on another forum, iwindsurf, people are saying they break aluminum booms regularily
salt water is supposed to be a factor, weight and crashes too
someone cited 200 uses as MTF/mean time to failure 
another wave sails in salt water and breaks one per year 
what a PITA 
I HAD NO IDEA @#$%^&*
I give mine a good soak with the hose after use and stand it up on its end so any water can leak out at the Clew end. Something I read somewhere recommended that, could have even been on this forum. I also read that the boom should be separated as well after sailing to dry out the internals.
aluminium booms are designed to break, yep you heard it here first.
honestly, with the loads people put into booms, unless you are particularly light, or just sail perfectly flat water i don't think it's possible to have any aluminium boom that will last forever, unless you make it horrendously fat and heavy.
that said, most ally booms seem to last well enough in general use, thou there has been examples of some with some serious design flaws, such as the first few versions of the NP booms with the hydroformed front end, pretty sure a heap of them failed at the exact same spot after very little sailing. but that's why we have warranties 
doesn't save you swimming, but anyway
I broke my 2010 x6 yesterday at the head. Now ive got to decide whether to go carbon so the same doesnt happen again. The curse of wavesailing...
If you are only starting out you could safely say one decent quality alloy boom will probably last you for a number of years.
If you progress to any form of windsurfing that is pushing the gear to its limits then you should probably budget to replace a alloy boom at least once a season. At $200-$300 a go it's still not too bad when you compare it to the ongoing cost of many other sports.
If you want some form of longevity and security then it is worth investing in carbon. Bearing in mind that the benefits of carbon are also a stiffer boom, leading to a more responsive rig. So it's not quite as easy as 4x alloy booms = 1 carbon style debate, but that is a start.
had my north silver HD boom for a while and im 115kgs, forwards, flakas, backloops,
plenty of flex, but maybe thats what stops it from bereaking, as i broken a few carbin booms
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good carbon boom, a bit of a benchmark in my opinion, there are stiffer, lighter, cheaper options but probably can't go wrong with the chinook. I'd say check the price, if it's over 800, there are probably better options for the price.
I was looking secondhand... Cant afford the newies so the choice is limited
I just buy a new alloy boom each year. I usually get Chinook as I feel they are the best quality. Can still bend them though if you hit a ray at 25 knots.
If carbon boom is not design indeed to brake before you brake your ribs ?
Since I did broke 3 carbon boom myself already I think that main design foults is not in the carbon tube itself but maybe in the mounting - without proper swivel that bending forces become extreme - so you could brake your mast or boom ....
I think he is correct.
There would be 1 m2 of carbon, the remainder would consist of over-inflated tyres, carbon nano-tube walls, old coke bottles and twin hydrofoils. The boom would be 3cm long to fit in your pocket, but you could bolt extensions to it to increase it into 17m long. It would be assembled by inhibited female NASA engineers. It would also be a boam not a boom.
Only another 4 pages to go.
Never broken a boom in 20 years of sailing.. Mind you I am a lightweight. I do go out in strong winds but was a whimp in the surf..
I have two carbon booms,a Chinnok 170-236 that is 4 years old and a smaller North carbon 165-205 that i bought around 10 years ago from 2nd Wind when Steve Stratfold worked there...time does fly! Have budgeted both to see me thru to OAP status,
