The Firewire Fights or Board Porn gone bad (Warning Picture Heavy)

General Discussion
1

After a couple years of waiting I’ve finally got the opportunity to test Bert’s theorem in person. Unfortunately I’ve had to settle for the “seppo” version versus the son of a beach but if this is supposed to be the hottest sh*t ever, I guess its time to seperate the BS from reality in a series of head to head Pride fighting anything goes title shots…

So over the next couple of months the new guy in town is going head to head against some of the best in the dojo to see what he’s got and if he can cut the mustard here.

Anyway here’s the lineup and matches to come…

Round one: Battle of the Gurus

Ladies and Gentlemen. On the right I present the genius workings of one D. Parmenter with his Malolo(Flying fish)

Specs

DP’s secret sauce number one full rail deep bevel

DP Secret Sauce #2 Deep double barrel right through tail

And on the left we have the genius handicraft of one G.Griffin otherwise known as Chandler of Northshore fame

Specs

GG’s secret sauce is a handmade 5-fin configuration specifically tuned to the design

And in the middle we have Mr. B.Burger’s metamorphisized SonofaBech to SurfBurger to Firewire

Specs

Secret sauce of wood perimeter rails EPS core and tuned Epoxy shell flex construction

Round Two: Battle of the misunderstood geniuses Mr. A versus Mr. B J. Alexander versus B. Burger

Round Three: Battle of other religions. Loaded Dome and Soft Tuned Flex Versus Perimeter rail “Tuned Flex”

In the right corner we have the torsion box soft skin flex genius of Mr.'s J Richardson/Johnson

And in the left corner we have a loaded dome keel fin zap genius of one R Carroll under C Horan’s guidance

Next up: The battle of the turbocharged twin fins

Fin Check

Check the interpretations of fin design, placement and tail design pardon the homemade disaster

Finally the battle of the oldies but goodies

Burger ala 2006 versus Bushman ala 1993

Nev Burger versus Keone Downing

So how will this young brash stalwart hold his own against these seasoned veterans and masters of alternative styles…

Only time will tell

But the testing and one to one comparisons hopefully should an interesting ride for anyone who bothers to stay tuned.

Let’s get ready to Ruuumbbble…

PS

and just to set the record straight. The number one stud fighter in the dojo currently is Chandler’s 5fin fish. Cause it just does everything well.

it speaks volumes that the proper understanding and delivery of design as a complete concept start to finish overrides any tricks or techno that solve only one part of the problem…

2

Yeeeoooow. Stoked for ya B.

So it came through the post un harmed??

Mate, do you own all of those boards? Thats an amazing quiver… would love to ride, let alone own, all those boards!! Some beautiful boards there.

Can’t wait to hear how it all pans out.

Cheers n goodluck!

Ant

3

…I think I just entered quivering photo orgasm land …thanks Bernie for the hardcore stuff !!

Thank god someone here actually rides surfboards ! [Instead of just theorising about them all day long ]

cheers

ben

…actually , now comes the hard part for you Bernie …having to stay out of the water as “Sharkcounty” exacts revenge on you , by riding all those boards …while you sit there videoing . Look after that blown-out knee of yours eh mate ? …you don’t want to do any MORE damage to it , surely ??

4

I liked seeing the “secret sauce.” :slight_smile: That Malolo looks like fun. You’ve got one diverse quiver. Hope you get some this weekend. Looking forward to the play by play.

Josh

5

Da Slippah… I talked to a guy on one similar to that today. Looked like he was having a lot of fun.

6

I think I’ll make this thread my homepage - Mahalo Bernie

7
8

Hey if know you any big guy that wants one let me know cause we’re selling the slipah

Keone made it for me even though he really didn’t want to go this big with that design.

It’s 6’8" x 20" x 2 7/8" my brother has a 6’ version which is more in the range Keone like to have these since he considers it a fish and not a stubby. A guy 200-210 might find this interesting

He said it was made to go straight up and down like a short board versus the down the line surfing of a fish

It reminds me so much of a McCoy nugget or my cheyne board even has that deep vee in the nose kick for vertical drops and big tail. You aren’t supposed to move you feet off the tail with this board and drive it like a thruster.

Keone really likes them and he and Kainoa have ridden them in the country up to about 6’ hawaiian at Lani’s and Chuns.

I just couldn’t quite figure it out and tend to move around too much with my 70’s style.

its one of also have boards

9

Hi Bernie,

You know which one I am rooting for…

Nice quiver. I have never tried the swallow nose model. Interesting looking. Forstall shaped one and said it was nice.

10

There’s only one contest. The 5 fin fish versus the firewire. The only question that needs to be answered is whether the firewire can ride like the 5 fin. I would ride my 5 fin in anything from waist high to as big as I can paddle in to. I know it can handle the bottom turn as well as any thruster. It’s the only fish I’ve ridden that I can say that about. It also has that lifting thing going on under the fins that you don’t get from any other board. Truely an amazing board.

The problem with the 5 fin is it’s made from traditional PU/PE and won’t last long. If the firewire can do what the 5 fin does, it will be a great board.

Meanwhile, I’ll just wait until you get tired of it… hahaha.

11

SWEEEET,that’s going to be a fun few days surfing and an interesting set of results (go on, make us a whole set of tables and graphs- so dorky but so fun.) All nice looking boards and my predjudices/experience/board coveting would put the Griffin 5, the PArmenter and of course the Slipah as my top picks, Came VERY close to picking up a 6’ Slipah last time I was there. Go at it Bernie, we’re waiting for results excitedly.

12

Would you mind giving some impressions on how the FW floats you? If I recall correctly from another thread you’re around 200 lbs, right? I was looking at their 6’ fish or 6’2 futura, but don’t quite know how they float. I’m 6’ 195, so pretty close to your weight.

13

i have to go change my pants after seeing all those boards…

someone was at surf station on monday talking about fire wire… those boards are pretty good for us here in the FL

i haven’t ridden one, but hey one day, when i don’t feel like shaping myself a board, i will go and get one and tell ya’ll what i think…

are there going to be pictures of you surfing those radical boards???

especially during this heat:

what in the hell are those noses for anyways???

14

just thought I’d ask before I started this ride/performance testing project

to keep it as fair and honest as possible

will you folks help me layout a decent test plan/test script to run these through…

In my line of work when we preform regression testing on a new implementation/upgrade of an existing environment we are required to develop both a test plan and individual test scripts that can document when something is working as expected or promised to us or not. So I’d like to keep the same methodology here just to stay away from all the subjective influences that surround something like surfing…

Typically a same test script for me would look something like what I have below:

PROJECT TEST SCRIPT:

Tester’s Background

•

Test Board Specs and Design Characteristics

•

Task

Number Task Performed Expected Results Test Results Comments – Include Details

                                                                       YES/NO

                                                                       if possible  

                                                                 include any pictures

===========================================================================================

So what I’m soliciting here are the specific tasks you want me to put these devices through and the expected or anticipated result. Once we can develop a decent baseline the tests will be applied uniformally to each test object and the results posted for review here. The more we stay away from anything with the words “feels like” in it the better.

Here’s some basic items I’ll throw out we don’t have to include them

  1. does it fit under my arm (32/33 sleeve)

  2. paddling out

  3. duck diving

  4. sitting in the water where’s the water level

  5. paddling and catching waves

    a. early take off

    b. late take off

    c. in windy conditions

  6. air drops

  7. bottom turn

    a. front side

    b. backside

  8. top turn

    a. front side

    b. backside

  9. cut back/snap back

    a. front side

    b. backside

  10. down the line speed

  11. tube handling

  12. floaters

  13. wave compatibility

    a. in mush

    b. in juice

    c in size

  14. rider/style compatibility same tests with as many different riders as possible.

kind of like the traditonal sports equipment testing we normally see everywhere except with surfing…

and no as far as equipment the soul metaphor in surfing plays about as much a role as the drugs one took to get some…

think about that before some of you get all religious on me

I’m trying to make this an honest observation versus some typical surfer comment you hear like “man it rides unreal” or “man it rides like sh**t” cause there are better questions to ask and answers to provide to help you decide.

15

LIKE YOUR IDEA ONEULA

IF POSSIBLE CAN WE ADD WEIGHT TO EACH BOARD?

AND SEE WHAT COMES UP FIRST

CIAO

16

I’m riveted. This is so good to see, as I’ve been into legitimate testing for a couple of decades now and have gotten real serious about it in the last few years. The benefits of taking subjective “feel” data is also extremely important. Objective things that you can measure, etc are good for comparison.

Along with measuring waterline when you sit up on the board, you might consider a volume number. Cu. in. or Liters will be very revealing. If you have access to a tank to dip into, or a trough, you can measure the left half (or right) of each board to get the displacement. (Immerse the board so the waterline is at the stringer). Once you know the total volume, you can also get the volume polarity (dipping the board from the midpoint to the tail) and find what percent of the total volume is in the tail. Relate this to paddle, sprint, wave catching and duck-diving. (Analysis that relates measured physical board attributes to real-world performance elements).

For subjective transfer into quantitative values, you could use a Hedonic rating scale, like 1 to 5. Getting conditions that will make testing easier is the hardest part. I found waves in Indonesia that were very repeatable, which was during the period that I messed with fin types and fin positioning, and it was VERY enlightening.

Also, discussion amongst all riders to see if there is a unanimous opinion overall for a board is useful, “bottom-line testing”.

Lastly, single-blind and double-blind testing kept things more honest, though it was expensive to do this, in one year I made 63 test boards, I rarely make more than 20 for myself in a given year.

17

…WHAT is “single” and “double blind” testing , George ?

Bernie , I reckon having the same size and shape boards , out of different materials , same fins , in the same positions ,

as much standard / “identical” between the two test boards as possible …

otherwise you and Harry might wonder whether it’s “the extra 2” length ", the less rocker , the width , the bevelled rails , etc, making your test board ride differently to the “Firewire”.

I would like to read Bud808’s comments on how they surf , and bammbamm’s too , and have Bill Barnfield look over , surf, and comment on the firewire .

This is a good thread , if it stays as practical as possible … hopefully , also including FOOTAGE of the boards being ridden one by one ?

Hopefully , as George mentioned , you are blessed with some good consistent waves in the coming weeks / months it will take to do this ! (Being in hawaii, you definately have the advantage of quality waves ! )

q:

how many surfs will you have on each board , before recording your findings , do you reckon ?

cheers mate !

ben
18

Hey Ben,

single-blind refers to the tester and the test subject. The person riding the board is not allowed to

check out the board, the person doing the testing can know what it is. With surfboards this will have

some limitations but you get the drift.

double-blind means the rider doesn’t know (minimal) what the board is, and the person handling the

test has no idea what the board is (“looks like Bill is riding the Super-Pup this time”) so as to not tell

any hint as what to expect.

You would be surprised how much subtle bias can creep in and wreck an effort. Trust me, it is VERY

difficult to strip away what is considered “cool” and “acceptable”…

…I’m not suggesting surfing blindfolded, but if someone knows how that would be great, plus if you can

blindfold someone’s preconceived notions, that would be even better.

19

" …I’m not suggesting surfing blindfolded, but if someone knows how that would be great, plus if you can

blindfold someone’s preconceived notions, that would be even better."

(enter stage left…“TEST RIDER” !! [and , anonymous board ] )

20

O, M, G!

board bag for blind testing, but bag on the head for blind tester?!!

Who wants to try and collect data? Ben! Ben? (“I’m over here”).

“All data will be handled under a cloak of secrecy…”