I've largely kept quiet re Varial, but IMO, they really need to add stringers.
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Smaller Bead EPS?
- Thread starter Havoc
- Start date
EPS is cheaper and more readily available worldwide. And consumers choose cheaper more often than not.
If EPS had been the starting point for everyone, then PUPE might have never been a thing. Poly would feel heavy, and sluggish compared to the accustomed accepted as "natural" feel of EPS. Then adaptation to newer XTR and Varial type foams could have evolved to the norm possibly. HST, surfers are stereotyped as cheap, impatient, and often lazy. Poly construction lines up pretty well with that so it might have been hard to stop from being our "natural" unless it didn't exist.
Many entrants are now starting with EPS constructions and staying with them. Poly might become the weird feel for most over time. The other newer foams or more complicated EPS/Epoxy constructions may be seen as the next step in progression when ordering or buying a board. Currently you might get to those long after riding poly, more standard EPS or Asian EPS constructions.
On my next order, I've decided to go EPS on the toe side and poly on the heel side. 
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I tried my hardest to like EPS boards through the years. Obviously, you have seen my quivers built around them. I’ve had quivers of basic EPS/epoxy, to more elaborate
EPS/carbon fiber, Dan Mann’s INCIDE blanks(search it if you don’t know what that is), CI’s Flex Bars and SpineTeks, etc, etc….All with EPS blanks as the common denominator. But no matter who made them and how they were made, they just don’t have the smoothness going through water that polyurethane has.
Guys mention Stretch and Justin, and I’ve had them use different lamination techniques & materials to add weight. Doing that would tamper the “chatter” people always talk about, but they would still want to push to the surface quicker than polyurethane. There’s just no glide to them. I’m no scientist but I know what I feel when surfing different constructions. The gaps between EPS beads are essentially tiny bubbles in a board. Blow a bubble under water and it will want to rise straight to the surface. That’s the best way I can explain it. If all things being equal, a polyurethane board will cover more distance than an EPS board if pushed through the water.
What does that mean while paddling and riding a wave? It’s way easier to paddle a poly board because you cover more distance with each stroke. Poly boards are also more stable because it is doing more of what you want it to do, instead of wanting to float to the surface like an EPS board. Which is why people describe a “squirrelly” feeling or an an “unpredictability” with EPS. When considering those characteristics, it’s easy to see why poly is better for bigger waves and wind.
I will say the extruded(XPS) foam that XTR and custom FCDs use are a very good
in-between, along with Varial. They feel A LOT closer to a poly/PU board. And a Varial laminated with PU resin will be even closer, but their foam is too soft for me and I like the feel/flex of a stringer
As I get older, my sessions are becoming more valuable to me. I’ve gone back to an all poly/PU quiver(even a few with carbon fiber) bc experimenting just isn’t worth the time & and money anymore. I get more upset at wasted sessions now than I used to bc time is more valuable to me than it used to. There’s still no better feeling board than a traditionally built Poly/PU. And when it’s built the right way, with quality materials by expert craftsmen, they flex better and keep that flex longer….meaning they age better and last longer better than an EPS/epoxy board, imo
EPS/carbon fiber, Dan Mann’s INCIDE blanks(search it if you don’t know what that is), CI’s Flex Bars and SpineTeks, etc, etc….All with EPS blanks as the common denominator. But no matter who made them and how they were made, they just don’t have the smoothness going through water that polyurethane has.
Guys mention Stretch and Justin, and I’ve had them use different lamination techniques & materials to add weight. Doing that would tamper the “chatter” people always talk about, but they would still want to push to the surface quicker than polyurethane. There’s just no glide to them. I’m no scientist but I know what I feel when surfing different constructions. The gaps between EPS beads are essentially tiny bubbles in a board. Blow a bubble under water and it will want to rise straight to the surface. That’s the best way I can explain it. If all things being equal, a polyurethane board will cover more distance than an EPS board if pushed through the water.
What does that mean while paddling and riding a wave? It’s way easier to paddle a poly board because you cover more distance with each stroke. Poly boards are also more stable because it is doing more of what you want it to do, instead of wanting to float to the surface like an EPS board. Which is why people describe a “squirrelly” feeling or an an “unpredictability” with EPS. When considering those characteristics, it’s easy to see why poly is better for bigger waves and wind.
I will say the extruded(XPS) foam that XTR and custom FCDs use are a very good
in-between, along with Varial. They feel A LOT closer to a poly/PU board. And a Varial laminated with PU resin will be even closer, but their foam is too soft for me and I like the feel/flex of a stringer
As I get older, my sessions are becoming more valuable to me. I’ve gone back to an all poly/PU quiver(even a few with carbon fiber) bc experimenting just isn’t worth the time & and money anymore. I get more upset at wasted sessions now than I used to bc time is more valuable to me than it used to. There’s still no better feeling board than a traditionally built Poly/PU. And when it’s built the right way, with quality materials by expert craftsmen, they flex better and keep that flex longer….meaning they age better and last longer better than an EPS/epoxy board, imo
Yeah, I have. Definitely feels better than EPS/epoxy, but epoxy doesn’t flex as well and as long as polyester resin. Gets hard and brittle much quicker
Yeah dyl, I couldn't agree more with you.
Please show more respect when addressing this man. He’s tried it all, and more than once.
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All of this is personal experience/preference. No disrespect to anyone! Try what you like, and if it works for you, then run with it! Don't know how many bricks i've sold or ridden, only to be told by my friend or others it's the best board they ever rode!
Has he tried 3lb eps with polyurethane rails, glassed with Resin Research 2040 low modulus resin and E/S hybrid cloth?
sounds like ur glassing the fkng space shuttle or something…
well that’s one way to dip ur toes in epsOn my next order, I've decided to go EPS on the toe side and poly on the heel side.
EPS groveler I liked immediately. I won't get a board that's solely for less than head high in poly again unless maybe it's the first iteration of a model I'm moving into. I'd try to get an EPS version as soon as possible if I liked it. EPS in small waves is a cheat code.