Just a few short years ago the reverse camber creation phase hit the technology side of snowboarding like a tsunami and changed the board landscape. We went from something tried and true but stagnant to what some might call the rise of the mad scientist camber theorists with profiles that were full of various camber, rocker, and reverse. If there was a variation of camber that could be created it was and has been built.
Now as companies board designers have finally figured out what does and doesn’t work we’re seeing them reinvent the tried and true traditional camber. While some might say that traditional camber doesn’t exist anymore, it is there and has its place in the current camber landscape. All one has to do is weed through the various tech names and stories that surround it. This is where marketing has failed the people as the belief that a creative name and description will sell more product instead of keeping it very cut and dry.
Below you will see the direction camber is going in. Instead of an arc representing the camber profile from contact point to contact point it has now been flattened out in the middle, but rest assured knowing this is traditional camber.
Nitro’s Roofchop is the next incarnation of traditional camber.
Flow Snowboards has been doing this for a while now.
Ride Snowboards understands the importance of a cambered zone.
Camber on a jib board? Salomon Snowboards has you covered.
There are more variations than those listed above but this gives you a general idea of what is out there.
Obviously the names can be a bit misleading as everyone that snowboarded before 2004 just knew it as camber. Now you’re suddenly expected to relearn what it is and isn’t with all the various new names. Thankfully there are brands out there that are just calling it camber and keeping it simple still. So the next time you or someone you know is board shopping and they say traditional camber doesn’t exist anymore, flip over that board and look at the cheat sheet on the base. Read through the marketing hyperbole and see if you can see the reincarnation of traditional camber. If you can’t then I suggest you look down the sidecut of the board or place it on a flat surface and see if it has that arc you know and want.
8 Comments
Other companies who’ve gone this route include Rossi and K2, in case anyone cared.
I think just about anyone into snowboarding that followed the reverse camber trend called this.
4 years from now I fully expect some ‘new’ camber shapes to be marked.
^ Perhaps it’ll be called Reverse Rocker.
But this time around, the wheel is far rounder and way more rollier.
Thanks for crawling out from under your rock to write this post.
Hi,
Wondering if you had a chance to try Mervin’s C3 on Hot knife. I’ve been on a lot of camber reincarnations thanks for my friend who works for a SB shop. I understand everyone is different but I absolutely love the HK. I’ve tried lot of different ones that cover a wide spectrum when it came to satisfying an all around rider. There are some good ones, DOA, Jibsaw, Sabotage, kam knife,…to name a few but I’m pretty sure I found what I’m looking for in HK.
I personally haven’t.
rode a burton flying V, had not camber….it was bamber