prjwebb

hey man. are you also a moderator here? i haven't gotten a response from chris in a while>

i bought a 6'8" alternator for mexico but still need to figure out my longboard situation.

1) do you have a dealer in MX (puerto vallarta, sayulita area)
2) i want something for the rollers that can't be caught on shortboards but with more performance than alongboards. i'm thinking an addvance or sweet potato. in both cases you have guides recommending sizing. the thing is i'm assuming i would go as big as possible because i'm only going to surf them in week surf and even the biggest sizes are still less float than a longboard would be. is there a disadvantage to me going max size on the ADD or SP. does it make them not perform right and less than a longboard?. i assume even at the size which is too big according to your charts, i would still have more fun than i would on a 9' longboard which your site suggests. what would you do if you were me and only wanted to take it out on super soft waves

Hey bassh.
I don't think notifications for user messages work to well so Chris may not notice your message. Your best bet is to email him at chris.cary@firewiresurfboards.com
Include your boards serial number, photos of the damage, where you're located and roughly how much the board has been used. If possible a link to the eBay page would probably we handy too.
Good luck with it all!

Hey Scott, I like to have a little more float in my small wave board. Only maybe 1 or 2 litres. I think the benefits are more in the design than the volume. A shorter, wider board with slightly thicker rails has all the float right under you where you want it for paddling and riding waves. Also they tend to have flatter rockers which plane easier rather than pushing through the water like a heavily rockered shortboard.
I think you saw my reply regarding tech. Basically a lot of people bought RF Spitfires before the FST version came out. Both techs ride great. Both are pretty durable. The FST is more resistant to dings though.
Both the Dom and Spit are foiled the same. The Spitfire just steps in on the last 3rd of the rail.
At a guess I'd say your Alternator is around the 55l mark. Pure guess work though based off the current sizes listed. Hopefully Chris can dig through the archives and find a more accurate one for you though.

wondering why you surf the rapid fire?? thought fst was better. is one stronger than the other?

also. should small wave boards have more float than your thrusters

Chris is your man for volumes. Shoot him a message. He's been busy recently with a big move to CA, but should be more active on here again real soon.

also, i've been trying to find out the volume of my old 7'2" alternator. it's 2 15/16" thick and 21 1/2" wide. please let me know i'd like to use that number in consideration when buying my new board

i'm trying to decide on an al fuego size. i'm using the sizing chart and am confused. i assume the el fuego would be similar to the dominator on the sizing chart so i'm looking at that since i dont' see one for the el fuego. i'm a 200 lb. beginner and currently surf a 6'10" alternator which is what your chart recommends for me. however, the chart recommends a 6'8" dominator which is way more float than the 6'10" alternator. does that make sense? is there a reason i would want much more float in my dominator (or el fuego) than my alternator. my alternator feels right although i expect to grow into a 6'8" soon.

what size el fuego would you recommend. i plan to surf it on 1-3' or mushier days when i think i could benefit from a flatter rocker and shorter turning radius. i would have thought the 6'5" el fuego comparing it to the volume of my alternator but the recommendations for the dominator sizing and volume are throwing me off and making me think i don't want a similar volume. confuse

Hi! I'm torn between the hellfire and the futura. And I'm not 100% sure what size to get either.. But I have the same buildt as you and I allso wear a thick wetsuit, so I was just wondering what size hellfire you would ride. If you haved ever given any thought to that:)

The thing is that I surf a 6'3 flexfire which I'm very happy with, and I'm afraid that if I get way more volume in my hellfire (6'0) the boards will feel very different to padle and surf, but if I go smaller (5'10) the board want do it's purpous making smaller waves rippable..

Any thoughts to this?

Hey Scott,
I'd say that could be a number of things. How weighted are you on your back foot when bottom turning on these bigger days? It could just be that adjusting your technique a little and keeping the pressure over your fins and sinking that tail in.
If you're already doing that, the next option would be to try some different fin set ups. What are you using currently? Have you tried a thruster set up on the bigger days?
The next thing to considering is float.
Do you find the 6'8" overly buoyant on these bigger days? It could be that there's too much foam in the tail and you're having trouble keeping the rail in the water, and the Spitfire would help with that, but I'd try the other options I've mentioned first as they are relatively cheaper than a new board.
Also bare in mind that the Dominator was designed as a smaller wave board and in the end it's going to be worth having a board more suited to the bigger days as well as your Dominator. The 7'0" AddVance could be good?

i'm a beginning/intermediate surfer more concerned about catching waves and making sections than high performance maneuvers. i surf beach breaks in the 2-8' range that are rarely totally hollow. i love my dominator (as a quad) however i feel like it slides out from under me when i try to do bottom turns or cutbacks on bigger or faster waves. is that bad surfing or do you think that's an inherent problem with trying to surf a dominator in head high steeper waves. i would consider a spitfire if i thought it would help with bottom turns and cutbacks but if it's just me than i'll just get better. (i don't need to change it for big snaps off the lips because i'm not really there yet). i've tried an alternator but missed the speed and stability of the dom and switched back. i'm 6'3" 205 lbs. surfed about 500 days. i surf a 6'8" dominator.

Hey Chris, been doing a bit of tweaking and I reckon because the Alternators foil is slightly more generous I'm going to move down to 2" 5/16 rather than 3/8.

FINAL FINAL dimensions are
Alternator - Round Tail
Length: 6'1"
Width: 18 3/4"
Thickness: 2 5/16"
Nose: 12"
Tail: 14 3/4"
Volume: 28.24l

Cheers!

Hey Chris,
Alternator 6'1" 18.75 Round Tail.
Nose 11.88
Tail 14.75 (+0.25)
Volume 28.92
FCS
Not 100% on tech, prob RF. Can you get a price on both please?
Thanks Chris

Hey PRJ,
Myles is putting an order in so it looks like June is the latest. To be safe, what I would like to do is have you restate exactly what you want to order, dimensions, shapes, etc, and i'll get it to the guys for an exact quote. You are going RF over FST?

Also do me a favor and post on the main forum some kind of message that tells me you responded on this thread because for some reason I didn't get a notification that you had sent me a response.

Cheers!

That all sounds good to me Chris.
It'll definitely need to be shipped with the next UK container. I'm guessing with the impending arrivals of the new models it's not going to be that far away anyway!
In just under 5 weeks I'll be submitting my tax return for the previous year and should be getting a decent tax rebate which is going to pay the balance for a new board. Depending on how much deposit I need to lay down I should be good to get that sorted any time soon really. Just need to know the total cost for the RF Alternator really then we can get it confirmed and sort out payment.
Thanks Chris.

Hey Prj,
So I have been talking to Mark and the guys at the factory to finalize details on your board. Here is what they have. It will take about 4 to 6 weeks to build, then we have to figure out shipping. I am guessing that you are going to do a standard shipment with orders already going to the UK. If you wanted direct delivery from the factory to you, it's an option, but it will cost over $400, which is pretty inhibiting in my mind. I am still waiting on Myles' response to my request for container deliveries to the UK. You are certainly willing to confirm at any time to start the building of your board, and when you do I'll get you details on how we'll go about payment, but let me know if you have any questions before we finalize everything.

Cheers

Hey Chris, I've finalised my Custom Alternator, I'm going for the 6'1" 18 3/4" 2 3/8" Round Tail, Rapidfire with FCS.
Could you check with Mark what the price for that would be with delivery to Down The Line surf shop in Hayle, Cornwall, and how much deposit I need to lay down then I'll try and get some cash sorted.
Thanks man!
Phill

Hey Chris, cheers for the info. The tweaks to the Alternator sound interesting. Is it the smaller sizes being widened because the 6'2"s etc seemed narrower in the nose than the 6'0"? Maybe that's just the way it works, but that's another topic all together!

Anyway, all sounds good to me, I'm guessing the delivery will coincide with a shipment of boards to the UK so I need to time it around that. So I'm guessing that means I need to get the order in before the end of March to make it in time?
All that's left to sort is the money side then? Would I just pay the equivalent of the USD price listed in the CBD? And do I just need to get you $200 to get the ball rolling?
Also what's the deal with requesting the Arbor artwork on a custom?
Thanks Chris, we're getting there! :D

Hey PRJ,
I believe Mark said that it would be okay for us to build you a board with a roundtail, it just wouldn't be in Europe until summer I believe was his quote, sometime around June, most likely later in the month. We're definitely stoked to hook you up, so let us know. What you're ready, I can get all the final details and you can make the ultimate choice.

Hope this helps.

Hey PRJ,
So I looked into your question about nose and tail widths shown by CBD and our quiver section and I figured out what the difference is. a few weeks back, Nev came out with a few modifications to the alternator which included tweaks to both the nose width and tail width. As a result, the CBD is showing the most recent updates but our board compare and our quiver section do not reflect the updates because those boards aren't in production yet. They will be soon and that's why they tweaked CBD beforehand. the updates will be officially implemented in the next few months, but until then, we'll handle inquiries like yours on a case-by-case basis. Hope this helps in understanding why that variation was there.

Hey Chris, only just noticed that message. Don't think I got a notification. Thanks for that, I'll let you know soon regarding the custom, I've got to get my finances sorted first. What would the down payment be for me? The equivalent of $200 I assume?
I'll let you know when I have the spare cash, still recovering from Christmas and Morocco holiday at the moment!
Thanks Chris.

Hey prj,
so the reason that CBD isn't in Europe yet is the cost of freight is so high that it wouldn't be price effective to ship small amounts. therefore Firewire Europe places orders and the shipments go in bulk so that the cost per board is reasonable. they are working on that as we speak, but i don't have details on a resolution. Mark said you are welcome to get a custom, but we would be talking summer time before you saw it i think.

Oooh interesting Chris. That's awesome of you guys. Thanks a lot. Any clues?
Also, any chance of UK access to that Deviant deal on the site?
Cheers