XTR stringered feel great to me. similar to PU but with a little extra spice. SL-CK also felt good, being a little more flexible. not sure which I prefer. Two of my favorites right now are wood stringered XTR 8.C. They yellow worse than some so get color if that bothers you.
Torsion Spring from Rusty also uses same XPS foam as the XTR guys but with the carbon rail dealio. I like the build, similar feel to XTR but also a little different in ways I'm not sure I can describe. I think I prefer the XTR builds TBH even though Rusty fit and finish is good. I'm just not sure I like carbon rails. Not sure if they have the same yellowing problem as XTR, they have a purplish tint so I think they use an optical brightener which may help. Mine all have color so I can't tell for sure.
Both of the above builds are noticeably more durable than a normal PU but they aren't indestructible. They don't suck water when dinged which is really nice. I also feel like the XPS foam core might be a bit tougher than EPS? I've busted out a lot of fin boxes or cracked around the boxes on both EPS and PU boards over the years but have yet to see any stress cracks on any of my XTR fin boxes.
Carbon Wrap feels good. Only ridden mine in somewhat small waves since the one I have is a groveler but I have taken it out in strong winds and bumpy conditions and it was fine. Feels like a reasonable weight, not crazy light. Springy and responsive. Durability not great at all on mine. Dents EZ and speaking of blowing out fin boxes...
HyFi has nice weight. Looks like a lot of fiber used. Feels solid in hand. Handles chop and wind better than most EPS builds I've tried so far. Lively and springy but not overly so. Good balance of weight/flex. Durability good so far. Passed the guardrail bonk test with flying colors. Got this one used online, expected AUS made but it's a Thai board so that's one knock.
Stretch EPS stringered. Good balance, not too light. Good durability. Despite the weight being reasonable I felt like they were sometimes overly lively, like the bamboo stringer flexed and sprung back more than I really cared for.
Super Brand Superflex. Similar to HyFi, maybe a little lighter. It's EPS, it's lively and responsive. Durability seems good so far. Fit and finish is good. USA made.
Coil, man I used to love them. The OG grid were the best EPS boards ever. Good weight, great feel, amazing durability. So far ahead of their time. Once they went to dimple tech they kind of lost me. They seemed lighter and didn't work as well for me in juice. They also didn't seem quite as strong and fixing dings was a more of a pain with the bumpy surface. Broke two of them in one winter and haven't gotten another one since. That's not to say they were weak, the waves were heavy and I think most other boards would have broken.
Stringered EPS. I've had quite a few of these. Honestly with the right core, a thin stringer and a little extra glass I think a standard EPS board feels just as good as any of the fancy looking carbon builds. I adore my EPS Banjo fish with just double 4oz. top and bottom. I would probably go 6x4 + 4x4oz. next time for just a little extra weight and durability.
I'm probably forgetting some.
