D.T. Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I am thinking about purchasing a powder board. At this point the two I am considering are a Rad Air Tanker 182cm or a Dynastar 4807 178cm. Anybody have first-hand experience with either of these boards? I weigh 210lbs and I want to do some back country with the board as well as the occasional day of lift service. I would rather error on the side of too long rather than too short. :D What are everyone's opinions??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 I've ridden both those boards. However, I only road the Tanker inbounds. The 4807 is my regular powder board. I have to say that after seeing the Nitro Powder Gun, I'd love to try one of those. It looks like it would be great in powder and its narrower at the waist than the 4807. Sometimes I feel I have to put too much weight on my rear foot with the 4807. In ideal conditions, I should be able to weight my front foot just like on a carving board (IMO). I've been thinking that I'd like to try either the Nitro or the classic Winterstick swallowtail. I know there are a bunch of folks out there who love the Tanker, but no way would I get one. Way too wide for me, and I'd want the swallowtail for powder. Look at the Nitro and Winterstick, and maybe Prior. OK, I just looked at the specs for the Nitro. I think its actually a bit wider underfoot than the 4807. However, the swallowtail cut comes much further in, giving you more sink in the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Though I haven't actually ridden a 4807 on snow, I've flex-tested it in a local shop many times and found it to be very soft. Which is a great feature if you want a lot of bounce and agility through the trees and are riding in areas that don't allow you to really open it up. A stiffer board, perhaps, like a Tanker would give you a different line in powder. More drawn out turns and a bit harder to turn at slower speeds. Can you get to a demo of either one of those boards? Try before you buy. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 You are welcome to try my 4807 if you can figure a way to get it. Either come to Tahoe or have someone bring it to you. I'm done for the season so I won't be riding it. It needs a small repair since it was the board I crashed on when I tore my achilles. I only looked at it briefly after that but I recall that it needs some p-tex repair - I think I took a core shot right in the center of the board. It is pretty flexy at the front, but holds its own on crud/piste. I was surprised the first time I took it from the pow to the piste. I've beat the crap out of mine and it still holds up OK. It probably only has 10-14 days on it, but I've hit lots of rocks, logs and cliffs on it. Early season pow days are hard on a board. I delamed one of the tails the first season I had it and sent it back to Dynastar. They sort of fixed the tail (not totally) and sent it back saying sorry, we only replace boards under warrantee if they've failed due to a defect, not if you ripped it apart dropping a big cliff - doh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.T. Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Randy - thanks for the offer! I might have to figure out a way to take you up on that offer. No, I cannot find anyone that demos either of those boards and I have a relatively short timne window. Early February I will be spending a day at Durango Mountain Resort (formerly Purgatory) and then several days at Wolf Creek. Colorado is finally having a good snow year. Southern CO is at ~160% average snowpack!!!:D I flexed the 4807 in the store. The nose was definatley soft, but the tail felt fairly burly, i.e. similar to the tail on my 4x4. I have considered rinding the 4x4, but it is 169cm and at my size, I need all of the float that I can get. I have condidered selling the 4x4 since in four years I have not figured out how to ride it in the bumps or steep trees (then again, if I am riding that terrain it is at Mary Jane). Thanks for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 DT, the tanker 182 is a really fun board to ride both in and out of bounds and it will do everything that you want. Check my other post on Rad-Air to talk with them about how to get one. Good luck. speed is your friend... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.T. Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 svr, You are not kidding about the Tanker 182 being an awesome board. Dave at Hardbooter.com was willing to send me a demo. After a day riding it, I now own one. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 I haven't ridden either of those boards, but you might want to look at the Fish, which is the sort of powder board which people don't put down once they've tried. The Fish is pretty much standard issue at Wiegele's these days... it works really well in the trees and pretty well everywhere else. Of course ridden with hard boots. Powder Gun: Nils will tell you about those. I've never seen one used for two days in a row at a heli operator (I suspect because they're too big for the trees). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.T. Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Jim, thanks for the offer. I am the proud owner of a new 182cm Tanker. This is an awesome board. I have yet to have it in decent powder, but this coming weekend I will be spending a couple days at Durango Mtn. and Wolf Creek. I looked at the Fish, but... I prefer not to give my $$$ to the Burton Empire. Plenty of other smaller companies out there that can use my support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdboytyler Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 I got a Burton Fish 156 MD at the end of last season and have ridden it for a couple of knee deep powder days at Mammoth. I used it with soft boots and Flow bindings because I didn't have 3-hole disks for my TD2’s. The Fish handled great in the fresh powder, hacked up powder and moguls. My only complaint was that I thought the Fish sucked in hard pack. The biggest problem was probably the use of soft boots. With the extra board width, size 25 boots and soft setup, it was really tiring to carve turns on hard pack and traverses were even more painful than usual. So last week I got an O-Sin 4807 168cm because of the reviews I read that said the 4807 was a great powder board, carved decently and I could mount my TD2’s. I rode the 4807 in Mammoth on Saturday in knee-deep powder in the bowls and in thigh-deep powder in the trees at Hemlock ridge. I used hardboots and TD2’s. On both boards, I used the reference stances. Here’s my head to head comparison: Open powder: the 4807 floated more and made it harder to endo. I’ve endo’ed on the Fish, but no endos yet on the 4807. Because the 4807 floated better, it sure felt faster. The 4807 also felt more stable at higher speeds. Tracked powder: the 4807 ploughed through the tracked stuff better. It almost felt as smooth virgin powder. Totally hacked-up powder: the 4807 felt more user-friendly probably because of the use of hardboots. Knee-deep moguls: the extra length and scooped nose of the 4807 made it easier to go over the moguls. The board also felt light doing jump turns in the bumps. I had my best mogul run ever on the 4807. Trees: I’d say the two boards are about even. I was really surprised how quickly I could do short turns on the 4807 because of the extra length. Rutted hard pack: the extra length of the 4807 made it much easier on my legs to absorb riding over rutts. Carving on hardpack: Well, the use of hardboots and TD2’s made it easier to carve on the 4807, nothing new there. If you can get the boards at about the same price on EBay, the 4807 is hands-down the better board. If you’re paying retail, $400(?) for the Fish vs $650(?) for the 4807, then the choice gets a lot harder, because the Fish really is a good powder board and it’s only $25 for a 3-hole disk plus the wait. If you hate Burton and ski companies that make snowboards, then you’ll have to look elsewhere. Remember that O-Sin was a division of Dynastar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCR Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 I'll hopefully be spending a week in CO towards the end December '05 (just before Christmas), probably Smowmass. I spend most of my time on east cost hardpack in WV so I'm looking at getting a powder-oriented board for the trip. My question: Do you think I would be able to demo an Air Tanker or OSin 4807 while out there, or will only companies like Burton, Donek, and the such be represented? What about Arbor, will they be represented? Thanks, DrCR ________ Nitro Range Ex AM alpine 158, Deeluxe Indy 26, F2 Race Titanium. 5'8", 150lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.T. Posted March 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Originally posted by DrCR Do you think I would be able to demo an Air Tanker or OSin 4807 while out there, or will only companies like Burton, Donek, and the such be represented? What about Arbor, will they be represented? I have not found anywhere locally to rent Tankers or 4807s. Local shops in Denver and the mountains will have all of the standard brands. The Arbor Element is likely one of those. I highly doubt you would be able to find Arbor A-Frames though(they are hard to find for retail). Before your trip try contacting Bomber or Donek directly to see what demos they might have available. Donek is located near Denver International Airport, so it might be possible to pick a demo up from them if you are flying. You might also try posting here and seeing if a local would let you borrow one of those boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCR Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Thanks for the input DT! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugger Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Originally posted by DrCR I'll hopefully be spending a week in CO towards the end December '05 (just before Christmas), probably Smowmass. I spend most of my time on east cost hardpack in WV so I'm looking at getting a powder-oriented board for the trip. My question: Do you think I would be able to demo an Air Tanker or OSin 4807 while out there, or will only companies like Burton, Donek, and the such be represented? What about Arbor, will they be represented? Thanks, DrCR ________ Nitro Range Ex AM alpine 158, Deeluxe Indy 26, F2 Race Titanium. 5'8", 150lbs. DrCR: Check with All Boards Sports in Boulder. They have a very good selection and I think they would let you demo some boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 a 4807 can be had on the cheap but I would say give a tanker a try or if you can find a old burton canyon 181, lib tech doughboy 193 or one of the big glissades I say this because they might be a bit more versitile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rugger Posted March 8, 2005 Report Share Posted March 8, 2005 Originally posted by bobdea a 4807 can be had on the cheap but I would say give a tanker a try or if you can find a old burton canyon 181, lib tech doughboy 193 or one of the big glissades I say this because they might be a bit more versitile Last season for the 4807. Kaput. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCR Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 All Boards Sports, awesome, thanks. I'll get in contact with them late summer/early fall. Thanks for your input bobdea. Hopefully I'll be able to experience both, perhaps buying a 4807 on the cheap and getting a tanker on as a loner or demo. I'll keep an eye out for those older boards on ebay too. :D rugger, you mean they're going to stop production of the 4807?! If so, I better get more serious with my ebay bidding! DrCR _________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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