Alternator, Hellrazor or MB.

[Will.]

Im in a bit of a predicament trying to decide what to do, so I thought id pester all you guys again as I do love a good discussion haha.
Im off to France in September, Iv got my 6'3 RF flexfire but Iv been thinking about either:

1. Selling the Flexfire and getting a MB in like the 6'0 or 6'2 thin versions or the 6'1 HellRazor both in FST.
or
2. Picking up a second hand Alternator 6'0 in FST and keeping the Flexfire as this would fit nicely between my 5'8 spit and 6'3 Flexfire.

The reason im thinking about this is because I worry on the durability of the Rapidfire in heavy french beach breaks and travelling with it on the plane. I prefer the durability of the FST and the aesthetic looks of the boards I also rarely have much chance to use the flexfire.

I am about 5'11-6'0 and 68-70kgs, the 5'8 spitfire is perfect but my HPSB's I do like a tad longer say 6'0-6'3. The Hellfire is also an option due to the high number of amazing reviews but not sure I would like something quite that short for the 3-6ft wave range.

Im leaning towards the Alternator as It will be the cheaper option and has a bit of a more generous foil under the chest so should be grovel-able ( is that even a word i dont know). Also it will give me 3 boards in my quiver instead of just selling the Flexfire and having 2.
Saying that I can hear the HellRazor calling out to me hahaha.


What do you think guys..

[buzzy]

I think your plan 2 is the better one (ie get the Alternator).

[core personal training]

re durability...i only ride RF's...have done since they came out..(except my MB)...until very recently i surfed pretty much daily on slabs/reef ledges...with a bad back i routinely ditch the boards on take off...this was more often than not under VERY thick lips on almost dry ledges...(thats many times per day, year in year out)...ONLY 1 FW EVER SNAPPED and that was a VERY heavy situation...i came out badly too....prior to FW i only surfed these spots hard when i had an old board to sacrifice...(they always broke quickly)...they also have very forgiving construction...i regularly see rock scrapes/weed stains from these impacts but no shatters...try any of the above with a traditional board...oh, and they are more lively than them too..!!...and the only wear and tear marks you get are nicely defined footwells......

this message brought to you by the firewire department of sycophancy.......


caveat.....any board CAN break.........

[Will.]

re durability...i only ride RF's...have done since they came out..(except my MB)...until very recently i surfed pretty much daily on slabs/reef ledges...with a bad back i routinely ditch the boards on take off...this was more often than not under VERY thick lips on almost dry ledges...(thats many times per day, year in year out)...ONLY 1 FW EVER SNAPPED and that was a VERY heavy situation...i came out badly too....prior to FW i only surfed these spots hard when i had an old board to sacrifice...(they always broke quickly)...they also have very forgiving construction...i regularly see rock scrapes/weed stains from these impacts but no shatters...try any of the above with a traditional board...oh, and they are more lively than them too..!!...and the only wear and tear marks you get are nicely defined footwells......

this message brought to you by the firewire department of sycophancy.......


caveat.....any board CAN break.........

Haha Nice stuff Core, glad to hear it. Id be interested to hear how the Alternator, Hellfire, Flexfire and MB compare since you have all of them and im interested in all of them along with the Hellrazor. There isnt much info on the alternator on this forum as im guessing its all on the old forum and its an older board..

Buzzy im leaning towards number 2 aswell if any alternators ever show up second hand here in UK!

Cheers for input guys!

[Chito]

Will
I have ridden most of the board you mentioned. I owned a 6'2 Flexfire and a 5'8 hellfire at one point.
Right now I Have a 5'11 Hellrazor to complement my 5'6 spit and the combo works great. The spit has me covered for anything up to head high that is lacking some punch and even overhead if its still on the soft side of things. But once the waves get juicy the Hellrazor goes mental. It can grovel fairly well the wave just needs to have some punch, it will handle chop and things like that pretty nicely.
If you are worried that the Hellrazor won't be enough board for you in french beachies I will tell you to stop worrying. I surf mine every day down here in Costa Rica and have gotten it into some thick situations, it held just fine though.
If you are looking at surfing waves from waist to solid overhead than the HR will have you covered. If you are some freak charger that is lacking the idea of self preservation and are dead set on following core with the whole slab diving experiments than I would say maybe a step up.
I'm saying HR over the alternator or MB. Never ridden either of them but I love my HR so much I just want everyone else to have one too!
Also the HR has convertible 5 fin setup which for barrels helps a lot, throw a 4 fin in there and prepare to get blown out of some closeouts.
I bet the MB would go good too, not like Michel has ever ridden a barrel or anything.

[prjwebb]

How does the HR grovel Chito?

[Chito]

Hasn't been below head high for over a month and I am just now getting back into form after blowing my knee out so I really can't report on much. what I can give you so far is that the board floats and paddles better than I expected, really picks up waves fairly easily given the shortboard outline it has. Havn't taken it out in anything under head high yet so cant report on its grovel ability.
I am frothing out again though, and being almost fully healed am starting to surf more so expect an in detailed report on the various aspects of the board at some point in the near future.

[Will.]

Will
I have ridden most of the board you mentioned. I owned a 6'2 Flexfire and a 5'8 hellfire at one point.
Right now I Have a 5'11 Hellrazor to complement my 5'6 spit and the combo works great. The spit has me covered for anything up to head high that is lacking some punch and even overhead if its still on the soft side of things. But once the waves get juicy the Hellrazor goes mental. It can grovel fairly well the wave just needs to have some punch, it will handle chop and things like that pretty nicely.
If you are worried that the Hellrazor won't be enough board for you in french beachies I will tell you to stop worrying. I surf mine every day down here in Costa Rica and have gotten it into some thick situations, it held just fine though.
If you are looking at surfing waves from waist to solid overhead than the HR will have you covered. If you are some freak charger that is lacking the idea of self preservation and are dead set on following core with the whole slab diving experiments than I would say maybe a step up.
I'm saying HR over the alternator or MB. Never ridden either of them but I love my HR so much I just want everyone else to have one too!
Also the HR has convertible 5 fin setup which for barrels helps a lot, throw a 4 fin in there and prepare to get blown out of some closeouts.
I bet the MB would go good too, not like Michel has ever ridden a barrel or anything.

Hey Chito
Thanks Man, great to hear!
One thing I'm interested to know with the razor is how it feels and performs with that sharp cut off coffin tail. That tail shape suggests it would be pretty loose and not hold as good when it gets a bit bigger..? Seems from loads of reviews it still goes great when it gets bigger though, I think it was Chris who said the hellfire would handle bigger waves better due to its tail shape amongst other things...

[buzzy]

I reckon the Razor's tail looks ugly.

[Will.]

I reckon the Razor's tail looks ugly.

I thought it looked better with the diamond tail.