New Smook Shredder I'm on my second Smook board, this time I've gone for the Shredder after trying them out at the Merimbula Classic.
Great Boards.
I've ridden a few locally and overseas custom shaped boards and the conclusion is.... it is best to buy locally shaped boards. It is always a good thing if the shaper actually also surfs, imo, if that is what you are after when kiting.
Currently on my second blacksheep by Matt Green and the boards are magic carpets. I also surf my boards from time to time (punchy beach breaks or when my surfboard snapped in Indo). Chat to him about your style, level, weight, etc. and he will design you a weapon.
That board looks sweet! I really love the carbon wraps. There is something very appealing in the geometry that I love. It's almost a shame to put the deck pads on, but really quite necessary. I know some could get by with just wax, but the way we ride boards while kiting it just wears off too quick.
I am on my second kite surfboard from Oke a local surfboard builder in Braeside/Mordialloc.
They occasionally have kite built boards off the rack, but do custom also. On this occasion I brought in an epoxy Tomo Vanguard 5'7" for repair and spotted a similarly shaped 5'5" PU kite construction which I picked up for a song compared to what you might pay for a new branded kiteboard.
Not a big fan of the speedfins though, the ceramic ones they gave me snapped within a few sessions, They can be easily converted to FCS1.
Select to expand quotedafish said..
That board looks sweet! I really love the carbon wraps. There is something very appealing in the geometry that I love. It's almost a shame to put the deck pads on, but really quite necessary. I know some could get by with just wax, but the way we ride boards while kiting it just wears off too quick.
I know exactly what you mean... A tailpad and wax would look so much better but ... Convenience unfortunately trumps ... Too many slips and tons of wax later.... 
Select to expand quotePeahi said..
I am on my second kite surfboard from Oke a local surfboard builder in Braeside/Mordialloc.
They occasionally have kite built boards off the rack, but do custom also. On this occasion I brought in an epoxy Tomo Vanguard 5'7" for repair and spotted a similarly shaped 5'5" PU kite construction which I picked up for a song compared to what you might pay for a new branded kiteboard.
Not a big fan of the speedfins though, the ceramic ones they gave me snapped within a few sessions, They can be easily converted to FCS1.
Hey, can you attach some more pics and tell us how it performs compared to the Tomo?
Select to expand quotebjw said..Peahi said..
I am on my second kite surfboard from Oke a local surfboard builder in Braeside/Mordialloc.
They occasionally have kite built boards off the rack, but do custom also. On this occasion I brought in an epoxy Tomo Vanguard 5'7" for repair and spotted a similarly shaped 5'5" PU kite construction which I picked up for a song compared to what you might pay for a new branded kiteboard.
Not a big fan of the speedfins though, the ceramic ones they gave me snapped within a few sessions, They can be easily converted to FCS1.
Hey, can you attach some more pics and tell us how it performs compared to the Tomo?
will do mate.. as soon as I can leave the house
Here's the two Oke boards I own(ed), the first one 5'5", the second one 5'.
How does it compare to the Vanguard? The Tomo is a lot more lively and bouyant and easier to pop, but that comes at the expense of it breaking all the time. The Tomo also seems to hold better in bigger waves (maybe because of its bigger size 5'7", or maye because I was running a thruster). The Oke seems to be more forgiving in the waves due to slightly less buoyancy and doesn't feel so "stiff". I cannot give much more of a review except I just know what works for me in my patch of the world (anything from 15kn to 35kn winds, bay wind swell waves 1ft up to 4ft or more).
Now that the Tomo has seen the surgeona couple of times it has put on a bit of weight with all the painkillers its on so lost a lot of its liveliness.
This is a board I picked up off the shelf a few years ago (again for a song), apparently custom built for a kiter. It was 5' but would rocket upwind and was great in mushy surf, EPA core I think with PU and Carbon strip . The old skool rail profile made it awesome in waves for some reason and I could go upwind as easily as on a 5'10" Tomo.
Looked a bit home made, but held up very well after many sessions with only a few heel depressions. Wish I had kept it, someone in Qld might have it.
Does anyone in Aussie do a full PVC wrap Vacuumed over Polystyrene?
I have folded soooo many boards. .the only one still alive is 15 years old.... it even snapped my leg in half .. its strong . -FULL pvc wrap....top bottom and rails + pvc fin box sections...
sick of breaking boards...
Who here has creased/folded a helium too?
Select to expand quoteiandvnt said..
Does anyone in Aussie do a full PVC wrap Vacuumed over Polystyrene?
I have folded soooo many boards. .the only one still alive is 15 years old.... it even snapped my leg in half .. its strong . -FULL pvc wrap....top bottom and rails + pvc fin box sections...
sick of breaking boards...
Who here has creased/folded a helium too?
I imagine that board would be quite heavy, plastic surfboards are, and hence used as hire or school boards.
It's always a balance between weight and strength innit?
Smook boards are super light, but they are also quite thin.
Select to expand quotePeahi said..
I imagine that board would be quite heavy, plastic surfboards are, and hence used as hire or school boards.
It's always a balance between weight and strength innit?
Smook boards are super light, but they are also quite thin.
Not really, 3mm of an 80kg foam like Corecell or Divinycell is about the same weight as 0.5mm wood (pine is about 500kg) so done properly a full sandwich board would be same as the bamboo laminated factory boards.
The problem is vac bagging a hi density foam like that around compound curves is not easy, and its hard enough to do that on a SUP or WS board without changing rocker or twisting the board. To build a kiteboard (thin and bendy) using the same techniques as those requires a mould essentially, too expensive for custom manufacturers.
That's why essentially I do surfboard construction but add a vac bagged full carbon and full wood deck after the bottom lam is done. Best balance of light weight (3kg ish) but not heel denting and able to handle the jump hammerings better than just a surfboard-style laminating schedule.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..Peahi said..
I imagine that board would be quite heavy, plastic surfboards are, and hence used as hire or school boards.
It's always a balance between weight and strength innit?
Smook boards are super light, but they are also quite thin.
Not really, 3mm of an 80kg foam like Corecell or Divinycell is about the same weight as 0.5mm wood (pine is about 500kg) so done properly a full sandwich board would be same as the bamboo laminated factory boards.
The problem is vac bagging a hi density foam like that around compound curves is not easy, and its hard enough to do that on a SUP or WS board without changing rocker or twisting the board. To build a kiteboard (thin and bendy) using the same techniques as those requires a mould essentially, too expensive for custom manufacturers.
That's why essentially I do surfboard construction but add a vac bagged full carbon and full wood deck after the bottom lam is done. Best balance of light weight (3kg ish) but not heel denting and able to handle the jump hammerings better than just a surfboard-style laminating schedule.
could you heat up/rough mould the pvc rails with a heat gun pre vac - then long staples to keep in place when putting board into the bag - a stringer to help keep rocker line, weighted down on a 2dimensional rocker table, use super super light low density polystyrene for extra weight saving
.. brainstorming, i folded too many boards but loooove very light boards
I always pre-form with heat gun so yes.... and stringered blank will help, rocker table is a a must if using such a thin blank and bagging on PVC foam. Else, its going to bend all kinds of ways as the stringer won't allow rocker change so it will twist instead.
Would be great if we could get a 2mm Corecell here.....
