Activator vs Spiitfire

[cb3rd]

Hi guys. Would really like to know if anyone has surfed both these boards? I'm down to choosing one or the other. I'll be taking it on a trip around Lombok next month and then will be hoping to get a lot of use out of it as a bit of a goto board. Any words of advice?

I'm 31, 80kgs (175lbs), 6'1, around an intermediate surfer, pulling into cover ups (hoping to make it out of the green room on the trip!), starting to get good carve backs and getting off the lip now and then.

[prjwebb]

I think in Indo I'd pick the Activator. That extra refinedness and the lower volume in the tail area will make it much more sensitive in steeper, hollow, Indo waves.

I'd also be seriously thinking about the Hellfire though....

[Chris]

Yeah I agree as well. activator is would likely give you more versatility in a place like Indo!

[cb3rd]

I've confused myself a whole lot more.... I've gone and looked at the stealth and it also looks like a ripper that can perform on a day when things are small and blown out and also overhead and barreling! I dunno, maybe I have stars in my eyes! At the moment I'm tossing up between a 5'10 Spit (33.5), 5'11 Act (32.8) or 6'02 Stealth (34.1). I'm veering away from the hellfire as it's been promoted as a back foot board and in times of need I'm always on the front foot. Decisions decisions...

[prjwebb]

Stealth would be good too, but I think it's more refined than you'd expect and geared toward better waves. Have you considered the 601 Hell Razor too?

[cb3rd]

I've not looked at the high performance boards as I was looking to try and find something in the lower range of swell sizes. I should have mentioned it earlier but I also have a flexfire, I know that it's out of my league as far as performance goes but I'm keeping it as the bigger and more "perfect" wave board until I've filled the bottom end of the spectrum. That being said I still find it awesome fun to ride. I just know that I'm doing it an injustice!

So yeah, I'm looking for a board for the other half, or should I say 95%, that will fill the gap for those times when the flexfire is no good.

[prjwebb]

Ah I get you. I thought you were looking for a one board quiver and some of the shorter, flatter boards would leave you a little lacking when the waves get good. With a Flexy though you're covered.

I think the Activator or Spitfire are the picks for something that will be a lot of fun in smaller stuff and still go well in better stuff right up to the point when you'd be reaching for the Flexfire.

[cb3rd]

Cheers! Yeah that should have been mentioned earlier. I'll add a signature once I've got more than one to brag about! Can the Activator be expected to perform when that dream forecast of 4ft offshore turns out to be 2ft on? Or would a Dominator/ Sweet Potato be needed to fill out that area? I get the impression that the SP can handle a bit of mush.

[prjwebb]

I'm not sure how the bottom end of the Activator compares to the Spitfire, but the Spit will work in waist high plus stuff as long as it has a little push. The Sweet P would eat that up, but the SF would cope.

[Chris]

yeah lower end of the Activator is close to the Spitfire. It has a little less area in the tail, and because of that, it probably likes a slightly better wave, but the difference between the Spit and Act is way smaller than the difference between the Spit and the Potato...

[Slowman]

I just got back from Indo and I took my spit with me and rode it only a couple of times over 2 weeks. I also took my hellfire and a 6'8 Aloha AF2 turbo (quite similar to the alternator but less volume). Next time I think I'd leave the spit at home and just take 2 boards instead...I'm thinking of a 6'6 alt to replace the AF2.

The spit is a great board for weak waves but you won't find that many in Indo except perhaps on weaker sloppier days along Kuta/Leggian/Seminyak strip in Bali. I have not ridden the activator but I think I'd be leaning towards that, the foil is a little more refined and it appears to have a tad more rocker. So it looks to me like a better small wave board for Indo.

[Chris]

yeah good stuff slow man

[Fritzkat]

Activator all the way... I am loving this board ridding as quad with AM-2 fronts and Rusty rears .. taking it out tomorrow with the Hellfire.. hopefully i will get some photos.

[nn66]

Just got back from Indo sorry for the confusion I rode my Spitfire 90% of the time out Ulu, Kuta Reef, Beachies and Balian the swell did not get bigger than 5ft the only time the spitfire felt sketchy was at Ulu 4-5ft low tide otherwise it went unreal, I did not take my Hellfire out of the cover. See some pics at Ulu.
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[Slowman]

Just got back from Indo sorry for the confusion I rode my Spitfire 90% of the time out Ulu, Kuta Reef, Beachies and Balian the swell did not get bigger than 5ft the only time the spitfire felt sketchy was at Ulu 4-5ft low tide otherwise it went unreal, I did not take my spitfire out of the cover. See some pics at Ulu.

Nice pics, but I'm still confused! What never came out of the cover?

[nn66]

Sorry about that Slowman thanks for picking my typo up the Hellfire 6'6" never came out of the cover, I find the spitfire my go to board for anything up to say 5ft depending on the location plus I like how the spitfire paddles. The Activator does look interesting however would have to ride it as a 6'7" with same volume as the 6'4" Spitfire seems a bit long.

[Fritzkat]

nn66 Go for the 6-3 or 6-5 Activator, I ride the 6-3 no problem.

[nn66]

Thanks Fritzkat I think I could get away with the 6'5", how do you find your Activator compared to your Hellfire as I have a 6'6" Hellfire and although I like it but it seems under volumed as I mostly ride it in winter with a steamer on so that adds extra weight, unfortunately I did not ride it in Bali do to small wave size. I find the Spitfire is fine with a steamer on and cannot understand why such a small difference in volume between the Spitfire and Hellfire would make such a difference, and would not like the same thing to happen if I got an Activator to replace the Hellfire.

[Slowman]

N66 your HF (39.7) is 1.7L less than the spit (41.5), roughly about the same from my dom to my HF (1.6L) and slightly less (1.2L) to my spit. I don't find that much difference even now wearing a steamer in winter, not once I'm on the wave. The extra rocker of the HF makes it a harder paddle than the spit/dom but I find if I position myself further back on the board it paddles better. What I mean is too far forward and you are pushing more water, obviously you're not too far back either, it's subtle and 2" can make a difference.

That is, if the paddle is what you find lacking, or is it just when on a wave? If that is the case maybe you just need to surf it more, mine felt a bit like that at first after coming from the dom, but the more I surfed my HF the more I could get it to go in smaller waves too.

[Fritzkat]

Slowman, I was just going to say the same thing. More rocker in the Hellfire, harder to paddle especially in below average waves. Hellfire needs juice and clean conditions for its best performance. The Activator's rocker is between the Spit/Dominator and the Hellfire. Activators tail is tighter than the Spit/Dominator. I am favoring the Activator over my Dominator for most of the waves in all conditions. I dont have to wear any rubber suit here so you could probably benefit from the 6-5.

[nn66]

Thanks Slowman & Fritzkat you might have hit the nail on the head, I think what is happening as you paddle the SP and SF with quite a forward motion they really paddle into waves really easy. The thing I didn't like and would not give the time to the HF was the paddling I find when it's crowded I would see a wave which I would get with ease on the SP & SF and I would miss it on the HF as it always seemed I had to be in a perfect position to catch the wave. I will try and paddle it further back and hopefully that solves the problem as I love how the HF performs in 5ft+ especially a thruster where I ride the SF as a Quad only, it offers a good variety which keeps things interesting.

[Chris]

yeah good feedback nn66. I am guessing that the cause of that is the increased rocker and decreased area in the nose of the board. That will hamper the paddle and planing process....

[cb3rd]

I got the spitfire!! Half the threads here weren't up by the time it came to ordering the board and it looks as though if they were I would have gone the Activator if I'd seen them. That being said the SF the best board I've ridden yet! First wave was a sketchy take off and the board shot out from under me and I ended up battling to get back to the rip for what seemed like an eternity. Finally I got back out again and a solid three to four footer came through without anyone looking at it. I went for it last second thinking I was going over the falls but I was up and had the rail set no problem before I even realised what was going on. Board then took off shooting me way out in front of the wave. Carved right around and turned myself back in just under the foam ball (this might not sound like much but I've never done it before!) again shot off! Wave fatted out for a section, flew accross it. As it walled up again, bang, rail was set again and I was shooting off the mark. Loved it!! Another note: Board is responsive without being twitchy, responds to minor foot ajustments with pleasure! So yeah, I'm sold. Thanks firewire!!

Fin set up was K3 thruster