TL2 or firewire

General Discussion
1

Hey everybody , i’m new to the forum and i have been reading posts here for quite some time, i have a few questions in whitch i hope someone could help me out on

i’m verry interested in buying a TL2 or Firewire board, the ideal thing would be to just go to a surf shop and test whitch board i like best, but since my home adres is morocco (north africa) well…we don’t have anny real surf shops around here, let alone

surf shops that has these boards so i’m ordering them from europe, most of the time we just surf the boards the tourists sell here or leave behind, there ain’t no local shapers to help me awnser my question so the internet is where i have to get all my info

reason why i want to buy a TL2 or firewire is because i read lots of things on how strong they are, so it would be cool for me to have a board that could last me atleast a few years ( fingers crossed)

annyway here are a few of my questions

-would you guys recomend me to get firewire or TL2 in the sence of are firewires stronger than TL2 boards or vice versa

-what about dings on a firewire, are they eazy to repair or can i just use epoxy ressin, the rails are balsa wood since i never owned a board that used wood for rails and since rails catch the most dings , how do you repair the wooden rail if say it bumped into a rock or sommething meaning can a regular guy like myself fix this or is this really a job for experienced shapers…(maybe a stupid question but i really have no idea, and since we don’t have no shapers…)

  • i surfed a tufflite 1 and they are quite floaty also most reviews i read on the internet recomand going 2 to 3" smaller for tufflite boards…does the same rule apply for the TL2 boards

i’m 1.81m tall and weigh about 69 Kg , i’m looking for a board that is a good all rounder, sommething to expand my quiver ,a board that worksd on small waves as well as say just overhead, at the moment i have a tufflite 6.1 webber 18.25" wide and 2.19" thick, i really like the board but not so good for those smaller days,

i’m doubting between these three boards

-TL2 UFO 6.2 (randy french)

-firewire QuadFish 6.0

-firewire 6.2 QuadraFlex

with all you guys experience what board would you think is the way to go , i know that this is ofcourse a difficult question to awnser but please keep in mind that its as good as imposible for me to try before i buy (there was word that there would be some testing days for TL2 but have no idea when this would be.)

and maybe one last question the webber i’m surfing now is 2.19" (5.56 cm) thick and say if i would go for the TL2 UFO ,this one is 2.13" (5.40 cm) thick is this going to make a big difference in float, or does the wider template fuller tail and nose make up for this. is the 2.13 thickness ok for my weight 69kg (without wetsuit) in TL2 construction.

i really hope you guys could help me to anwser a few of my questions, i would greatly appreciate it.

cheers

2

hey there ramos!

im sorry i cant help on your specific question but i wanted to ask how easy it is for you to order boards from morocco. the reason i ask is i have surfed the last 4 years in immessouanne south of essouaira. ive made a good friend there and id like to give him one of my shapes at some point but dreaded the customs hassle of sending/bringing the board to him

where do you surf?

mark

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hey surfingdog,

best thing for you to do and safest is to bring the board when visiting morocco and leave it behind, sometimes they place a stamp or write in you’re pasport at the customs saying you brought a board in morocco (this doesn’t happen allot but i know for 100% this has happened ) i know a good friend who had this happened to him, sold his board in morocco and when leaving morocco he just told customs that the board had been broken after a litl while and after some small discussion and explaining that boards snap and that there was no reasson for him to bring a snaped board back to europe they just left it at that …no extra payment …nothing.

shiping it over brings loads of hassle and if he does get the board he’s probably going to have to pay taxes for the board, depending on the weight…etc

so best thing is to take it with you when visiting morocco, you gona make a guy really happy :smiley:

good luck

4

hey ramos, I am in a rush right now so i am going to be brief.

Firewires, can be repaired by anyone, however, like any EPS the board must be allowed to dry before fixing. If the board is fixed before it is dried problems occur. I have seen plenty of broken firewires too, so just beware.

I don’t know too much about the tl2 boards but I think they are more what you are looking for. the UFO should have enough volume to float you, the board might get a little skittery when the waves get big with that really wide tail.

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thank you for the reply riderofwaves, appreciate it

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ramos…off topic, but do you have any pics of the surf in Morocco?

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hey afoaf, i got some you tube video’s

don’t know if you have seen sipping jetstreams theres a shane dorian part in the movie where he and some other guys surf morocco , also the new movie trilogie, taj burrow has a part where he surfs morocco…the dane renolds movie has a morocco part…annyway here you go, enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX3xN5f7_Os

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KJeTWdKIx8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrTIwQeR7EA

http://magicseaweed.com/photoLab/viewPhoto.php?photoId=27981

http://magicseaweed.com/photoLab/viewPhoto.php?photoId=16695

http://magicseaweed.com/photoLab/viewPhoto.php?photoId=16694

http://magicseaweed.com/photoLab/viewPhoto.php?photoId=9160

if you got to magicseaweed website just select morocco and whitch spot there’s loads of pictures there

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ramos, thanks for your advice,

which part of maroc do u surf?

inch allah!

9

If you have to order a Firewire or TL2 9because they are not locally available in shops), why don’t you just go ahead and order a board from the master himself- Bert Burger aka Sunova Surfboards. Don’t know how much a custom would be or how long you’d have to wait but you’d for sure get a better product.

Just my 2 cents

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@ surfingdog

my home spot is “moulay bousselham”, great spot , love it…

inshallah ;D

@llilibel03

i get my boards out of europe so ordering from the states would bring loads of problems and the coast for shipping and insurance is going to be sky high, i contacted annother surfshop from the states for info on TL2 shiping (won’t name anny names) and shipping coast alone was like around 200$ and i probably will have to pay import taxes that come with that so…way to expensive…:smiley:

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is there annyone to please awnser a few of my questions…would realy appreciate it

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I second the Sunova opinion. If I were you, I’d first find out what it would cost to order and ship one of Bert’s boards before committing to a pop out.

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Ramos, sunova is out of australia, not that it would be that much cheaper, if at all. Morocco is sitting quite comfortably at the top of my surf destination list. Being a college student though, I don’t think I will be headed there anytime soon. otherwise I would be happy to bring a board to you.

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Hi Ramos -

I didn’t catch which model Webber you are currently riding. Surftech has several Webber designs. Maybe one is a logical step from what you are riding now.

My son just returned from a trip, including a stay in Morrocco, and has a Surftech Afterburner model which he rode over there. He seems to like it. He also has a Bushman Pancho Sullivan model.

Yes, increased tail width will compensate for less thickness.

One feature you might think about is the pressure relief vent. In a recent thread it was mentioned that someone needs a replacement vent for a Salomon. I think it is a Gore-Tex membrane vent. I’m pretty sure Firewire uses a similar vent but not sure about Sunova.

Since Surftech uses an improved fused EPS core, a vent is considered not necessary. I haven’t heard of Surftech delam or bubble issues so maybe they’re on to something.

Anyway, Surftech, Firewire and Sunova are all good products that should give you good performance and durability. I only bring up the vent issue as a consideration. It might be difficult to find a replacement if you developed a leak and needed to replace one.

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hey guys

thnx for the replys john meller

on the sunnova part i’m pretty sure that its going to coast me tons of money shiping from australia, also one of the main reasons that i’m buying now is because of the low dollar in comparision with the Euro because of that having it from Europe is going to do me fair bit of profit where otherwise it would have also coasted me much more (around 200$ profit now)

@johnmeller

(i ride the surftech webber 6.1 taj model at the moment)

Those are actually some verry good points you’re making and it got me thinking, the firewire boards do look really nice but as you pointed out its so hi-tech that if there would be a problem with the vent or whatever i would have a really really hard time replacing let alone getting it fixed, there is no way i could have it fixed in morocco…guess those hi-tech boards are only good if you have shapers that can repair them should annything happen to them. i guess the builders of the board didn’t had north-africa in mind when working on this thing :smiley:

also i have read SO MUCH Different opinions on firewire that i really don’t know what to think annymore its like 50% hates them 50% loves them,i realise that the only real way to get the board that fits is to test,test ,test…if only i could.

also to me its not about owning this trendy brand board the only reasson and idea behind going for the TL2 or firewire was to have a board that is going to last me longer than a traditional board, just don’t want to deal with the hassle of ordering boards every year…as if i had the money for that annyway :smiley:

annother thing maybe you guys could awnser…i read on the net that the TL2 board are to be compared with pro glassed boards, but isn’t it so that pro glassing is in no way strong and in no way for a regular guy using it everyday, i mean they ding just from looking at them wright…are they actually allot stronger than a traditional board or is there more sails talk than truth to the story.

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Hey Ramos,

I have owned both because of the specific reason I could no longer afford to pay $700 for a board that lasted only a year at the most. I am about 180 cm and 78 kgs. So, close in weight and height. I don’t think you want to buy the 6’2" quadraflex since that is going to be really big for your weight. I don’t know how long you’ve been surfing. I’ve been surfing for 21 years. I ride the 6’2" firewire flexfire which is a really good all around board for me. I used to have a 6’3" Channel Islands K-board Tuflite. They were pretty similar in strength. The only real dings that showed on either board was from me doing a drop knee onto my rail when trying to get off my board after a wave. Both looked like I cracked a bit of the fiberglass but neither were close to leaking. The major difference between the two is the flex. The Tuflites really don’t flex. Which you may or may not care about. But after riding a Tuflite for a year and then switching to a Firewire I really noticed how unflexable the Tuflites were. You can really feel it when doing a turn. I felt like I could do much tighter turns on the firewire, more like on a normal board. I would say go with a Firewire, but go with either the Alternator or the Flexfire models since they are more like normal boards than the Fish or the Quad.

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“…are they eazy to repair or can i just use epoxy ressin, the rails are balsa wood since i never owned a board that used wood for rails and since rails catch the most dings , how do you repair the wooden rail if say it bumped into a rock or sommething meaning can a regular guy like myself fix this or is this really a job for experienced shapers…(maybe a stupid question but i really have no idea, and since we don’t have no shapers…)”

Hi Ramos…

The most important things with fixing dings to a Balsa rail are:-

Sand open the shattered fibreglass and allow the wood to dry out. You can assist this with a hair-dryer.

Use epoxy resin for compatibility with the original lamination. A deep ding in the wood can be filled in the standard way, with a mix of resin and balsa dust for a colour match, then sanded back a little below the level of the original rail line and glassed over with fresh fibreglass.

There are any number of ding tips to be found here on Swaylocks, so read up because your isolated location means you may need to have a go, whatever board you ride.

Check out the Sunova website for an alternative to the boards you have stated as options…I’m sure you will find the model range thorough for your size and wave types, and I’m open to questions.

Josh

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Quote:
Those are actually some verry good points you're making and it got me thinking, the firewire boards do look really nice but as you pointed out its so hi-tech that if there would be a problem with the vent or whatever i would have a really really hard time replacing let alone getting it fixed, there is no way i could have it fixed in morocco..

This is another one for all you people concerned about the Asian thing. Back up service. What does NSP, Surftech and the like offer in the way of it? I’ve never seen any mention of any warranty whatsoever attached to any of these boards. A lot of consumer goods have this written very clearly in big bold writing all over them. But not surfboards. No sir. Mmmm, no. Why? Because everyone knows they’re warrantied to begin with. And for how long. But anyway, excuse the hijack.

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Never heard of Channel Islands having back up service either. The only one who does is Paul Jensen And Herb SPitzer

20

Hi R,

would you guys recomend me to get firewire or TL2 in the sence of are firewires stronger than TL2 boards or vice versa

this is not easy to answer because of variables in use and mfg…but I would say each should be stronger and last longer than pupe

-what about dings on a firewire, are they eazy to repair or can i just use epoxy ressin, the rails are balsa wood since i never owned a board that used wood for rails and since rails catch the most dings , how do you repair the wooden rail if say it bumped into a rock or sommething meaning can a regular guy like myself fix this

yes you can fix it easily. you can fill the rail ding with thickened epoxy (putty) mixed with wood saw dust or other marine filler then use plastic film and tape to shape it like the rail while its curing. when cured, peel off the plastic, sand smooth, fill any pin holes and lightly reglass with epoxy resin. epoxy is easy to work with. you can also fix rail dings with regular suncure but I dont know how realiable this is.

just about anyone in your area that knows marine boat fiberglass repair can fix this or teach you how

and maybe one last question the webber i’m surfing now is 2.19" (5.56 cm) thick and say if i would go for the TL2 UFO ,this one is 2.13" (5.40 cm) thick is this going to make a big difference in float, or does the wider template fuller tail and nose make up for this. is the 2.13 thickness ok for my weight 69kg (without wetsuit) in TL2 construction.

i held a TL2 and it did not feel much lighter than a pupe so i would think the float difference would be minimal and using similar dimensions would be ok.

one of the guys here ‘surfercross’ loves his FW and rips on it.