Board Shopping

[trevor]

Whats up I am looking for some info on which fire wire board would work well for me and my abilities. I have been surfing for about a year or so had a old roommate who was real into it and he got me hooked however I have always been around board sports skating wake boarding and snowboarding I would say my as far as balance I am pretty good. I have gotten past the point of learning to stand up and riding straight now I have gotten to the point of being able to get down the line and trying to learn basics. I live on the east coast in North Carolina so its usually no bigger than head high and mushy unless we have a hurricane but I am in the process of actually moving to the beach and since I have the basics I would def. like to get a another board and keep trying to progress at this. Any recommendations for a board would be awesome

[prjwebb]

The Dominator is a real solid board for someone in your position. What sort of size boards have you been riding and what's your height and weight?

[iggy]

Agreed with PRJ on that one. With a bit more info we could narrow the size selection

[trevor]

I have ridden a 6'8 Sharp eye and have a 7'0 wrv that I bought when I first started out. I would like to find something that has a bit of a slower feel. The WRV that have I feel as if its just super fast and it is such a pain to duck dive its a good board though and its taught me a lot, what bout the el fuego or any of the other boards I have done some research and would def like to get a firewire what sizes should i be looking at for the dominator i am 5'11 and somewhere between 185 and 190 maybe a little more and whats with the plug haven't really found any good solid answers on what it actually does other that release air for different pressures.

[prjwebb]

I'll start with the vent plug.
With tradition build, PU/PE boards the foam blank is typically 3-4lb per cubic foot whereas the FSTs EPS core is 1lb pcf. That makes the board a lot lighter and more flexible, but it also means the core holds a lot more air between the foam beads. Because air expands and retracts depending on temperature changes, this vent allows the air to expand and release the excess which reduces the chance of the board delaminating under high temperatures. It takes care of it's self so you never have to touch it.

Board wise, I think the Dominator is a better call than the El Fuego. It has a little more forgiving rocker and a very user friendly outline. Really fun board!
You could look at a Dominator in the 6'6"-6'8" range I'd say.

[trevor]

Thanks for the help bud I feel like i got a thousand more ?'s...lol first whats the difference in the tails the dominator has that round kind of tail how is better for the conditions i would be facing with semi mushy surface with nothing really getting over head unless we get a crazy storm but if we did would it be a good board to take out in say in head to a couple of feet over it may sound like a dumb ? but i feel like surfboards are def investments and would like to hold on to them for a while as i may not be able to really mess with that right now just looking towards the future and as i progress being able to charge bigger and bigger waves. With it being such a floaty board is that going affect my ability to push through to get out to the break thats kind of the problem i am having now with that wrv being 3 1/2'' thick when the currents really pumping and its chest or bigger its a pain trying to get that bug clunky thing out i feel like its so thick and wide the current just has its way with it now when its good day that thing works like a charm and is super easy to paddle out but maybe its just me and my ability range of still learning all the tricks. Also you think that would be a good board to surf the various different conditions as far as durability that look very strong have not seen many bad reviews on them.

[prjwebb]

The Dominator's round tail makes direction changes very smooth and forgiving. It's fairly wide and carries quite a bit of thickness which allows you to turn off the tail even in smaller, mushy, weaker waves. The El Fuego is a little thinner and more refined and likes a little more lined up wave. It's pretty flat so it's not going to be as forgiving through turns as the Dominator.
The Dominator is primarily a headhigh and below board really. It will go in a little bigger but it's not ideal conditions for the board. The El Fuego would probably handle the bigger days a little better because of the thinner rails and tail. It will hold in a little better.
I think the Dominator is a good starting point. It'll have you covered for most conditions you'll be facing at the moment and once you get a little more comfortable in bigger conditions you could consider adding something like an Alternator for the bigger days and save the Dominator for the smaller days.
Do you know the width and thickness of the boards you've been riding? You could aim at the 6'4" to 6'6" Dominator but the smaller you go it'll be slower to paddle and a little harder to catch waves, plus the board will be less stable but you get the advantage of being able to duck dive broken waves more easily.
It's all about finding a volume in a board that you are comfortable with.

[trevor]

the wrv is 7' x 21" x 3 1/2" not really sure what the sharp eye was but it sounds like the dominator is the best bet for me and i know it has a 5 fin set up whats all the different things i can do with that. i def looking forward to getting out there with a new board thanks again for all the help. Also i have a friend whos interested in getting into it i was going hook him on the addvance looks like its a good beginner board he says he is able to get up i dunno how interested he is as far as wonting to pro-sue it as a passion or really how good he is but he looking to buy a board and at the place we would get them from i can get a package deal if i can get him to buy a board.

[prjwebb]

Sounds like a plan!

[trevor]

What kind of fin set up would you think could be a good set up for my ability? I had the guy at the shop explain it to me when I bought my first board but I was not really paying attention was more interested in getting that board out in the water so I am pretty open if any of you guys have any suggestions as well as a way of setting up my fins and will it only take fcs?