Female Alternator Fan eyeing Hellrazor or Hellfire

[gypsyeye]

Hey Boys,
A female surfer here, deciding between the Hellrazor and Hellfire, and the right dims.
The love of my life is (originally my ex's) 5'10" Alternator- (a highly recommended rebound).
While I was born and raised the only girl in the CI Surfboard warehouse, in a Santa Barbara neighborhood of countless shapers, I'm a devoted fan of Firewires- for female surfers especially. My Alternator paddles so well, allowing me to keep up with the boys without compromising any performance. I'm looking to grab a new Hellrazor or Hellfire tomorrow before I go back to Hawaii for a bit, and need help choosing which board, as well as what size would work best for me.
I'm leaning towards the Hellrazor, only because I'm thinking it may be a better performance board transitioning from the Alternator. Going to the Hellfire hybrid seems a bit backwards if that makes sense, as it's winter here in California and I'm spending a lot more time in Hawaii this season. BUT the only thing I sometimes wish my Alternator had was a bit better of a paddle- which makes me think I could get this from the Hellfire.
I'm mostly surfing small California waves, not much bigger than head high, a few feet overhead sometimes. But just having returned from Hawaii, I definitely found myself undergunned on my 5'10" a couple days . Getting into some waves proved challenging, but once I was up I was happy to have the maneuverability of my small board. I understand one board may not work for all wave types. I'm looking for insight on either board and would love to hear what conditions you are finding they work best in.
Dimensions may be a bit harder for me to get an opinion on...
I'm an intermediate surfer. I'm almost 5'4" 125 lbs. Petite, curvy, but a lot of muscle. I'm on the Quiksilver Roxy Fitness team, hence very fit.
In terms of the hell razor, I know you should order 1" shorter than your shortboard, which for me would be 5'9". But as I'd like even more paddle than my shortboard I'm thinking of trying 5'11"?
Otherwise looking at the 5'6" Hellfire or even the 5'8" hellfire for much more float.
Hoping to here back soon as I leave to Kauai Sunday!
Thanks <3

[kdropin]

i'd def be leaning towards the razor.. board is so good and if you're surfing waves that are more hollow reefs it'll handle the curve of those waves better.. haven't surfed the hellfire or been to hawaii but that would seem like the logical choice.. as for size i think a 5'11 would be huge.. i almost went with that at 170.. others might b able to give a better size recc.

[iggy]

Yeah agreed with Kdroping here, 5'11" seems like too much board.
5'9" to stay on YOUR comfort zone or the 5'7" to go further

[prjwebb]

Yeah I like the 5'9 HZ for you too. That or maybe a 5'8 FST Mini Driver.
I wouldn't go up much volume from where you are now, but the extra width in the HZ and MN should help paddling over your Alternator.

[aurfalien]

Well not being in any similar league of surfing as you or the respondents, I would like to emphasize the negatives of over voluming. I went from my normal 27 in my Futura to 39... yikes, very very bad.

Your current board (the re-bounder if you will) has a volume of 25.9, so the 5'11" HZ you were thinking of puts it at 27.2 which is not too far off from your Alt. However the HZ@5'9" has a volume of 24.4 which is not far off from your Alt.

But reading your post, I wasn't sure if you were looking for step us as you mentioned being under gunned in Hawaii or just looking to supplement the Alt?

Or are you looking to replace the Alt cuz its your ex's and you simply want your own?

I love this guys reviews, the HZ;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiCbT...16F91CCF95F369

And the Hellfire;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mXl6...F83A4E4D2F8FE3

Anyways, safe travels and no matter what FW you get, I think they will all more than satisfy the need of having a great time.

[Slowman]

On the question of paddling, I believe the Hellrazor paddles better than the Hellfire, though I have not tried one yet. Compared to the dom/spit the HF is not as good though it is not too bad in small stuff but my Jacknife which has less volume, thinner nose and tail, still paddles a bit better. From some of the reviews I get the feeling the Hellrazor paddles at least as well. So if you are wanting the paddle to get in just that little bit earlier I think that will be another point in favour of the Hellrazor.