Forums Splitboards Looking for reviews Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 22 total) 1 2 →Author Posts October 6, 2014 at 12:16 am #580171 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsI pretty much know what I like to ride, but I’d just like input from other riders for piece of mind. I’m 6’2″, I weigh 240lbs and live in southeast Alaska riding our thick and often heavy snow, so I ride boards in the 180ish size range. As most may know there aren’t a lot of large boards to choose from. I’ve owned a venture divide, which I liked, but still would like people’s opinions on the storm. I’m also looking at a Donek Hazelwood and Prior spearhead. I do prefer and pretty much require a stiffer board that will stand up to a beating. Thank you in advance for responding! October 6, 2014 at 4:50 am #677606 Taylor 797 PostsFellow big gunner:I’m 6’4″ and 220 and I’ve written reviews of the 181 storm and a 187 custom donek.181 storm: http://splitboard.com/talk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9729187 donek: http://splitboard.com/talk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11094The storms ride fairly loose for their size (easy to get into and out of turns, very maneuverable), which would be a good match for heavy coastal snow. Even though they ride loose, they ride stiff and solid. The looseness owes to rocker and geometry, not too much flex. In a perfect world on those boards, I would prefer a little less tail rocker and sidecut and a little more taper, tail stiffness and shovel width to make it more speed stable and less dive prone. I can only take the board to about 80-90% on a heel turn before it dives (not folds, but dives–it’s a surface area and not stiffness issue) in low and medium density snow. Dense snow that is less easily penetrated might resolve that. In any case, the storm is a great all around board. I especially appreciate it at medium speeds in variable terrain–trees, topographically rough terrain–it just gets the job done. Past years’ construction have been extremely bomber. They’ve shaved weight this year; my understanding is that this owes to lighter cores–I expect they’ll still be bomber… But as bomber as they used to be?Also remember that you can customize doneks at no extra charge. I recommend you also look into upsizing, stiffening, and de-side cutting the donek nomad. Unlike the hazel wood, has an early rise shovel which would be nice in coastal snow. My donek review geeks out pretty hard on design thinking; worth a read if you can tolerate it. I really like that board, especially its unsinkable shovel and speed stability.Lastly, you need to talk to Scooby, who is on this forum. He has given lots of thought to big gun design and he is a shaper. If you like stiff and solid big guns, you need to confer with him too.@sun_rocket October 6, 2014 at 5:21 am #677607 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsNice, thank you. October 6, 2014 at 6:06 am #677609 Taylor 797 PostsI edited my earlier post above with new info.@sun_rocket October 6, 2014 at 7:08 am #677608 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsDeffinately helpful, thanks! I am probably looking for something with an early rise and cambered under foot. Hopefully I get some time off of work to speak to the Donek people tomorrow. October 6, 2014 at 7:39 pm #677610 Scooby2 623 PostsI’ll have a post up soon on Taylor’s board and look for his reviews of its merits this season. It’s definitely the gnarliest, most solid board I’ve ever shaped. It’s a 187, 29 at the rear foot (about 28mm waist-hasn’t been split yet), about 3cms taper, thicker at the nose than any other board is in the middle. I predict it’ll be the easiest turning board he’s ever been on, great for meadow skipping and will open the door to riding faster with more stability, but we’ll let him be the judge. It will be interesting to hear of another’s experiences on the design. October 6, 2014 at 9:37 pm #677611 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsSounds about like something I’d like. Stability at speed. October 7, 2014 at 6:55 am #677612 Taylor 797 Posts @Scooby2 wrote:It’s definitely the gnarliest, most solid board I’ve ever shaped. It’s a 187, 29 at the rear foot (about 28mm waist-hasn’t been split yet), about 3cms taper, thicker at the nose than any other board is in the middle.So :twocents: :thatrocks: radDouglas what year is your Glissade?@sun_rocket October 7, 2014 at 3:00 pm #677613 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsI’ve owned three of them, the latest is probably from 08 I think. October 8, 2014 at 7:04 pm #677614 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsI’m certainly interested in what Sconby does, but it would seem he’s a bit busy for half the winter. I spoke with Sean at Donek, and interestingly enough, he recomended upsizing, stiffening and de-side cutting a nomad. October 8, 2014 at 7:45 pm #677615 Taylor 797 Posts@Douglas Mafia wrote:I’m certainly interested in what Sconby does, but it would seem he’s a bit busy for half the winter. I spoke with Sean at Donek, and interestingly enough, he recomended upsizing, stiffening and de-side cutting a nomad.Yeah, that Sean is smart. 😉Glad you’re figuring out your board situation.@sun_rocket October 9, 2014 at 4:29 am #677616 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsI’m glad that us big boarders have a few options like Donek, and to find lesser known options like Scooby so we can ride what we want. I’d like to see support given to all options to keep that avenue open. October 13, 2014 at 4:30 pm #677617 Taylor 797 PostsI agree.I will try to make time to post a list of the manufacturers of big gun (180+) splitboards. It would be a useful resource for those of us who prefer big guns. There are actually more options out there than you’d think.Scooby2 yesterday sent me a picture of the core for the board he’s shaping up for me. It’s such a sweet shape, and he’s doing such a beautiful job. He is definitely pushing backcountry snowboard design in a new and exciting direction.@sun_rocket October 15, 2014 at 10:11 am #677618 FloImSchnee 291 Posts@Douglas Mafia wrote:…but still would like people’s opinions on the storm. I’m also looking at a Donek Hazelwood and Prior spearhead. I’m 192cm or 6,3 inches tall and own both a 169 Venture Zephyr (a tad less directional than the Storm) and a Spearhead 178 XTC. I prefer the Spearheads ride as it hasn’t got a tail rocker, which makes it hold turns better, especially towards the end of the turn. Tail-rockered boards rather tend to “smear” then. Apart from that, the Spearheads long nose makes for a very surfy ride, which is just great. October 15, 2014 at 4:03 pm #677619 Scooby2 623 Postskeep in mind that like Flo said, if two boards have the same flex in the tail, the one with camber through the tail will have more drive than the one with rocker. But if the rockered tail board is made a lot stiffer in the tail it may actually not bend too much in big turns and may actually be a more drivey board that comes faster out of turns than a cambered board that flexes too much when loaded up with, oh I don’t know, say 250 pounds at 40 mph. If a board flexes into a near semi circle, it can only smear turns, and what’s more important is to keep from tripping over the deeply bent nose, you have to keep the nose out, so you cut the surface area of the board by a third in hard turns. this means you drop deeper in turns, slow down and come out of turns slower. Speed control might be a plus for some on the steeps where every turn is about speed control, but not so good on everyday slopes at 30 to 40 degrees or steeper when the snow is really good.The point is camber or rocker is just a starting point, and is more determinative of how a board feels at slow speeds and between turns. The stiffness of the core or flex defines the shape and depth of the curve the board will make when really loaded up, most boards will flex so far from their original shape in big turns that the starting point (whether rocker or camber) doesn’t matter that much in the middle of a big loaded turn.The take home is DM if you take a stock shape and are going to order it extra stiff since you don’t weigh 165-175, it would probably be more fun to stiffen up a rockered board like the venture than a cambered board, because the rockered board will be more nimble in the deep trees and at low speeds or picking your way through brush on exit trails. You could have them add a layer of 4 or 6 ounce carbon to their standard layup, which would go a long way towards hitting the right spot for 230 lbs plus gear. The more ash or maple wood like their older cores and the less aspen and poplar would probably get you as durable a board as possible. Geek out. October 15, 2014 at 4:14 pm #677620 FloImSchnee 291 PostsInteresting — thanks for the insight. October 16, 2014 at 4:09 pm #677621 Douglas Mafia 60 PostsMan, I really am digging your guys’ input and since I haven’t ordered a board yet it’s giving me a lot to think about. I definitely prefer stability at high speed and know I can manhandle a board when navigating through tight areas. I’m as interested as anybody to see what I finally come up with. Thank you guys! October 17, 2014 at 7:57 am #677622 peacefrog 376 PostsFreddy if you want your “board” to be stiff…. Stop dating chicks form the valley! And don’t worry about your “board” being able to take a beating. If it was going to fold under abuse it would have by now. :duel: October 20, 2014 at 3:55 am #677623 Douglas Mafia 60 Posts😆 I know, I know; I should be blind by now. :headbang: October 29, 2014 at 1:48 am #677624 Douglas Mafia 60 Posts[wiki:xw689lzr][/wiki:xw689lzr] 180 Donek nomad split on the way, soon may add a Hazelwood non split 180 or 185 Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 22 total) 1 2 →You must be logged in to reply to this topic.