Hellfire reviews

[hwork50]

Well surfed my new hellfire twice and here are my initial impressions: ( this is in comparison to my 6'2" Dominator) I surfed it in 2-3 foot waves yesterday and today was 2-3 with occasional 4 footers.

Paddling: It paddles great considering home much less foam there is compared to the Dominator.
Take offs: great take offs although my feet felt a little weird as the backend of the board felt slow and maybe that had to do with the weakness of the swell. I felt like I was groveling.
One wave: I did have one amazing wave that felt really good as the board was fast and responsive, probably 4 foot front. The great thing was the board is really easy to surf, in fact I never fell in the last 2 days and
was really comfortable on the board. Hit the top once and it felt good and it wanted to be in the pocket.

My foot was on the front side of the deck pad which may have made a difference, I am going to have to take it out in better surf to really see how it goes. But I had fun tonight.

Brent

[Slowman]

Does the Hellfire FST come in FCS plugs? All the pictures show futures.

[Coldwatersurfer]

So I've surfed this board for a solid two weeks and have came to the conclusion that this board is insane. It's definitely my "go to" board in my quiver now. I was really hesitant on what size to get but opted for the 5'10" and it is perfect for my weight. I'm 160 lbs. and surf with a 5 mil all year round, and this board had the perfect amount of float. I've only surfed it as a quad with Future's Stretch rtm, and this fin setup is perfect for the board, just enough hold. The ideal wave size for this board I would say is around 4-7 but I surfed it in 3' mush to 12' slabs. On the bigger waves it still performs good, it just has too much speed! It becomes too skatey and makes for some interesting bottom turns, I think if I switched to a thruster setup I would more control on the bigger waves, but I'm addicted to the speed, it amazes me how many section I can get around. Another thing I like about the board it the rocker and double concave. It has just enough nose rocker to handle those late drop but still paddles fast, and the double concave makes rail to rail transitions instantaneous. I hope this helps any of you who in a toss up between a hybrid or normal shortboard, because this gives you the benefits of both.

[core personal training]

your choice of plugs...may need to order if not in your shop

[prjwebb]

Available with both systems. If you want a specific one it's best to special order through your dealer.
I believe The Spartan is the only Futures specific board.

[hwork50]

Rode my Hellfire (6'2") 3 times this week after getting it used for Christmas! At first i was like ok, this thing is good in 2-4 foot kinda slower waves. Today I took it out in
beach break kinda fast 3-4 foot waves. The thing was awesome, if anything I was a little tentative and did not push the board hard enough. On the take offs it did amazing
and i am excited to have this board in my quiver!

Great job Nev and the crew!

[core personal training]

good to hear hwork50...yep you can shred it...it was designed to replace your hi-performance board in most waves...it is so free feeling in good waves...your going to love it..!

[hanaleisurfer]

hwork50, your going to find the Hellfire is the go to board for when the waves turn on. I use my Dom for anything under head high. After that, its all Hellfire!!!

[hwork50]

Yeah, I surfed 2-3 foot with the Hellfire the first day and then surfed 2-4 with the Hellfire and it was better. Then I surfed the Dominator yesterday 2-4 kind of a slow wave and the Dominator well, dominated. Got tons of waves for one hour of surf with 20 guys out. This morning went out in the beach breaks 3-4 pitching a little and it did great, held the line well and I was impressed. I think the problem is more with the surfer than with the board. i will be going out again in the morning with the Hellfire to see what it can do again.

The more time I spend with it, the more I like it.

Brent

[Fritzkat]

Ok, short 6-4 HELL FIRE review from session today, I surfed with as a trifin with Tim stamps 4.45 " fins (note just got back in water today after being sick Cold Flu dizzy snot head and on ACTIFED and DAYQUIL medications for 10 days, So I am a bit wobbly, and out of lungs and paddle shape.)

The Waves today were Fair and glassy up to shoulder high to me (I am 6-6 ), mostly 9 second semi mush pulses over river rock and sand bar.. (Moderatly weak swell, that had a rare set that produced an easy thin lipped barrel big enough for me to slightly crouch into. I got 2 barrels today that I got completely covered and came out of ) I bought the board with the intention on riding waves head high to 1/2 over head with a 13 second pulse or better in good to excellant surf conditions with barrels. Unfortunatly, Those waves were not produced on the menu today.

Board is not a catch all groveler for mush surf like a dominator or Sweet Potato, so you will need to paddle and be in shape to catch weak surf. (again I was a hacker today) I had a hard time catching the weaker waist high waves. (not what I intended the board for.) Once up, however it goes to rail quikly and can bottom turn easily without squirreling. It did not lose speed on the cut backs or off the lips, and had no problem tube riding and holding its rail on the barreling waves face.

So today was not a true test as I would have had a blast on my Dominator which would have been the right board for todays surf size, conditions and shape.
The larger performance waves are what the Board yearned to perform on..There are 2 large back to back swells on their way this Week Starting Tuesday for my Island. I will review again on those swells.
Aloha Fritzkat