EPS vs My Poly:
Surf chest high to 2 feet over head.
I paddled out on the EPS, my buddy paddled out on the poly. I surfed 5 waves, traded out boards…and my buddy never gave my EPS board back for the rest of the session.
Negatives, EPS not as durable. Showing pressure dings from heal (next time I’ll go 3x6oz on the deck) nothing big, just noticed them.
Paddle, felt real good, actually caught waves better than the poly board? Lighter, quicker…I don’t know why, but I was out paddling most of the crew, must have been the big breakfast & the stoke of finally getting waves in So Cal
Drop ins, made a few waves that I would normally would not have. Don’t know if its because the 1/8 less in the tail so I can stand / sink the tail and take a bit more on take off, and therfore pick the nose up? , but it made a few good steep drops.
Bottom turn, projects out of the bottom turn like nothing I’ve ever surfed before. Like loading up a spring and letting it go…noticable, but not obnoxious, kind of like someone giving you a little push out of the bottom turn, very good at weighting / unweighting. Stable making sections coming from behind the foam soup.
Cut backs, felt good and loose, but not as drivey coming around from the round house. But very good at bouncing off the foam ball and redirecting down the line. Felt more in control on the bounce back / redirect. Though I’m still a surf hack, and need a few more sessions in this arena.
Floatation, floats well, but not as well as my poly. Why? Due to the 1/8 less thinness less than the poly board. The EPS is 1/8 all around thinner. What I would do next time is keep your standard thickness, and take a pass or two more out of the rails. So far I don’t see the validity to make your boards thinner because it’s made out of EPS, but it might come into play with bigger waves and more speed?
Board is lighting fast, probably due to the overall lightness, and the PVC stringer ability to load and compress and release the energy out of the bottom turn. Actually it feels like the boards short comings from material and design are only limited to Resinheads surfing abilities. I’m wondering what’s going to happen when it gets bigger? How much more energy will it store and release, or will it load up and fail, or will it load up and slingshot me right into the fricking lip like Andy Irons.
Limitiabilities don’t know from the one surf, but I’m stoked on the first surf, feels like I’m a kid again surfing a 6’6". Durability? I made it extremely light weight, so if it lasts 6 mos, or 6 yrs will be the question. I could have put a bunch more glass on it, and it still would have been lighter than a surftech. It’s an experimental vehicle, and if i was doing it for consumers, I’d have to make it more durable.
Buddy friends assessment, Buddy friend has owned a Linden 8’0 fun gun XTR and about 6 yrs old… Had trouble with it…he says too corky? He didn’t want to surf the resinhead EPS…I made him. He is a wave hog by nature, and on the EPS board he was a wave hog pain in the ass x 2. I saw him surf on it and it looked like he was hitting higher up on the wave than normal, but he looked kind of squirley coming out of the bottom turns, but he was showing more bottom of the board in the turn than normal. His assessment was that he want’s one in about a 8’8" range for the Winter.
I’ll report back when I get more waves…bigger waves, and…if I can get the board back from buddy
Resinhead from the lab,out
