Just wondering if anyone on this forum could shed a little advise/knowledge in relation to triple string v single stringers please, I have a triple string all rounder longboard which is my go to board from anything knee high to slightly overhead (10’ x 24" x 3") this is a favourite board of mine for the past 15 years.
I now intend to purchase the same board from the same shop shop/same dimensions/template/glass (etc) as my current board , my delima is the shop has the same model in stock although a single stringer at half the price of a customised triple stringer for a little over half the price.
My triple stringer has 3 x 6mm stringers the board in the shop has 1 x centre 10mm stringer , I have read up a little about the single stringer having more flex that the triple stringers, the break I surf the most has a sandbar the wave is quiet fast and heavy so I am concerned that the single stringer may not quiet perform as well the triple stringer.
Triple stringers are a relative insurance against breakage. A board breaks by twisting from the rail towards the center; A stringer near the rail (or even better along the rail -perimeter stringers-) will more or less prevent the twist to start; A single stringer board (even with a wider stringer) will be easier to break for the same reason.
Thank you Balsa, i’ll take that into account, some shapers say extra stringer don’t provide any greater resistance to snapping which i found confusing as i was thinking along the same lines as you have mentioned.
all Other things being the same… if someone wants twice the price for a triple stringer, I’d find a new guy to build the board based on that alone.
The blank is more expensive, yes, not double the cost but even so, blanks are in general one of the least expensive parts of a board. It also doesnt take twice the time to shape or twice the time and material to glass the thing.
An extra 150-200 depending on wood and a longer lead time ok, not double the price.
If you subscribe (as I do) to the argument that a fin box installed in a single stringer board violates the stringer integrity and increases the risk of cracks or breakage, a triple stringer board may help reduce this likelihood. In a typical triple stringer placement, the offset stringers will extend back past the front edge of the box and reduce that ‘hinge’ point at the front edge of the box. It will probably add some weight as well. Not sure how much of a price increase a triple stringer should add to the overall cost but the blank will undoubtedly cost more and there is a fair amount of ‘whittling’ involved in getting the end grain right.
Well Hamish,
I think you answered your own question… Buy the single stringer, surf it up to overhead. Take out the old triple when it gets heavier! Save the money, pounds, euros, etc. for your next one. Here in California where many of us shape triple stringers, I have never seen anyone charge double. Good shapers know how to shape the ends of the side stringers without taking days or screwing it up. The cost here of the extra stringers is quite small compared to the overall price of the board. A USBlanks 10’2 costs me aprox $140. If they charged me over $200 US for a couple of extra stringers I would feel robbed. A Harbour Trestle Special 3 stringer is a tad over $1200, a San O’ the same size with one stringer is around $1100. You can compare other companies like Bing, etc. online to see what I mean. I also might suggest you find another shaper/shop and see what they would charge to duplicate your old board… Just my 2c!
Thanks for the advice Guys much appreciated, i am making a decision that either the single or triple stringer board will carry me for the next 10yrs + that’s why i am anxious to make the right decision.
I think the single stringer has been in the shop for while and they are probably eager to shift it, i would buy the single stringer if the degree in flex wasn’t an issue, my thoughts are because of extra flex the nose of the board might not have the same degree of stiffness or rigidity to survive steep drops resulting in pearling or pitching. Possibly that extra weight of the triple stringer would enable the board travel better down the face of the wave, both boards have a 6oz +4oz on the deck and double 4oz on the bottom.
Hamish4,
Don’t trick yourself into overthinking it. Are you really concerned that the board will ‘‘survive’’ steep drops? I wouldn’t be concerned, even if I were riding the board on the North Shore of Oahu. Are you going to be in really extreme conditions? If not, then it should not be an issue.
Very sound advice, thank you thrailkill, maybe i am … i stop using this board when it gets slightly over head , yes you are correct my fear is if i buy the single stringer the nose of the board is not going to be rigid as the triple stringer on steep drops, my fear that the nose will flex and stick on the face of the wave going down. The break where i use this board the most is far from pipeline but it is fast and heavy.
The blank quality and density, the type of wood used, the glassing schedule and how it was pulled off… I used to pull my hair out over this issue. Some shapers I respect argue that a single stringer can flex more and therefore not snap in certain cases, whereas the torsion issue makes a triple stringer better in others…
I’m with Bill - don’t overthink this one, provided that the blank and glassing are similar to your last board’s.
For whatever weird reason, the only two boards that I have broken in thirty something years of surfing were both triple stick longboards - one in Bali on a bigger day at Impossibles, and one on an otherwise unremarkable floater at shoulder-high Lacanau. Just landed it across the troth and the board was done.
Besides the questions of price and resistance to snapping (which been answered above), I am having trouble with what the OP says about a single-stringer longboard:
“extra flex the nose of the board might not have the same degree of stiffness or rigidity to survive steep drops resulting in pearling or pitching.”
“my fear that the nose will flex and stick on the face of the wave going down.”
How much extra flex would there have to be to cause pearling? or “sticking” on the face? I have never heard of this. Maybe a Costco foam board, but a longboard with a normal glass job? This doesn’t make sense to me.
Thank you Guys for sharing your knowledge all your words of advise , I am going to opt for the single stringer should have the board within the next 2-3 weeks.
All done???
My I pose a question.
For a “light” and strong say a 10-6’ ish
11 something blank in Red foam.
For all my thought so far
I would like to see a foam tee band with two offsets @1/4"
Advise?
Check my LB stuff below…
Not sure there is such a thing as “light and strong”, at least when talking about PU/PE. To my knowledge, a light board won’t be strong and a strong board won’t be light. If you’re into “old school”, cruising and nose-riding, a little bit of extra-weight won’t be an issue. If you’re into “performance”, an EPS/Epoxy combo should be much more appropriate; This coming from a guy who does not like epoxy and glasses almost all his boards with PE. But I must admit that the strength to weight ratio of EPS/epoxy is superior.