Buying a snowboard is pretty fool proof these days as all of the big brands make very good quality boards. They have perfected the middle of the road, go anywhere, do anything boards that almost anyone will get on with. That is the first and most important thing to bear in mind.

But lets start with what you are actually looking for. The first question to ask yourself is what kind of riding do I do and how good am I? Be realistic, if you’re riding trees in Japan all season then you’re looking for very different qualities in a board to someone who jibbing there way round a snow dome. For a glossary of terms and types of boards click here.

Here are a few checks you can make before investing in a used board.

1. How much Life is left in the board

Flex is everything, the stiffness of a board gives it its personality. The stiffer a board the more life it has but the harder it is to control, the softer it is the easy and more forgiving it is to ride. A board that has lost all of it’s flex though is effectively dead, what you are looking for here is a picture of the boards profile lying on a hard flat surface, the camber in the board denotes life so the bigger the gap between the board and floor the more life it has.

2. How many war wounds does it have?

In terms of damage lets start with the base of the board. A few scratches to the base are essentially cosmetic and will be invisible after a good service. A core shot or gouge/scratch that has gone through the p-tex (base material) right through to the core of the board is a more serious matter. Here everything depends on the size and depth of the gouge and the quality of the repair, either way you should be looking for a price that reflects the extent of the damage. The big one that should not be touched are edges that are cracked or blown, the edges of a board help to give the board it’s flex pattern and if the edge breaks it will soften the board in the spot and almost certainly absorb water.

On the top of the board a few scratches as per the base are just cosmetic, if the top sheet has delaminated and not been well repaired then it can absorb water, but delams are usually only seen in boards that have had a very hard paper round so be wary. Pulled inserts are another no no, the holes where the bindings screw into the board are tied into the board through the core so if one of these has pulled out you have weakened the heart of the board.

3. How many base grinds has it had

Not the most important thing but if a board is more than four years old and has been used regularly then it may have had a few base grinds worth asking the question as too many grinds will weaken a board.

4. What type of bindings are compatible?

If you are buying a Burton then you need to make sure that if you’re not buying bindings with the board that your existing bindings are compatible. All boards except Burton have what is called a 4x4 binding attachment where four screws are used to attach the binding disc. Burton in their wisdom to make sure you can only use their bindings on their boards use a 3D or hole triangular system. Most other brands of bindings have figured out a hole pattern that will allow you to use your bindings with a Burton board but if might be worth checking in a shop or on a mates board first. More recently Burton have developed the EST Channel system which use a single bolt to attach the binding and make them easy to adjust. You can only use EST bindings on this system.

As ever I'm on ed@snowshed.net if you have any more questions.