Good question. I'm no rocket scientist, but not all liters are created equal. I think all else being equal, epoxy has more buoyancy, but that may be a fallacy, but if you drop 100 lbs of feathers off a buildig and 100 lbs of rocks at the same time the rocks will hit first, so there are other forces at play other than volume v float. There is the penetration factor ( that's what she said ). So there!
If you have the same volume, but different weight, they'll duckdive differently. So, knowing they're the same volume, the question becomes... are the two boards the same weight?
volume and mass are not the same thing. I'm pretty sure eps is less dense -less mass- so they won't be the same weight.
I ride a board with 31 L and duckdive that with ease (poly). I got a 37L epoxy board, how hard will it be to duckdive?
This sounds like one of those standardized test questions from grade school... You should be able to duck dive 37 liters either way. Unless you are 50 lbs or something
Is epoxy really that much more durable than poly? I'm the proud owner of a few epoxy boards. I have a surf tech longboard that is damn near bullet proof. Minor blemishes only and I've had it ten years. I also have a rnf my shaper made for me which seems pretty tough. It's got a few heal dents and minor dings otherwise holding up well. I had an epoxy mini Simmons I snapped a few months back. Only had it a year and I broke it in only chest high surf. In the process of replacing the mini and debating if I should get epoxy or poly. My shaper charges about $100 less for poly. I have not broken a poly yet. Probably just luck. Any thoughts?
Not necessarily. There are different density cores in both types of foam. Standard PU foam for stock board is about 2.75 lb/cu ft., but lighter foam is available, and is widely used for "pro" or "comp" boards. Heavier foam (up to 4 lb) is used for longboards, guns, tow boards, kiteboards, etc. Stock EPS is just under 2 lb/cu ft, but again, there's lighter and heavier densities. So the difference between a finished shaped board in both stock foams is about a pound. However, the other variable is in the glass job. Was a heavier glass used? (It's wise to take advantage of the lighter core and do at least one layer of glass on either the deck, bottom, or both with heavier cloth). Was the blank sealed before glassing? Was a filler coat done over the lam? "Is epoxy really more durable than polyester resin? Yes. While the measure of strength of just the resin tells us little about the strength of the lamination and board over all, (yes, high quality surfboard epoxy is stronger in a number of ways than PE) the real measure of strength is the matrix of glass and resin, and how well it bonds to the core, both initially, and over the life of use of the board. The short answer is... properly ratios, proper prep, and proper technique, proper temperatures during and after lamination... EPS/Epoxy is a stronger, more durable build.
lots of questions in there Kai! In my experience EPS epoxy construction is significantly more durable than poly. you mention a surftech being bullet proof....a surftech longboard is NOT the same construction as a hand shaped EPS/epoxy. They are both more durable than poly, but they arent the same thing. How on earth did you manage to snap an EPS/epoxy mini simmons in small waves? Wow! I have shaped and ridden mini simmons in both poly and EPS/epoxy. Unless your shaper has some other advice to the contrary, i would get the mini simmons in poly and save the $100. In my experience, a little extra weight actually kind of suits that style of board, and if you get it with a 6+4 deck 6 bottom glassing even the poly will be plenty strong.
The board is a 6'6" rounded pin tail step up epoxy 37L. I weigh 175ish with a wetsuit.What do you all think.
