The factory is in Thailand actually. But whatever…
Yes the original factory is in Thailand, but they have been actively looking to outsource in China. There’s too much labor instability in Thailand, and many other companies outsourced there are going elsewhere (Vietnam, etc) where government labor control is tighter.
Yeah, it was Thailand I was thinking of. Regardless, so far, I am really liking the Dominator. The quality of mine at least, is excellent. Had anyone else come up with such a drastically different and innovative board design and feel before Firewire…at least like Firewire’s? I would liken the flex characteristics and rebound to kind of like how snowboards have camber and how that rebounds you out of turns. Like I said, so far mine has been great. I was originally asking anyone who hasa newer one just about the durability factor. Just curious, as I have not had mine very long…
There are inacuracies in your statements about Thailand and Firewire. Where are you getting your info?
I got to feel a new 6’4" Dominator courtesy of another surfer about to paddle out last week and really dug this board. I haven’t been too keen on any of the other FW shapes but I really liked the outline, foil, and fin options, not to mention the weight. I’m only 5’8"/160lbs. (5 months of full winter gear = 175/180lbs.) of intermediate ability and thinking of getting a 6’0" or 6’2" for grovelling knee high to good chest high beach break. I’m leaning towards the latter for more paddle power and comfort all year round. How big are you riding yours in comparison to your height/weight/ability and conditions? It seems the sweet spot on the Dominator would be pretty broad considering the outline and not needed to be ridden at “shredder” dimensions ie. I’m supposed to be on a 5’6" at my height/weight. I also generally ride thicker boards, a 6’4" flat deck downrailed wingpin singlefin and a 9’5" log when it’s small. Looking for something lighter and quicker to throw around a little more.
ABout where Firwire boards are made, I had read recently, may-be even off their page about them moving their factory out of the states-can’t remember for sure where. However, like I said in response to the other post, it said they still have total control over production and quality with their factory(ies) by having them run by two Aussies.
Northeast- I am about 5’11" and around 180-185. I love the 6’4 and it is extremely responsive-especially compared to other boards as wide and thick. It is all in the design…the dims are sick and work for me so far really well. I ride in southern NC conditions mostly so…I like to have that little extra float so I can catch more waves…But like I said, even with that little extra float, the board rips and is very responsive.
Greg, I heard this directly from a Chinese company that did rework for FireWire as a precurser to production. They prefer to be low-key, so I won’t mention names but they make a number of boards under various well-known labels. Many very well known and respected glassers, shapers, surfers, and board graphics names are affiliated with them. Those names would surprise many people. They said they didn’t like the FireWire construction methods, mostly because it wasn’t a good fit with their current processes. I don’t know if they took this any farther than just the rework, because they didn’t like that either. They do surftech-type (d-cell+ paint), bagged epoxy, and also hand lay-up pigmented epoxy and poly. This topic came up during a conversation I had with them regarding board construction using Chinese versus US brands of materials. This isn’t my opinion or something I read somewhere.
The fact is that the labor situation in Thailand is a mess. There were recent strikes at Cobra and many other non-surf related companies. The military had to intervene in some cases. I don’t personally know anybody at either the Cobra or FireWire factories, and I don’t think they need to or want to make public statements about their internal operations. No major companies do this. But when a competitor comes to you asking for turnkey manufacturing, that says volumes. Surftech and Tuflite boards are overstocked (including warehouses), and sales are terrible. They don’t need more production out of the Thailand factories and I’m sure that these are currently operating at very low levels if any. FireWire sales are even worse; in Sep '08 they stopped shipping boards with fins to lower costs (tariffs mostly), prior to that it was the closure of the US and Aus factories. I’m not impressed with the spin that CEO Mark Price put on these changes (environmental + lower MSRP) in his public statements. If you really want to see what FireWire Thailand is actually shipping these days, go to this site: http://www.importgenius.com/shipments/firewire-thailand-co.html . If you pay the fee, you can see the bills of lading for every container and frequency of shipments to the US. Sorry if you have investments in FireWire, are an employee, or just have some weird kind of brand-loyalty.
great feedback thanks surfncw. i’ll probably go 6’2" when the time comes. great area down southern nc - spent some vacation down in wilmington. super friendly people.
Pete, Some of your information is correct, but very old info, like other old info that keeps getting mention here. It is totally irrelevant today. So many things change, and there have been a lot of changes in the last couple of years. The shipping website you mentioned is dated 2007 and is just one of those advertising tack on sites. Probably hasn’t been updated since then.
I have no weird brand loyalty, even if I do work for FW. We have no problems with our staff, actually we have a really good time at work, in a factory that would be the envy of many, and I’ve seen my share of shithole board factories. The Cobra situation was an employer policy issue, not a Thailand labour force issue, and if you heard the military were involved with that then you really need to get a better source of information.
I’m not really in the habit of commenting on general chatter here, I prefer the real board design stuff. But if statements on certain subjects are made in public then it would be good if they were correct and using up to date information.
Greg-
I bought a 7'2" Firewire off of craigs list and it looked brand new and the guy said he had only ridden it 3 times as he ended up going with a shorter one. It looks brand new. I rode it for the first time today in small beach break and half way through the session I noticed 2" long crunched whole and another smaller hole. I sometimes drag my second toe on my front foot when I get up and could see that it just dragged right through the glass. I am really bummed because it was working great for me and really what I have been looking for being a big guy with limited options on new construction boards. Have you seen or heard of anything like this and is there anything I can do?
David