Firewire Surfboard Review (2026): Neutrino, Revo Max, Matadocado

For decades, The process of making a surfboard was almost the same: cut a piece of foam; Place a wooden stringer in the middle to provide structure and strength; Shape it, wrap it in fiberglass, sand it, and leave holes for the handlebars and fins. That was until Firewire Surfboards came along. The company now uses a 21-step construction process and an amazing combination of aerospace foams, carbon fiber and bio-based resins to produce a board that looks like it’s straight out of science fiction.

The surfing world tends to favor the tried and true, but in the case of Firewire, each new material and design serves a purpose. Much to the dismay of all Luddite surfers, the boards work really well. I spent most of the fall and winter testing three new Firewire boards, the Neutrino, Machadodo, and Revo Max. Each uses different materials and different designs designed for different types of waves (and surfers). Here’s what I found.

A bit of backstory

In December 2005, Clark Foam suddenly closed its doors in an event that became known as “Empty Monday.” Clark made nearly 90 percent of traditional polyurethane (PU) surfboards sold, and suddenly board makers had to scramble for alternative base materials. Many in the industry have turned to expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, which also requires the use of epoxy resins because traditional polyurethane resins dissolve EPS.

However, EPS presented some significant performance issues. First, it had about 8 percent more buoyancy than polyurethane, resulting in a “corky” ride that made surfers feel like they were awkwardly floating on top of the water rather than digging into it. It also didn’t flex in the same way, changing the way the board rotated.

Around the same time, Australian designers Nev Hyman and Bert Berger were collaborating on a radically different design. The roof skin was glued to the top and bottom of the EPS foam core, in what became colloquially referred to as “sandwich construction.” These skins were made of 3mm thick aerospace composite material which added structural integrity and vibration dampening, as well as dent resistance. The entire sandwich is packed together in vacuum bags.

However, the most noticeable change was the removal of the central wooden pillar that ran down the panel from nose to tail. Instead, it was replaced by two parabolic rods extending on each side of the board. Not only did these two wood bars provide more control, but they got you out of corners a little faster. This construction will be known as Future Shape Technology (FST).