Board durability

[CHarvey]

But from everything I have read CF carries more kinetic energy through turns and what not.

[JG]

Yes the 6'6" I ride is the bat tail quad. I highly recommend it, especially if you are a bigger more powerful surfer. I am 6'2" 190. Doc Lausch sort of jumped on the band wagon with the new quad shape. The new style quad set up holds really well in big surf. I have ridden it up to DOH+ OB. And it is loose enough in small surf to make the board extremely versatile.

I would say the advantages of carbon fiber over anything else are:
1. Speed - nothing is faster. In big surf you have to hold on. In small surf you can easily make flat sections.
2. Flex - Carbon fiber in sheets is not stiff. It has flex characteristics with an incredible ability to rebound exactly back to its original shape. A surfboard without a stringer is naturally going to flex more i.e. firewires and and all the new boards strengthened and joined at the rails. What makes the CF board unique is the top flexes differently than the bottom. This generates energy in paddling out, paddling into waves, and cutting/turning. It all amounts to added speed when you really need it.
3. Durability - These things are strong. All boards break, but chances are this one wont. Furthermore, you dont have to baby these things and pressure dings - never. They look brand new all the time.
4. Travel - no more worrying about the baggage handlers in Mexico City throwin your board around. I was on a trip and watched the handlers in Zihua/Ixtapa toss my board bag out of the plane, miss the belt loader, and bounce my babies across the tarmac. Not a single prob.

My initial reason for buying one was where I surf and how I surf tends to be very hard on a board and I was going through like 4-6 a year. I decided to make this investment and it has paid off. I have only broken two of these in 3 years. 12-18 X $600 vs. 3 X $1300

Besides the cost, I would say my biggest complaint is in choppy surf they are too light and hard to stay on. I think the 6'6" Doc quad is under 5 pounds, which is probably 50% lighter than a tradition glass board, but then again this is what makes them so fast. A good trade off.

[pkbum]

Quick question, did you break 2 of those board in 3 years because you didn't baby them and package them well enough?
Thanks for the advice.. I think I can make the decision.

[JG]

I broke my first one (6'6" Lost Proformance) by being stupid and catapulting off a 10 ft wave and holding onto my board, I was probably 6 to 8 ft in the air and I landed it on the backside flat section of the wave. That will break anything. The other I broke a couple of weekends ago by dropping in late to about a 10 - 12 ft wave. Landed a huge air drop off the top onto the bottom of the wave. Again stupid and mostly just bad luck. I should have bailed, but got hung up on the board. This was at Fort Point in SF too on a low tide inside section which is notoriously extra heavy. I know of 4 other broken boards that day in about a 2 hour window.

One thing I have learned is not be afraid if the board breaks and fills up with water. Although they instantly weigh like 15 pounds, they retain there bouancy. The first one I broke I caught a wave back in on it.

[pkbum]

So I guess the boards will break when it is pumping 10ft + and low tide .. which is usually not the case for socal.

Anyways thanks again for the advice.

[The Fafanator]

If you have $1800 then rather buy a few different boards for different conditions, like a malibu/minimal for smaller waves, a nice shortboard, a fish, watever, unless you are surfing a shallow reef with 10ft surf all the time, you won't have to worry, I skateboard and I have to buy a new board
every 2 months, and they are not that cheap (like $120, but all you have to buy is a deck, which is $60, but that still adds up to be alot)

[smallwavegrovellerchick]

Speaking of small places... Our 1 bdrm is about 500 sqft. I had to take pics with my cell phone to show you how we fit 18 boards within those 500 sq ft of space. Of course hanging them on rack would have been ideal, but since we're renting we didn't want to make holes in the walls and ceiling. I do baby my boards to some degree and I also get attached to them emotionally (if there isn't some kind of chemistry I sell the board). Definitely believe in building a quiver. Different board depending on the break, the waves, and my mood for the day.


Not much in the way of closet space either. Need a world map to help select future surf destinations!


Ummm...yeah we're a married couple living in a bachelor pad. All we need is a dartboard on the bathroom door and a pool table in the kitchen. BTW, we used to use our kitchen to store surfboards. We also had boards under the, under the sofa, and under the house.




The green and yellow boards are Marko EPS epoxy. They do pressure, but haven't dinged them yet. The green one slipped out of my hand when I was showering and it bounced off the pavement. Amazingly it didn't even have a scratch on it.

[pkbum]

Damn! That's a hell of a quiver you got there!

[tomcat360]

I glassed an EPS blank with 2 layers of 6oz cloth on top and bottom and I can't find a damn ding in the whole thing.

Get it custom and just beast it up on the glassing schedule. There are different types of CF boards, there ones made just like a regular board (foam and fiberglass, but cf used instead of regular cloth) then there are hollow cf boards, which are supposed to be super light, etc.

Lost's are way over sanded and lightly glassed. No wonder it broke. Lots of boards that are made by big companies are glassed really crappy. I have a WRV shortboard and fish that are both pretty weak. They have great glassers, but they go light on the schedule and then the sanders hit it with 40 grit, then spray it with automotive spray to cover it up. Anyways, with the 40 grit they are going down into cloth and breaking the strands which kills the durability.

So best thing, build a quiver like everyone says. Go to a local shaper, ask him to glass it heavy, you can get other types of glasses other than just E weave glass. You can get S-glass, which is stronger in the long-direction. If you get a shaper that is really into composites and can vacuum bag, he can lay tri-axial which is much much stronger. It looks rougher but if its done right it can look alright.

So just look into your options. CF boards are going to have a very very stiff flex pattern and you will be able to tell if you are coming from poly boards. Also epoxy with regular glass is going to feel much stiffer.

[CHarvey]

Don't feel bad grovellerchick. My girlfriend and I live in a 500 square foot apartment as well. I currently have 4 boards but now that I am starting to shape my own that is about the change in a big way.

[The Fafanator]

Speaking of small places... Our 1 bdrm is about 500 sqft. I had to take pics with my cell phone to show you how we fit 18 boards within those 500 sq ft of space. Of course hanging them on rack would have been ideal, but since we're renting we didn't want to make holes in the walls and ceiling. I do baby my boards to some degree and I also get attached to them emotionally (if there isn't some kind of chemistry I sell the board). Definitely believe in building a quiver. Different board depending on the break, the waves, and my mood for the day.


Not much in the way of closet space either. Need a world map to help select future surf destinations!


Ummm...yeah we're a married couple living in a bachelor pad. All we need is a dartboard on the bathroom door and a pool table in the kitchen. BTW, we used to use our kitchen to store surfboards. We also had boards under the, under the sofa, and under the house.




The green and yellow boards are Marko EPS epoxy. They do pressure, but haven't dinged them yet. The green one slipped out of my hand when I was showering and it bounced off the pavement. Amazingly it didn't even have a scratch on it.

Holy xxxxx!! I wish I have a quiver like that, and the boards are in perfect shape too, wow.

[niallhills]

BIC...unless you want a good board

[RustyG]

just fyi on repairs for carbon fiber boards...aviso repairs pretty much free from what my roommate has told me. he worked at their shop in nevada and said that they have also replaced people boards before for free as well...good customer service from what ive heard.