Swallowtail vs. Longboard?

[JonDahl]

I have a question for anyone out there, has anybody done a back to back comparision of a swallow tail and a longboard such as Rad-airs Tankers? I am wondering how the two stack up against each other. Can a person eliminate the swallowtail from his quiver using a tanker, or a Dupraz/Pogo? What would you give up, if anything? I know for me the swallowtail wins hands down in deep pow, having ridden 178's in my Nitro, and my Oxygen all mountain, and a Voile swallowtail split at Splitfest.

[nils]

Well you said it yourself: "I know for me the swallowtail wins hands down in deep pow"..
I know the same works for me... I sometimes would like a smaller board for cruizing a bit on mixed or tight terrains than my ST. I think they are different stuff for different snow and riding style, so its hard to answer!
Nils

[JonDahl]

Yeah, I know, but I wondered about something like a 187 Tanker Heli vs. my 178 Nitro Pow. The length wouldn't bother me in mid to light trees, but how much float would I give up? Would the Heli's extra width help tip the scale? I just don't want to buy one and regret it.

[pokkis]

I've got Tanker 200 and Swell Panik 185 and been comparing them this winter on pow.
On deeper and steeper i prefer Swell cause for me it works better, nose comes up so nicely on carved turns on pow and tail makes turns so fluid. But when it gets flatter then length of Tanker starts to rule.
If both would be equal length then i would keep only Swell. Even now i have been heavily been thinking should i sell my Tanker but when i get those ideas i remember also how nice ride that is and how much i love that board too

[JonDahl]

Thanks, pokkis, I had the feeling that it would be that way, but don't really have any way to confirm it. At speed, and in deeper snow, I was fairly sure the swallowtail would be better based on my few rides. In Utah at Splitfest I was the rocket on snow using their loaner 178, at least going down! Wonder why the Tanker is better for you on the flatter stuff. Any thoughts? My big worry on a longer stick is trees. I pruned a few of the Utah aspens on the way out in Big Cottonwood canyon!