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Brand-new Firewire Surfboard Technology Is developed for Better Opportunities to Ride Waves Fast and Smoothly

Firewire Boards: Technology That Works

Firewire-Boards

The manufacture of surfboards needs a long time to accept new technologies of board making. In addition, surfers themselves tend to like surfboards made from the traditional materials rather than from any other foams.

This is the most obvious reason why for more than half a century surfboards had been made from polyurethane.

The change in technology came in 2005 when the main manufacturer of this material closed, and a burst of new foams and technologies appeared in the market.

One of the most popular constructions was a Firewire surfboard with its intake valve and separate rails made from wood.

Why Firewire is Loved by Surfers?

Surfboard_Shop

You can see these surfboards in any surf shop because recently Firewire became the focus of everybody’s attention. Surfers wonder if all this hassle is only about good ad campaigns or Firewire really provides surf lovers with better riding and new technology.

According to some statements, there are lots of people riding these Firewire surfboards nowadays, and you can always distinguish them because the design of Firewire looks different and unusual due to its air valve technology.

What else adds to their popularity? Surfers agree that it is functionality that matters.

The Firewire design technology contains a parabolic stringer made in the form of wooden rails that gives you a smooth fast ride.

In any other surfboard with a center stringer, so-called flex (level of board bending from nose to tail) influences a ride in many ways: it even may slow down your motion because when the surfboard foam bends, torsion occurs.

In this case, the functions that you want to see on your surfboard are lost.

Thus, it’s a complicated task to balance flex and torsion to make the board perform well.

What Firewire Did with Flex

tuflite-diagram

The technology that involves EPS foam inside and a coat of epoxy fiberglass outside – that was the way how Tuflite surfboards were manufactured by Surftech company. Surfers were fond of their performance which was strong and vibrant.

There existed an opinion that the surfboard flex wasn’t enough and riding in changeable waves was too complicated. The surf makers improved the technology of flex and found the balance between its flexibility and strength.

That was how Firewire renovation appeared and so-called Future Shapes Technology was introduced: a parabolic stringer was combined with EPS foam with a low density. The surfboard edges were made more sturdy.

This technology made it easier to control the weight applied to the rails and a surfer could wait for the surfboard responses and add to its buoyancy.

On the other hand, the technology of balancing flex and strength lets the surfer experience how the Firewire stringer can work while turning when the surfer’s weight leans on it.

When the stringer is made from wood, the surfboard follows your control and responds to your movements.

Since then Firewire technology has gotten a lot of good reviews. Surfers estimated general performance of it on the water: increased speed, maneuverability, and easy entry into waves, but questioned the long-lasting life of the Firewire surfboard.

The Technology of Firewire Making

firewire surfboard

As was mentioned in Firewire it’s not a usual polyurethane surfboard. The construction technology of it was patented, and it presents a blank in the form of a sandwich with the aim to make it almost weightless and sustainable.

EPS foam is used with a density of 1 pound (0.45 kg). In comparison, the density of polyurethane foam is from 2.5 to 3 pounds (1.36 kg) per cubic foot, so EPS foam is the lightest material.

Due to this technology, the strength is achieved by adding a layer of 3 mm aerial compound whose density is high.

The coat consists of fiberglass with epoxy resin. Despite some surfers’ evidence of the surfboard crack under the easy conditions, Firewire makers assure us that the issues were solved.

The so-called DD Model (Direct Drive) of a surfboard seemed to be a Firewire enhanced version with the improved technology.

The balsa rails were removed, and the rod made from carbon appeared. They are interior, and they influence density inside the foam as they are attached to the box of fins with the aim to impact the level flexibility.

Firewire Surfboards Shapes

surfboard

Some other variants of Firewire technology are the Rapid Fire model and the FST-Springer model.

The first one takes Direct Drive as a base for its technology and adds to it the bark of bamboo and more EPS foam (about a pound). As the density increases with it, there is no necessity of creating an intake valve.

The FST-Springer model is based on just FST or Future Shapes Technology model, but this time there is a balsa stringer in the center added to increase toughness.

There is a need to say that the main but not all the models were described. The technology of Firewire is used in making longboards, fish boards, thrusters, and other floating means.

Although the price of these Firewire surfboards is quite high but not too high in comparison to traditional polyurethane surfboards, surfers buy them with the hope that the performance will be better than just good.

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