Archive for Tests
October 18, 2013 at 11:51 am | Spongercity General, International, Tests, Wetsuits Tests News
Oh well, there’s no perfect answer to this question but we can definitely give you a little feedback and/or advice… we did try to wash our wetty in our washing machine and pretty much like everything in life there’s an easy way to avoid a catastroph: dont go too far or too extreme! Dont wash your brand new suit with a full on crazy 90°C washing cycle, that will of course damage your beloved piece of neoprene!
Most manufacturers will tell you not to wash your suit in a washing machine but we did it anyways, at 30°C with a gentle cycle, no dry-tumbling, no extra dryer of course, just a short and simple washing cycle (same as for a fragile 100% wool jumper for example), this is it. We used a little bit of washing machine liquid or powder but way less then the normal dose (maybe just a 1/4 of a dose). The result was great, the suit we washed was fully stretch again (with all the salt that left the neoprene material and the seams it makes the suit as stretch as it was new), it smelt good again and was doing fine (nothing delaminated or damaged).
When and why would you wash your suit in your washing machine you’re gonna ask? Well, we reckon it’s a good way to give your 1 or 2 years old suit a second life, it cleans it from salt, dirt, pee etc. and makes it feel comfy and stretch again. It works way better than the do it yourself hand-wash products available on the market and it’s cool if you’re a bit lazy. Do not do it on a brand new suit under warranty of course, dont be stupid, only do it on a suit that you dont really care about anymore or a suit you dont count on as your main suit for the coming winter. Do it on your second suit for example if you have two suits and this should definitely help keeping your old suit in a good shape, nice and clean.
Disclaimer: We are not responsible for anything if you kill your suit trying to wash it but there aren’t high risks of damaging a suit if you only wash it with a gentle and quick washing cycle without a dryer cycle.
February 26, 2013 at 12:56 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, General, Tests News
Been a while since we did some board tests, sorry about that. Our fault, we lagged, had a bunch of boards to test and havent really had time to write down the reviews.
We recently surfed a NMD Winny 3D 41 (2012/13 Model), actually surfed it quite a lot this summer and really liked it. Shape works well in all conditions, template likes fast lines and barrels, trimming down the line and speed. The Winny board is kinda straighter (straighter rails) than the Player NMD board template we reckon. It makes the Player board a bit easier to turn and bottom turn than the Winny board maybe but it’s really probaly just a personal thing. We ended up using the Winny 41 3D most of the time when waves were a bit smaller and a Player 3D 40.5 when waves were heavier. It’s hard to compare boards but this can give you an idea of what we felt when we rode the board and how we felt the template works. The Winny goes fast and is working well for spins and airs. Carves were made easier with the Player template as we said but pure speed and racing down the line were probably made easier with the Winny. So we felt at least…
The Winny 3D core has the sames template as the PE core board we previously surfed and we were stoked to be able to ride the same board but just a bit stiffer. 3D is stiffer, being a sandwich of both PE and PP cores. It takes a bit of time to “break” the core a little bit and get some flex in the 3D core but once you’ve got that flex it’s perfect and lasts longer then classic PE boards. The 3D core seems to be a good mix between the flex of the PE and stiffness of the PP boards and it works in a wide range of conditions and temperatures. Can totally work in colder waters if you’ve used the board a little bit already and have made it flexier, or in Indo waters for example if your board is new and stiff. We’ve tested the 3D core in tropical waters as well as tempered waters and really liked the versatility of the board and its core.
We rode the board in DK a bit but the 41 is a little too small for us for DK (being 5′11 – 1.80m). The board would be better in 42 if you wanna DK more on the board (if you’re the soze size as us of course). We reckon 41 is too small for us to ride DK properly on it. The template will allow you to DK on it for sure (see Winny!) but Winny has a bigger board than a 41. This is not a DK board though, it’s way better for prone.
PE will probably slightly disapear and maybe 3D as well but the 3D and PE should be replaced by lower density PP (Polypro Core) which should be fun to ride. We will definitely test-ride a low density PP core ASAP and write down a little review here as well.
About NMD: NMD boards are made in Indo, at the Broady Factory managed by Nick “Mez” Mesritz (the man behind the NMD Brand), in the same factory that produces brands such as VS, HB, SCIENCE, SNIPER, TOYS, MOREY, BZ, HUBBOARDS and more… They’re all really good boards with a solid construction (Buzz Tech Laminators), CNC Machine precision for the cut of the core blanks, and hand shaped finishing touches for all boards (rails, nose and tail bumpers, nose bulbs & lamination process).
May 22, 2012 at 12:16 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, General, International, Tests News
We recently got our hands on a brand new board from NMD (Thanks Napco for the board) and thought it’d be cool to review it since we havent reviewed any boards for a while now. So here you go for a NMD WINCHESTER 41 PE 2012 board test!
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July 30, 2010 at 12:34 am | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
The cool guys at Congo boards were kind enough to let us review another one of their boards and shape it to our requirements and preferences to really show us what the brand is capable of. Californian shaper Jimmy Linville shaped us a cool custom board with the dimensions we gave him and a few weeks later we got our new ride knocking at the door. We asked for a polyvalent board, with PE and a stringer in 42. Jimmy is well known for his cool DK shapes and this board was no exception. He made us a great polyvalent board that works perfect for DK but allows us to still ride prone for when you see a cool ramp and wanna hit it prone style.
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June 12, 2010 at 12:33 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
NMD boards are made by Mez in indo, in the same factory that produces VS, LMNOP, HB, SCIENCE, SNIPER, some TOYS, some TURBO, MOREY, BZ, ELIT and even more brands… They’re all really good boards with a solid construction (Buzz Tech Laminators), CNC Machine precision for the cut of the core blanks, and hand shaped finitions for all boards (rails, nose and tail bumpers, nose bulbs & lamination process).
We’ve tested the NMD Ben Player 41.5 3D board in a wide range of conditions and waves, same as we did with the PE board model back in 2009. The PE core was getting flexier and softer recently so we went for a 3D core board, looking for something that will feel more like a real good DOW core (PE) board from back when the PE was super good.
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March 24, 2010 at 4:12 pm | Spongercity Tests, Wetsuits Tests News
Probably the most expensive suit on the market and the most expensive suit we got to test we reckon. We got a 4/3/2 fullsuit (front zip on the chest). It’s the top range stuff. The fullsuit looks and feels great, it’s really really light and the neoprene is nice and light. (They call it Geoprene actually because the Yamamoto neoprene they use for this suit comes from limestone and isn’t made from petroleum products. Geoprene is derived from 99.7% pure limestone. It’s warmer – 98% water impermeable compared to the standard 69% – lighter and lasts longer than oil-based neoprene. It’s also kinder to Mother Nature since it wastes less biomass and comes from a sustainable resource—not petroleum. Geoprene is exclusive to Yamamoto Corporation and Matuse, Inc.)
Read the rest of this review by clicking the link below.
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February 11, 2010 at 3:45 pm | Spongercity Fins Tests, Tests News
A fins test… this is our very first fins test we reckon. We got some Stealth 2.0 to test not too long ago so we thought it’d be cool to write up a little review about those new fins. Although we’ve been using Toobs Bluntcuts for 11 years now we decided to give the Stealth 2.0 a try because they looked much better than all other asymetric fins we’ve seen on the market the last 10 years. Read the full test by clicking the link below.
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February 10, 2010 at 5:48 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
This is our second ELIT Board Test. We tested the SD model a couple days ago. Have you read the SD Elit test ? If not, click here. Anyway. This is the ELIT TEAM DESIGN 41 PE STRINGER MESH test here. ELIT boards are made in indo by Mez (like NMD, VS, SCIENCE, PRIDE, HB, TOYS, SNIPER, LMNOP and more brands – we probably forgot some brands in the list) so it’s a solid contruction, good materials and craftmanship. Read the rest of the review by clicking the link below…
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February 8, 2010 at 6:09 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
First ELIT board test for us! We’ve had 2 different boards to test from ELIT: the SD and the TEAM DESIGN. This is the SD test, we’ll review the TEAM DESIGN board a little bit later. ELIT boards are made in indo by Mez (like NMD, VS, SCIENCE, PRIDE, HB, TOYS, SNIPER, LMNOP and more brands – we probably forgot some brands in the list) so it’s a solid contruction, good materials and craftmanship. Read the rest of the review by clicking the link below…
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February 7, 2010 at 1:00 pm | Spongercity Boards Tests, Tests News
We never heard of CONGO BOARDS before they actually contacted us and asked if we wanted to ride a board and test it. F#ck yeah, we’re always amped on trying new boards and equipment so we said yes! and waited for our test board to be delivered. We didn’t know what to expect, the boards on their site looked fun and they had a completely different approach from other companies with mostly just DK and Standup boards. So we got a 42 dropknee board, PP 2x stringers, solid construction, with hip grooves on the deck, contours on the rails, tibia contours on the tails specially made for dropkneeing, channels, a rounded nose and a massive nose rocker (not just the slick rocker, but a real rocker on the whole board).
While looking at the board and its details we couldnt help but notice that the construction and style was similar to Jimmy Linville boards (JL Designs – Made in Oceanside USA) and fair enough, after checking with CONGO BOARDS they confirmed it: All boards are shaped by the man himself in California: Jimmy Linville. That’s why it’s all DK and standups boards we suppose, with sick rockers and contours. Jimmy is such a good shaper for these designs. Read the rest of the review by clicking the link below…
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