Looking for reviews

Fellow 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=9729

187 donek: http://splitboard.com/talk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11094

The 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.

I edited my earlier post above with new info.

I’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.

@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: rad

Douglas what year is your Glissade?

@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.

Interesting — thanks for the insight.

Freddy 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: