HPSB board weight is MORE important than volume

encladd

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Oct 8, 2019
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Lots of variable, I know, but had this revelation when ordering custom HPSB's or daily drivers. Can't stand a heavy board. Don't care what the volume is, if it's too heavy it's a no go. Is weight the next volume????
 

Lohena

OTF status
Oct 30, 2019
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Lots of variable, I know, but had this revelation when ordering custom HPSB's or daily drivers. Can't stand a heavy board. Don't care what the volume is, if it's too heavy it's a no go. Is weight the next volume????
Agreed, that's why I moved to eps or xtr for performance boards.
 
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encladd

OTF status
Oct 8, 2019
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What do you consider heavy ?
What do you consider light?
At what size/length?
I get your point but i'll answer it literally anyways... Thinking length, thickness, and width is irrelevant to weight when we have volume to use as a measurement. Anything over 5.5 pounds is too heavy at under 30 liters... for me anyways. Light would be < 5 lbs at 30 liters.

I weigh 150 lbs. The lighter you are the more it probably matters.
 
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LifeOnMars

Michael Peterson status
Jan 14, 2020
3,164
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5.5 is still featherweight. most stock poly boards are about 6.5, feels like a good middle ground. Handles the wind and chop better too. 150 is toothpick status for a normal height man, of course you’ll prefer something easier to throw around
 

Ivanmeister

Michael Peterson status
Dec 16, 2010
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Lighter is more responsive, there is no denying that. But weight also indicates how long that board will last; there is arguably less material to withstand the forces applied to it.
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
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I ride pro style glassed boards for my dd when waves are up to a few feet overhead and good. Single 4 oz bottom Single 4oz S-cloth deck with foot patches.

Boards don’t hold up but are noticeably more responsive. The one less layer of glass also affects the boards flex. Which is one of the reasons why the pro style glassing loses its pop faster.

When the waves get bigger and I use my set ups they are still glassed light. 4oz bottom 4oz e-cloth and 4oz s-cloth deck. Still want the boards to turn and adjust in the pocket.
 

daave

Gerry Lopez status
Dec 28, 2002
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Light boards feel good but certainly not the only factor. My example - I take the extra weight of fiberglass fins over the lighter core fins. I'm not doing airs and feel the performance benefits outweigh the extra weight.
 

everysurfer

Phil Edwards status
Sep 9, 2013
6,713
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Santa Barbara County
I ride pro style glassed boards for my dd when waves are up to a few feet overhead and good. Single 4 oz bottom Single 4oz S-cloth deck with foot patches.

Boards don’t hold up but are noticeably more responsive. The one less layer of glass also affects the boards flex. Which is one of the reasons why the pro style glassing loses its pop faster.

When the waves get bigger and I use my set ups they are still glassed light. 4oz bottom 4oz e-cloth and 4oz s-cloth deck. Still want the boards to turn and adjust in the pocket.
You can get the same feel by bagging with epoxy. Bagging lets you add a layer of cloth but keeping the same weight. Epoxy's extra flex compensates for stiffness of an extra layer of cloth
 
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teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
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The glass shops my shaper uses don’t vacuum bag. I’ve tried epoxy on pu, meh for the extra charge. Don’t care for eps, and Petey who use to do xtr blanks here moved to Indo. Super happy with the performance of my extra light pu/pe boards. The only reason I mentioned durability is guys on this forum always bring it up. I’d much rather have a magic/great board for 6 months than a dog that last forever.
 

everysurfer

Phil Edwards status
Sep 9, 2013
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The glass shops my shaper uses don’t vacuum bag. I’ve tried epoxy on pu, meh for the extra charge. Don’t care for eps, and Petey who use to do xtr blanks here moved to Indo. Super happy with the performance of my extra light pu/pe boards. The only reason I mentioned durability is guys on this forum always bring it up. I’d much rather have a magic/great board for 6 months than a dog that last forever.
Where are you? If in Orange County I think Barry Snyder bags. Does XTR bag?
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
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eastside oahu
I’m on Oahu.

Not really interested in any other construction than pu/pe. Tried other types but they don’t feel the same. Thanks anyway.
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
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eastside oahu
And if I lived in So. Cal. I would definitely get boards from Barry Snyder and Wayne at Oakfoils. They both seem like shapers I could build a surfer/shaper relationship with. And not just order online for 10% off. No offense guys. Haha.
 

Mr J

Michael Peterson status
Aug 18, 2003
2,250
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... Is weight the next volume????
its already been for some pros, but its not going happen for the rest of us for practical construction reasons.

In Mick Fanning's biography it is documented how his shaped blanks were weighed at the DHD factory and rejected before glassing if they didn't make a certain weight. Finished product also had to come in below a certain weight - 2.2 kg if I remember correctly.

We can't afford that treatment.

The idea of weighing a finished stock product and marking its weight on with marker pen would also open up a can of worms for an already tough market/industry. Would a customer looking at 2 identical size boards in the rack devalue the heavier weight?

Instead the best we can do is what Teeroi does - not actually specify a weight, but specify a glass schedule which doesn't guarantee a specific weight, but more likely to produce one in the target range.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,987
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Comparing one variable to another with no context seems fairly meaningless but I did a little thought experiment and decided that I disagree with the premise, as vague as it is.

Say you're ordering a board and the only choice you have is to pick the volume or the weight of the board, everything else is left up to the shaper.

Personally, I'm going volume.
 
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encladd

OTF status
Oct 8, 2019
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Comparing one variable to another with no context seems fairly meaningless but I did a little thought experiment and decided that I disagree with the premise, as vague as it is.

Say you're ordering a board and the only choice you have is to pick the volume or the weight of the board, everything else is left up to the shaper.

Personally, I'm going volume.
Most of us aren't scientists and have to do the best with what's in our minds when we're bored at work.

The thought exploration I was hoping to see from this thread was just a different thing to think about when ordering boards. So here's another way to think about it: Would you rather have a board be off by a pound or two or off by a few liters? Both are possible when ordering boards, and I wager weight would have a much higher impact on the performance of the board and how happy you are with the outcome.
 
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