tide wind swell most of the time. PN 6'0 was really fun the couple of times I surfed it although it was really floaty and bouyent but still turned real easy....i'm going to surf the 5'8 a few more times though to get a feel for it.

So a good idea or not....would the PN be too limited??

Kind of spins me out when I have to much to chose from....i'm the kind of guy who has one board for 2-6ft and surfs it till it dies!

Got an old log for 1ft summer waves

[tomscillia]

First Firewire is a 5'8 spitfire love it as a quad .. didn't as a tri at first. A lot of rich kooks around where I live on them . So I didnt know if they really work. They do !! Spitfire is such a great grovler but also got a double barrel on a day no one was getting barrels.. little bit of luck but board held sick !! I weigh 165 and I'm 5'10 . I also experienced something I never felt in all my years surfing .. Ther other day I jammed it n a turn under the lip and it flexed or something I felt a jolt of speed rebound me out of the turn. I've only had it a couple of months so Its just getting better. Wondering what my next board will be. Probaly hellfire or flexfire ?

[hwork50]

Buzzy, did you order a bigger Hellfire? I surf my DOM 80% of the time although I love to change things up as I have been surfing my SP in the small stuff. I am looking forward to trying my HF out and figuring which fins work for me.

[buzzy]

I ended up getting. 6'4" Futura rather than the 6'4" Hellfire. It really was a 50/50 call and I ended up ordering the Futura without previously seeing one in the flesh. A bit of a risk, but an educated one. The Futura goes great. It's verrrrrrrrrry fast across the wave face - a real section maker. I have no idea if I would have liked the Hellfire more or less and I'm 100% sure I'd have liked it. To be honest the main reason I went a Futura is likely to be its just a better looking board. IMHO.

[aurfalien]

EF for sure.

Awesome board, catches all, losses none.

Fast, 5 fin option, etc...

[Chris]

yes yes. El Fuego. Cult classic. Like the Norm MacDonald movie Dirty Work.

[Fazza]

For me the JacKnife is turning out to be a pretty good all-rounder.....

[Gnubee]

Put me in the El Fuego camp. For the waves we get in the PNW (slower rollers that can pack some punch rather than pitching barrels mostly) it is absolutely ideal.

Says something to me that with any board he wants at his fingertips, Nev rides his "trusty El Fuego." (Check his blog to see what I mean.)

Than having been said, I think a Spitfire would be a good call as well. Cant lose either way I reckon.

[Bumper]

Hellfire here on the east coast. Had an alternator and it was pretty good too but the HF performed better in waist to stomach. If the dom held up better in hollowier head high stuff I'd say the Dom but it gets skatey on those pumping days. Would love to commit to the HF for everyday waist high and up but we just get so many weak, mushy days I have to have that pnator if I really want to surf my best. If I was 15 years younger I'd be on my HF alot more.

[Slowman]

First Firewire is a 5'8 spitfire love it as a quad .. didn't as a tri at first. A lot of rich kooks around where I live on them . So I didnt know if they really work. They do !! Spitfire is such a great grovler but also got a double barrel on a day no one was getting barrels.. little bit of luck but board held sick !! I weigh 165 and I'm 5'10 . I also experienced something I never felt in all my years surfing .. Ther other day I jammed it n a turn under the lip and it flexed or something I felt a jolt of speed rebound me out of the turn. I've only had it a couple of months so Its just getting better. Wondering what my next board will be. Probaly hellfire or flexfire ?
That is the flex returning and giving you a squirt of acceleration, it's blast isn't it? Sadly, you get used to it after a while, and while it's always there and you make good use of it, it doesn't feel as special or sensational.


For me the JacKnife is turning out to be a pretty good all-rounder.....
Until the Jacknife I'd thought the Hellfire was perhaps the best all rounder, it can grovel but waist height is about as low as it will go and they still need some punch if you are going to have any fun. That extra area in the nose of the Jacknife looks like it will help get a little more range at the bottom end, the problem with the Spitfire/Dominator/Activator group is the flatter rocker at the higher end, anything steep and the take offs need some care. The Jacknife looks like it has this covered with the added rocker and the low end is covered to with the fuller nose with the single to double concaves that help with lift and speed. I still have a Webber Afterburner (old dimensions 6'6" x 19 1/4" x 2 3/8") and it has a similar bottom contour though no vee off the tail but a bit of tail rocker too and it amazes me how it handles small waves very well, with some punch it will surf 1'-2' waves very well. I expect the same from the Jacknife too.

I am getting a 6'2 Jacknife and it will sit between my Spitfire and my Hellfire, though I suspect it will have me covered most of the time and if I could only have 1 board it might be the one (yep I think I've convinced myself and sold myself on it LOL).

[Chris]

good stuff slow man!!

[Fazza]

Slow man

Let me know how you go when you get the 602 JacKnife.

A mate of mine just got the 602 JacKnife after riding a demo and loved it and he also bought a 508 PNator and loves the combo of the 2 boards.

[Slowman]

Fazza, I'll let you know. I just picked it up, lucky they had one in stock at CSD. Sadly it is small and the onshore is now howling, it just isn't worth going in. Tomorrow morning though more swell and offshore, fingers crossed. Hope the fins I've picked are close to what it needs.

[Slowman]

I can definitely say the Jacknife looks like a good option for a 1 board quiver. I surfed small shories today and it went very well. Slightly better paddler than the HF.