Firewire Vader FST 5’5”
I’ve been riding this for a couple months now, but haven’t taken the time to record my thoughts. This really is a special shape. Don’t mistake this Daniel Thomson (Tomo) shaped design from other cut-off nose surfboards. This is a proprietary technology/shape called the “modern planing hull.” The key features of include much more volume under chest/ front foot, concave bottom contours, parallel rail lines and a tucked in tail. This design makes the 5’5” board (30 liters) ride much more like something in the high five low 6 foot range. I don’t mean that it is doggish. The Vader is anything but doggish. What I mean is it floats and planes like a larger displacement board. That means better lower wind performance and more feedback from the wave (read, you can actually surf the wave without the kite). This is a real surfboard, not a kite only type setup. Slater has actually been seen riding this very shape. For all its surfing accolades, when making way under big power/ speed this thing sits high in the water and feels like it is begging to go airborne (more on that later). What differentiates this shape from some of the other copycat snub-nosed directional boards I’ve ridden is that that a step on the tail sends the nose around in a shot for a smile inducing slash fest. Some of the others can be slow or unresponsive… more twin-tipish than a proper directional surfboard. My other big take away from my second Fire Wire surfboard is that they are indeed built to fly (see, I told you I’d come back to this. Its like this thing begs to be sent off the back of a wave even more than it wants to be carved back down the face. The board is light, and some combination of its shape and surface area make the thing stick to your feet once airborne far more than other boards I’ve ridden. I have really made a lot of progress on the strapless aerial front with this board. I was skeptical, and hesitant to pull the trigger on one of these, but boy am I glad that I did. Haven’t ridden any other of my surfboard fleet (I have a problem) since this one was added to the quiver.
If you have questions about this thing, or want to take it for a spin, DM me on the facebooks. -Jim
Firewire Vader rider review
Moderator: MK