*edit. Its an HC Pro. Insane board. Better then Doomswell Neo or Nubstep imo. Not by a mile or anything, its just a little lighter, faster, and more responsive for me. I can do 360's sometimes and maybe get light under the board every once in awhile.
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This sums up durability on naked style boards without any type of rail protection
https://youtu.be/XAgG006qWZcComment
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Well the Flying Saucer I have did get a nick in it. Might have got water inside. I now have a bubble under the front traction pad and bottom of the board in the same spot. Any ideas how to fix or is it done?Originally posted by lakewakes View PostComment
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Wow, mustof had a hard hit. Those skims have a heavy glass job on the rails with a mesh cloth top layer. May be hard to repair, drill holes inject epoxy, vacuum bag downComment
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High end skimboards like Victoria and Phase 5 use pvc cores that are closed cell which will not absorb water and will never bubble up from heat. They use the same materials as ocean skimboards which handle heavy shore break and the occasional rock on the beach. No board is designed to withstand concrete, I personally ride boards on water.
Victoria has never had a wakesurf board break from riding (not even from pro riders). There has been one Wakesurf warranty in the almost 10 years of Vic making them, and that was from a cosmetic blemish.www.wake.victoriaskimboards.comComment
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Not entirely true.. PVC foams will melt and melt quite easily, in fact when they get too hot these type of boards can easily become warped. This is true of most boards. They also degrade in time, not nearly as bad as standard polyurethane, but they do degrade and then the laminates just shear off in time. Epoxies don't actually bond to PVC foams very well, one way to think about it is doing some PVC plumbing, you 'prime' or melt your PVC piping with a solvent before adding the adhesive so it will bond better. There are pluses and minuses to all core materials for given applications. PVC foams are used by many skim companies because they were traditionally used due to availability and sizing. They also have flexural characteristic that eliminate the need for other type of fabrics to stiffen them up, and in some respects are most similar to wood cores which all skims were originally made of. Sheets were/are available in sizes and densities that make a good skim board, but it is a pretty antiquated material by todays standards. In fact the typical thickness of skim boards has more to do with the available of core materials than a specific design characteristic. On the other hand no one is investing money in high tech foam core materials for skim boards, so the options are limited. It is tough enough to introduce new materials into the surf industry.
Closed Cell versus Open Cell is one of the most confused topics around. EPS is not open cell. However, like any foam, there are open space between the beads with air, and these can fill up with water. The cells are not filling with water. EPS by nature will have a tendency to have more air trapped inside than a PVC foam or a polyurethane foam. That is why it is lighter. Extruded polystyrene is a different topic we can tackle later.
NickComment
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Nick, if we swapped cores for EPS we would have so many snapped boards. You have to make it crazy thick to be strong enough and then at that point the rail is so thick that you don't get the same edge hold.
We actually spend a lot of time messing with new materials and processes. One of our guys has his degree in advanced composites. With the waves our guys are riding in Laguna, we are always working to make a better riding and stronger board.www.wake.victoriaskimboards.comComment
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Mitch, I am not telling your to swap to eps or advocating for eps. I am providing real advice from someone that has been building boards for decades, cutting through the marketing jargon.
I am sure you would potentially have snapped boards if you built them the same and just swapped core materials. Or maybe not. You can get EPS is high densities as well, 3lb, 3.5, 4 and 5lb pcf.
With a stinger or double stringer or triple stringer it would be highly unlikely to snap. The is a world of materials out there.
NickComment
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