Durable construction longboards

stuk said..
Just to add another annecdote about the Tolhurst carbon boards. We had a guy at the local snap one just duckdiving under a falling lip and it broke.

beachandbush said..
Snapped Tolhurst. Doesn't look like there's a stringer

beachandbush said..
Snapped Tolhurst. Doesn't look like there's a stringer

Macaha said..




Haven't heard one good thing about the construction, so many snapped

MickPC said..




People in Pic appear to be a couple of chicks in contest attire...could be they went for a lighter construction hoping for improved performance. My tufflites still going strong 2 years later in WA conditions. Almost bought another recently but chasing other quiver fillers atm.

SP said..




I wonder if they tried glassing a crystal in it to give it some soul

Aklbob said..




Upon reviewing several layup diagrams of the different thunderbolt constructions, it appears that the 'thunderbolt' construction has been changed between 2016 and 2018, the cheaper non carbon layups are heavier compared to the early ones..the thunderbolt carbon ones are unchanged.

thedrip said..
I'd be looking at something like this - www.yahoosurfboards.com.au/yallingup-longboard.html

chrispy said..




Multiple stringers isn't going to help with bangs and dings which op is concerned about compared to a fw or sunova,and three stringers will definitely not be a benefit when it comes to wanting a light board

I have seen at least 6 snapped firewire longboards in some pretty weak surf which would have me concerned.

The couple of sunova boards i have seen were super nice boards,and I also believe you can get them as a custom

Me im not concerned about the appearance compared to how it surfs

Razzonater said..
Bert is a master craftsman
when I bought the tolhurst it was a close call between the two.....

various opinions ons aside I have been told by very very respected longboarders that

tolhurst is likely the lightest and most hp ( which is why I selected it sorry to the purists)
sunova is a really close second however is far more durable

in saying that there is a looot to be said for mctavish who makes what many call the pinnacle of longboards,,, if I lived over east it would be blasphemy not to own and ride one regularly..

I also have a Boyd Perty from yallingup surf co which is a pretty special weapon,,, apparently bob monkman had a bit of input into design shape it's a special special board but 9,4 and is more a nose rider which I suck at but will keep practicing until they remove my legs...

I really really liked the old mctavish fireball the one from early 90,s mate had one I was permitted to ride on smaller days I loved everything about it.

Its a hard question to get a response on from longboarders , generally the local guy making boards for the local waves makes the best board in that hood...

If I surfed the east coast points every week it would probably be on a mctavish

surfing down south west oz is normally the tolhurst and sometimes me Boyd.....

Im sure guys in southern nsw will argue the point as there is a couple of quality quality local guys through that region.

If I was a wealthy man I would order a 9,1 and a 9,4 off everyone suggested in this thread, than in my million dollar 4 wd drive around oz and surf every board at its local break with variations between prior ones...

upon arriving back home I would see which ones had made the full trip in best condition than weigh up which ones rode better...

With all this learned information I would than be more indesicive than ever and repeat the process until either I ran out of money, my car broke down, and the shapers got sick of my repeat orders..

It is solely for this reason that I will never achieve "financial freedom"

MickPC said..









Love my Tolhurst, only longboard I need at the moment. Great high performance board, although mines a tuflight which Billy has said in the past is his favourite coz he can't do the rails the same in other builds. Nice n knifey : )

Keen to give Sunova's a go too, been watching for awhile only seen good deals on glassed on fin boards so far which is a good sign people tend to hang onto them for eon's haha & I don't buy new...

I've ridden a few Mc'tavish's they're ok.....but prefer SDR's for their sexy bottom HP contours (concaves) & rails.

Ridden a couple of Boyd Purdy longboards, one was one of the best longboards I've ever ridden...have a 6'6 BP indo stepup, its an absolute keeper : )

At the end of the day I just want something with a nice mix of durability & performance. Doesn't need to be a tank, but I want to be able to figure 8 without too much swing weight on turns but also not be too light in bigger waves with a strong offshore like Yallingup.

MickPC said..
Sorry boys that was poorly written. Final paragraph should of contained my opening statement regarding longboards. It describes what I have found with the Tolly & why I like it so much

Only on the lookout for HP shortboards about 30L - 32L atm Something to slip in between a 6'0 Hypto & a 6'4 DHD Ducks Nutz

Drip I've eyed off a couple of Zac Ogram's selling locally lately. Good chance a Z shape will be my next board.

Mac not sure how old the interview I read was, but I read that somewhere 2 years ago when I was considering purchasing the Tolhurst Tuflight & googling it.