Hellfire or Hellrazor?

[drtrdr]

I'm second guessing my choice to go with the HR over the HF. I think coming from the Dom for almost everything I surf the most logical choice is an HF. I haven't taken delivery yet but it's on its way to the shop. What to do?

[Nev]

Hey drtrdt...The Hellrazor is the perfect extension of the Dom/Spitfire. Whilst it may not handle solid 6ft testy grinding pits as well as a Flexfire/MB etc it WILL be much more on edge and in the pocket than the Hellfire. The Hellfire could be regarded as the perfect all round board...for the guy who wants one board OR has a sweet potato...But you are in the box seat to get the true benefits due to the fact that you ride a Dom now...
Nev

[drtrdr]

Nev, thanks so much for easing my mind. I'm sure I am just over thinking it like usual.

[delmarsurfer]

guys in my honest opinion, i think the Hellfire is a city sneaky in that it can handle bigger surf REALLY well. It has the right template, volume, tail etc to go well in average surf but really all those things come together magically in bigger surf.

I am thinking that because the Hellrazor is refined, it might be a bit more performance driven and capable of laying down aggressive maneuvers at higher speed, BUT i think the reduced volume and the square tail is going to lend itself to playful surf. I took my 511 out in solid NW swell, maybe overhead and a half sets, and it felt a little undersized and it certainly doesn't paddle as well as the Hellfire. Perhaps I should have been on a 601? yeah maybe, but the in between chest to head waves were insane on the 511 and I have since ridden it in punchy beach breaks and there is no way i would prefer the length of the 601. I am really thinking the Hellfire, thought its higher performance, might top out a little under the hellfire in maximum preferred wave height.... just my take though.

So with all that, I think the Hellfire is uniquely positioned to handle bigger surf well, so WALDO, in my opinion the Hellfire is a lock and the smart choice. The Hellfire will be there for you to grab down the road, but don't look back while on the Hellfire.

Chris,
I love your assessment but I think you did get the Hellrazor and the Hellfire mixed up in your last sentence of both the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs. You only reference Hellfire when you must have meant Hellrazor at least one of the times. My city sneaky suspicion is that you meant Hellrazor where I have underlined. Yes?
What exactly is a "city sneaky" anyway?

[delmarsurfer]

I have been doing a few HP hellrazors, like the one for Felip which is 508 x 18 1/2 x 2 1/4
the 5'10 of this would extrapolate up to 18 7/8 x 2 5/16"...Too many variable mate. It would work in dimensons as you suggest

Nev - thanks for your insight on the HZ and giving some specs on the custom pro boards you do...always interesting to see what they ride.
I love the look and feel under my arm of the 5'7 HZ and really want to get one. However, the 2 1/16 thickness concerns me a little bit.
I'm curious as to why Felip's board is so much thicker (his 5'8 is thicker than the stock 5'9) than the stock board us mere mortals get to buy? Thickness-wise it seems like it should be the other way around.
Thoughts anyone? Nev?

[prjwebb]

I would imagine his rails are very low and the thickness is central whereas the stock ones hold the volume to the rail.

[delmarsurfer]

prj - Meaning the thickness is more in the center of the board and the rails are thinned out?
It still seems like a big difference though. A 5'7 is 2/16 so a 5'8 would probably translate to 2 1/8.
Anyways, just wondering what the thinking is making the stock 5'7 so thin. I've read a few people say they would do a CBD on the HZ and make it slightly thicker.
My only concern is that the HZ would float me well, paddle well and allow me to get into a variety of waves.
My Chedda is 2 3/16 and I am loving that board!!! But I can't my mind of that 5'7 HZ.

[prjwebb]

Nev said he kept that thinner because they are wider than traditional shortboards so to make them as thick they'd lose sensitivity.

That said, my buddy has a 511 HZ at 2.25" thick and the rail thickness is up there with my 2.38" CBD Taj. Though the Taj has more volume along the centre line and the HZ has less.
I think if you had a thicker HZ the foil would need to be adjusted otherwise it would be too chunky in the rails.

[Nev]

Guys...I am certainly planning on updating the Hellrazor in the near future. The feedback i have had from Filipe and a bunch of pros who are riding the Hellrazor confirms my position which is that I did in fact go too wide/too thin on this model. I also want to take it back to a diamond or a squash from the cut off square. I know exactly what to do, just gotta get the green light as we have soooo many models in then pipeline. Stay tuned...

[Sarge]

Oh no, more temptation!!