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Any change in the performance of these boards vs the standard FST boards last year? Claims are that they are stronger & lighter so I'm curious if you were - say - riding a 5'1" FST should I be thinking the 4'10" in helium construction? Any other thoughts or insights? I have my old 5'1" Vader but I did some carnage on a finbox(unseen submerged rock). I've fixed it but I'm wondering, what if my repair doesn't last - where to go next?

Yea, it would be interesting to hear how the Helium kite construction compares. I have an Evo in the FST kite construction and the deck is starting to buckle near the rail by front foot. Hope the Helium is stronger.

well I have a helium kite evo. Extremely light. So far so good. I wouldn't call bullet proof it will ding but so far it seems to holding together.

I've a 5'3" Evo in Helium kite build. Strong enough so far. So light I can't use it weigh down my kite on the beach any more. The wind can get under it easily and take it for spin down the beach. - Happened to mine, but only a couple of tumbles before I caught it. No dings or compressions... yet...

I do have a full deck pad on it, to help with foot comfort and deck protection.

The helium boards are super light, super strong. 3 Months, no pressure dings yet. Not going back to FST.
4'10 vader FST with pads 3.1kg (nofins) >3+months of riding lots of dings many jumps.
4'10 vader Helium with pads 2.5kg (nofins)>3+months of riding nearly no dings many jumps
5'4 Jimmy lewis Qwad (Surf version) with pads 2.4kg (nofins) >after 3 months of riding , many dings, pierced the board landing a jump. Big hole. One of my favorite board though.

The FST 5.3 Vader I have has small dings on the underside but the deck has been bomber (I'm 205lbs and jump a lot). The FCSII boxes have been too weak in my opinion with small stick/debris strikes nearly tearing the boxes apart. I've had them repaired 3X. Hopefully the Helium boards are better in this respect. Love the board otherwise.

Where can I get one? Found a few but not sure if kite construction.

Big winds in the Gorge have them .

felixp wrote: ↑

Wed May 02, 2018 2:00 am

Big winds in the Gorge have them .

Thanks, they’re not too far away. Now just gotta pull the trigger.

Is there any difference though in the way the Helium boards perform or hold up to typical abuse vs the FST boards? I was wondering if a 5'1" FST vader was perfect for me - should I think about getting a 4'10" Helium?