Mr. Whipple’d some Firewires, and quiver costs.
Got a chance to hold a few of the Firewires that our local surf shop just got in. I was surprised at how narrow the balsa rails were. I’d say they were less than ½" each, more in the 3/8"neighborhood, then shaped down. The noses on all the board did not have a nose block. In fact, the balsa rail was just shaped right on down to nothing, leaving 2 – 3 inches of non-balsa. Tail blocks on all the boards. Hard to tell what the material was for the skin. The opaque paint schemes looks really cool, but I couldn’t tell if the material was that color or painted. All were outfitted with FCS thrusters, except the fish (twin). The vent was a trip, had a large diameter hex bolt. At first I thought I could open and close it at will, the sticker had instruction not to mess with it. I think once they start getting second hand this could be a problem. $770 was the going rate. For your reference, J Pattersons next to them were in the $600 range. Futures Bat tail quads on those. That might be the thing that makes me feel good about my crappy boards, $150 a pop.
The first one I grabbed was the biggest one they had, 6’-8" Alternator (big guy tri-ish). The weight didn’t blow my mind on this one. Don’t get me wrong, it was light-as light a super light semi-disposable poly, I just thought the rack straps were there to keep it from floating away.
Then to the smallest one in the rack, a Fishtail (their fish). This one was super light. 5’-8" has a lot to do with it. But still way lighter than a friend’s 5’-5" epoxy fish.
They also had the Flexfire (standard shortboard). Didn’t spend too much time getting to know these, just not my thing. But it was super light and had a very hard tail. I’d say the last 18" – 24" was really sharp.
The quality looked to be superb. They sold 2 of them in 2 days. I asked the shop guy if they had one to jump on (I swear I would have done it). He said they sent an instructional on “how to jump on the board”, or something like that. The guy said the manager had no plans of jumping on the boards (brings my already high respect for the guy even higher).
I’m super stoked for Bert and those guys, they nailed it. Class act. I’d like to hear from any new Firewire riders out there.
Also, what do people pay for a quiver? Not just Firewires, all your boards. I guess you’d have to figure in consumables, like tape and paint, but not electricity or rent.
6’-4" Balsa compsand fish = $ 175 or so.
(2) 7’-6" polys = $ 225 ea with someone else glassing.
7’-2" used poly SeaGlass fun board = $100 for the wife.
5’-10" used poly Action twin w/third box = $ Free (thanks Talbert)
WM
