JP FSW vs. Kombat

[Ola_H]

My general advice in these cases is to have an expert take a look at the laminate around the area of breakage. It may be that it is too dry or something and then it really is a manufacturing defect that you could talk to your shop about (then they talk to the importer that talks to JP that talks to Cobra...). You might get lucky despite that the warranty period has passed.

As for FSW vs Kombat, a few years have passed since I last sailed JP FSW. But they have always been a bit more freeride oriented and are well know for being super easy to sail "right out of the box". I think Kombats are more true crossovers in the sense of being both pure wave boards and good freeriders depending on trim. They require a bit more technique to excel in freeride stuff, but really perform when you push them. And in a wave setup, they are just exceptional and also here they get better the more you push them. But most boards in the FSW/crossover segment seems to do the job, its more personal preference that decides which one that fits the best.

[o2bnme]

Interesting difference... if the Kombat is more wave oriented, why is it the only one of these boards that has an option for two back footstraps on the 79-liter board? RRD's and JP's don't give this option.

I was really impressed with the kombat and pushing this board in B&J in 4.2 to 5.3 condtions at kanaha last spring. there has been some critcism of the smallish fin but it worked great, providing enough lift and enough looseness at the same time for my 195 lb frame. It never spun out even when heavily pressed in either wide arcs or short slashing gybes when i was trying to stay upwind. The conditions were big time lumpy and bumpy inside the reef. KP had commented on his blog that the wind was very high for maui, ( although he didnt seem to think it was very bumpy...) wile i doint thrash the board IE: any pitchploes or hiugh wipeouts i dint treat it with baby gloves either. i was a bit worried as one kombat had buckled in half the spring before from one shop i rented from. there was no nose guard on the board either all the Jps had them at all the shops i checked.
I saw tesieda there during the starboard photo shoot and complimented him on this board. i had sailed a bunch of other types, and maye i was zoned in but i went back to it day after day and decided ti was de rigeur for the conditions.' although ti not the board for my local conditions ( trying to find a lightly used s -type)i could not say enough aout this board i did sail the JP it was Ok but liked the komat better .

[Ola_H]

Originally Posted by o2bnme

Interesting difference... if the Kombat is more wave oriented, why is it the only one of these boards that has an option for two back footstraps on the 79-liter board? RRD's and JP's don't give this option.

Well, it has to do with that all the Kombats, even the small one can be trimmed to become a freerider. I think it is best to view the "history" of the current Kombat shape to understand it. It is a close relative, or even a descendant, to the Pure Acid shape. Rocker is the same, v-layout is the same. Rails are very close. Only outline is a bit different with a bit wider shoulders an a wider tail (or you can think of them being narrower down the middle if you want). Pure Acids are well known for being very good wave boards, particularly in down the line conditions. The Kombats have a very similar feel, but the outline change tunes them for keeping speed better when you mess up or don't have so much wave or sailpower push.

But as it happens - call it luck if you want - the Pure Acid rocker is a very, very fast one as wave boards go. So the Pure Acids are already surprisingly good for high wind freeride blasting (many tests confirm this). With the added tail width and with the freeride strap option of the Kombats, you gain the ability to control a bigger fin and also get a wider wind range with the extra light wind performance this gives. So, what we have is a real transformer board rather than a compromise between the two categories wave and freeride. Its really a board on which you can cross over from one type of sailing to the other rather than a board which is a cross between one type of board and another.

[Goose]

Last year I was on the verge of buying the Kombat97 to replace my JP FSW98. I never did buy one due to poor results in tests in various surf magazines. One of the most common view was that the Kombat had poor early planing. How is it this year? One more thought, I am considering this year the Kombat96, but I have seen that the width of the tail is above 40 cm. how does this affect the board in choppy water conditions?

/goose

[Ola_H]

I saw some test with that kind of remark. For me, the Kombat 87 which I had last year was a very early planer. I will try to explain a bit about these things which I think is on one hand VERY individual but on the other hand also relates to my post no 11 above.

JPs and some of the other FSW boards are really built around maximal user friendliness (similar thoughts that Starboard used for the Carve series of boards, although they are not FSWs). User friendly for example includes a "crisp" feel so that it is very easy to get an exciting ride. It includes easy planing so that the board get going early _also without_ much sailor input. It also included easy turning without to much sailor input. There is absolutely nothing wrong with building board this way, many great boards and test winners are designed this way. And its is also not a black and white thing but all boards are somewhere on the line from "performance only" to "user friendliness only".

But the Kombat, I think, is clearly a bit more high performance about it. The rocker, bottom and rails are the same as one of the top tested down the line wave boards, the Pure Acid. So, when some test says the Kombat is not so wave oriented, this is in a way ridiculous, but it goes back to that the the test looked only for these easy riding wave type of turns while the Kombat thrives on a "real" kind of turn. The same thing goes for planing and freeriding. The Kombat loves to be pushed hard and get better and better the harder you push it due to for example its ability to handle chop. And early planing is the same. WIth just the slightest bit of technique, the Kombat gets going very early. But it does have a slightly "shorter" rocker than some of others and this means that for a passive sailor it will get going less early.

Personally, I didn't get a Kombat the first few years just because I tend to like performance boards more than compromise boards. But when I finally got one, I found that it actually was a performance board, just that you could tune it for two different modes by changing fin and strap positioning.

So, while I definitely wouldn't call the Kombat a difficult board in any way (it's actually still very easy to ride) is definitely still a performance board that nobody will out grow in a while...

[Goose]

But what about the new -08 Kombat? Isn´t the new Kombat96 totally remastered compared to the -07 edition? Better planing? Less wavy?

I would probably already have a Combat if they came with a Power Box. Why is Starboard stuck on the "A" boxes? In my opinion and long experience, the A boxes are weak, fins are looser, and they are harder to use.

Tuttle boxes are the best, Power Box is OK for smaller fins. So why is Starboard putting the A boxes on bump and jump boards?

That factor alone is enough to send me to Exocet or some other manufacturer now that JP has proven to be so weak in construction and warranty.