6'2 Firewire Surfboard

Reviewed By Sak @ Eastcoastsurfer.com

A few months ago I purchased a 6’2” Firewire “Flexfire”.  These boards are a wholly different construction than your standard “poly” board (a polyurethane (PU) blank glassed with polyester (PE) resin) or hand-shaped “epoxy” board (an expanded polystyrene (EPS) or extruded polystyrene (XPS) blank with epoxy glassing).  Instead of being shaped from a single blank or block of foam with a stringer in the center, Firewires have a very light-weight EPS core with thick but light wood stringers that are laid up on the outside of the blank (perimiter stringers).  This is all sandwiched between two sheets of high-density foam that creates the deck and bottom of the board.  The board is then glassed with fiberglass and epoxy resin, resulting in a light but surprisingly durable board.  

At six-feet tall and around a buck seventy five or eighty and wearing a wetsuit and boots, I could easily paddle and reasonably ride the 6’2” x 18 5/8” x 2 ¼” round-pin Flexfire even in waist-high, clean-but-weak surf. While the board has a light and fast nature that worked well in small surf, I also found that is in waves with some wall and juice this tech really shines.

The most interesting thing that I noticed right off the bat is, although the board is very light and of EPS/epoxy construction, I sensed no “chatter” that is a common complaint about EPS/epoxy boards. The board also does not have the stiff feeling associated with many (over-built or poorly-designed) EPS/epoxy boards. Up and riding, the board has a very sensitive and “alive” feeling. It feels neither too stiff nor too flexible, feels well-balanced, and reacts readily to rider input.

Regarding the “parabolic flex” that has become synonomous with the Firewire brand, if you merely point-and-shoot the board down the line and “skate” neutral-rail style over and across weaker sections, these boards will likely not feel much different than a really good, light-weight PU board. But, if you engage the rail and push against the board, it definitely pushes back more than any other board I have ridden. I have found that I can use the recoil of the perimiter stringers generate bursts of speed using small pockets in the wave face and if I really lay the rail in I can actually accelerate out of carving turns.

So far durability has been impressive. Even though the price tag on these boards is in the $700+ range, if they do indeed prove to be stronger and longer-lived than your standard $550-600 PU/PE, a Firewire would easily make up the ground in the cost-benefit equation. Additionally, all Firewires come with a padded board-bag and upgraded fins (the double-foiled Performance-Core (PC) series fins), so there is considerable added value within that package).

All-in-all, I am really digging this board; I have ridden it enough to know that it works really well under my feet, and look foreward to putting in more time on it to unlock all it has to offer. I am pretty sure it is quickly on its way to qualifying as a “magic board”.

For more info go to: http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/