Hello Grant,
I know what you mean, since I ride eg my Wainman Gambler 5.7 very often in various wind conditions, also for freestyle air stuff - but it is a board that excells (only) in waves up to shoulder - head high max. A board like the HF 510 would be nice in light winds and small waves, but for my taste - without having tried it - I guess from a certain boardspeed (wave height) on it would be a hard(er) to ride it in a wave radically (due volume, tail width, width etc.) - for your weight though maybe not so noticeable - with 195 pds max probably already different.
If I had the choice in regard to the HF, I would probably rather take the 508 for my weight as a "workhorse" for the daily average stuff, since it provides also a little longer rail than the 506 when the waves get chest high + and does not have so much "hip" and volume like the 510.
But here we are back to the topic: You can either choose between a 506 or a 510. Nothing in between.
If you want to go for a little more radical board concept like the 5.11 KP1 the 5.11 has for my weight slightly too little of everything (a 6.0 x 18.25-40 x 2 1/4 would be right). But I can compensate with a bigger kite etc. BUT even the "stock" brands like Naish, Cabrinha, SS, Wainman etc. offer 3 boards per line - for a good reason - (not to mention the awesome Boombox from Rawson....) This is just a friendly input for optimization where personal preferences and riding spots come into account and make the difference between good and awesome and the professionalism of a brand. And Firewire is fantastic! - Also an afterthought: Maybe rather less board lines but more size steps in between to choose, because the different parameters offer then enough optimization for really individual conditions.
Originally Posted by Grant
Reply With Quote