Forum for kitesurfers
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Da Yoda
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- Posts: 1342
- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:20 pm
- Kiting since: 2005
- Style: Strapless Freestyle, Wave, Freeride
- Gear: Handmade Surfboards
- Location: Western USA
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Postby Da Yoda » Fri Mar 06, 2015 3:45 am
felixp wrote:Mr Yoda,
Looking at your board after a year of use . It looks great.
The boards a built proof compared to other boards out there.
A normal surfboard would be broken in half by now.
A little bit of care with cleaning off your wax clumps and not bang stuff on it when putting in in the car will also pro long your life.
Smashing a bar end on board is never good no matter how tough the board is.
The Firewire kite vanguards have the best strength - flex- performance ratio in the kiteboarding industry.
Stoked you love the board.
Lots of life left in it.
I never considered it dent-proof, just dent resistant. I agree it's probably held up far better than the regular FST construction (or most other boards) would have. I can confidently say I've never bumped it (yet) when packing and unpacking and I store it and travel with it in a padded bag. All the dents are on the top and concentrated around where I stand (mostly). I was bummed that the fin box exploded into the core vs. ripping out. The damage is way worse and now more costly to repair. You'd think the fin would have just broke off like I've experienced before. Oh well.
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Jan:)
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- Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2002 1:00 am
- Brand Affiliation: None
- Location: Hamburg, Germany
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Postby Jan:) » Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:10 am
Da Yoda wrote: I was bummed that the fin box exploded into the core vs. ripping out. The damage is way worse and now more costly to repair.
Same thing happened to my board. Been told its a simple repair - did cost me about EUR 85,- here in Cape Town and it is basically invisible. I have spent more on replacing fins all the time on other boards.
And its much better than ripping the box out, as that will usually take a good chunk of the top laminate with it, making it a rather messy repair.
Have my number of dents, but try not to think about it.
As long as it does not break, all is fine with me.
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TommyDuotone
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- Posts: 864
- Joined: Sun May 18, 2008 5:34 pm
- Favorite Beaches: IB, Rauls, 38's, Gavs
- Style: surf
- Gear: North, Ocean Rodeo, Firewire
- Location: Imperial Beach
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Postby TommyDuotone » Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:36 pm
Dents on the deck are normal. The fin box thing is a little puzzling however. The FST stock boards I've kited with have had zero issues on the bottom including the fin boxes. The rapid fire boards are another story(fragile as hell) and I'm on my second fin box repair already. So far, the vanguard kite version is holding up very well. My only complaint is the weight is more than I'm used to and IMO would suck for free-surfing. Would love to see Firewire make a crossover where just the top deck is modified with extra glass only where you need it. Even with the little extra weight of the VG, it is still a killer board to kite with.
Last edited by
TommyDuotone on Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jan:)
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Postby Jan:) » Sat Mar 07, 2015 8:43 pm
iblocalsurfer wrote:The fin box thing is a little puzzling however.
Well I guess this was not clear.
My damage has nothing to do with the board or the construction.
Hitting a massive rock 5cm below the surface at full speed is simply not a good idea.
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kitepilot
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Postby kitepilot » Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:02 pm
I have been riding the 5'2" Tomo kite version for about 2 months now. Best directional board that I've ever ridden. Fast, charges upwind, and turns so sweet.
I've heard about the board prior, my friend bought one and I tried it. One try and I was sold. I sold my Naish global right away and ordered a tomo.
I've been surfing for a long time(over 40 years) and I know a sweet turning board when I'm on one. This board put the fun back in my wave riding.
If you get a chance try one.
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mr moon
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 414
- Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:05 am
- Local Beach: Shoreham (UK)
- Favorite Beaches: Brandon Bay, Silver Sands & a few more
- Style: Wave / Freeride
- Gear: North, Firewire, Wainman, Ozone
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Postby mr moon » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:07 am
love my 5'4". didn't love it right away though.. it took a little adjusting to its turning super speed
and foot stance, which I agree with Felix needs to be wide.. in fact the more aggressive you go on the wave the wider the stance needs to be. Really stoked with this board so far. I have only used it in Barbados so far, not sure how it would take the local shore break beating up
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Da Yoda
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- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:20 pm
- Kiting since: 2005
- Style: Strapless Freestyle, Wave, Freeride
- Gear: Handmade Surfboards
- Location: Western USA
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Postby Da Yoda » Tue Mar 10, 2015 9:48 pm
iblocalsurfer wrote:Dents on the deck are normal. The fin box thing is a little puzzling however.
Here are some pics of the fin box damage.
It also cracked the top deck on the opposing side of the box.
- IMG_1836.jpg (39.36 KiB) Viewed 1616 times
Here's a good article about the fins I was using...
http://foamez.blogspot.com/2012/06/new- ... -from.html
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topmick
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 459
- Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:47 pm
- Local Beach: Sunshine Coast
- Favorite Beaches: Cotton Tree
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- Gear: Switch
FireWire
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Postby topmick » Tue Mar 10, 2015 11:18 pm
Da Yoda, what did you hit
From my experience with Future fins, the fins don't break but if you hit something hard enough the box itself is damaged & always expensive to fix/replace.
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TPink
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Postby TPink » Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:47 pm
just picked up a 5'4 vanguard Kite model without fins.
heard the Josh Mulcoy 5's were the goto, but they're kinda $pendy.
what else are people running?
thx,
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Rotule
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- Posts: 162
- Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:00 pm
- Local Beach: Plattsburgh City Beach, NY
- Favorite Beaches: Plattsburgh City Beach, NY
- Gear: Core Section 4M, Section 2 6M. GTS 3 9M
Moses Onda 71 HL
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Postby Rotule » Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:53 pm
TPink wrote:just picked up a 5'4 vanguard Kite model without fins.
heard the Josh Mulcoy 5's were the goto, but they're kinda $pendy.
what else are people running?
thx,
I'm running the WCT techflex and I love them, I'm thinking to get some QD2 4.0 techflex to run it in quad.
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