2020 Capita Black Snowboard of Death Review

The Capita Black Snowboard of Death has been around for years and continues to evolve. It’s got a semi-aggressive personality to match its name and how it used to be about 8 years ago. However it has a different camber profile as well as a more modernized flex.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

How This Review Happened:  We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.
Size: 156
Days: 2
Conditions: Some pretty soft spring conditions that were good but not great.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Jimbo (Size 11, 5’11” 160lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles,  Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata

Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Referenced this to or you should check:
Burton Flight Attendant, Jones Flagship, Never Summer West Bound, Korua Otto, Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker, Loaded Algernon, Capita Mercury,

Set-Up: 22” Wide. 18 front -9 back. On Reference Stance

Approximate Weight: Felt on the light side of normal but pretty normal-ish.

Sizing: The 156 didn’t work well for Jimbo’s 11’s but the 156 worked well for my 9’s. The 156 and 159 are a better call for 10 and under boots. The 162 and 165 can do a little better with 10-11 boots but it seems best to not go past 11 for the two bigger sizes.

Flex/Buttering: Thinking about the flex when I first started riding this board over 10 years ago it blows my mind how much it’s changed as well as evolved over the years. In the late ’00s and early teens, it was stiff and mean and it had a flex that was super poppy but felt like it would break if it flexed too hard. Nowadays it has similar energy underfoot but now feels like it can bend super far without breaking. That being said, the rockered nose is way easier than the flat tail. It was a touch stiffer about 2 years back and it mellowed out a touch but not over the top.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: The Capita Black Snowboard of Death has a good bit of camber between the feet that transitions to rocker in the nose and a little flat section in the tail that feels a little catchy. The camber does go well past the inserts and you can really feel it in the profile. It is forgiving for full camber but not quite mellow enough for most intermediate riders. It’s more for advanced to expert riders that don’t need to skid their turns much. It has a very consistent feel underfoot in all conditions.

Edge Hold: The way Capita Boards come to you out of the wrapper doesn’t have much going on edge hold wise when the snow starts to get hard.

Turn Initiation: Pretty medium to medium quick edge to edge and it can start a turn quick enough in tight spots. It doesn’t make hard direction changes though.

Turning Experience/Carving: In comparison to the Supernova, the Capita Black Snowboard of Death didn’t quite have the same spring and springy feel edge to edge but it was no slouch either. It turns well and although the flat in the tail might be altering the way the board turns a bit it was fun to lay it over.

Powder:  We didn’t get the 2020 Capita Black Snowboard of Death in powder but we did get the same shape and camber profile from a previous year and it floated pretty well. When set all the way back it is just a bit ahead of the Mercury. The rocker in the nose did a good job keeping it up in the thick Sierra snow we had. With a 22″ stance width there is a difference between nose and tail of 3.75″ or a 1.875″ set back from the center of the board. This isn’t a lot for a freeride board at all but maybe a touch better than average for an all-mountain board.

Speed: Even though the flex is a bit softer than it was before it still has a damp personality to it and it can point it. It’s not the board you get if all you want to do is straight line though.

Uneven Terrain: Capita has really come a long way since we first started riding their boards and the Capita Black Snowboard of Death does a pretty good job powering over snow and it turns through it almost as well.

Switch: It’s far from perfect but very doable and just a shade behind the Mercury. If you just want to throw it around and make a few turns or get a traverse going then it’s great but if you want to put the Capita Black Snowboard of Death through its paces switch as much as regular it will come with some adjustment time to get used to how it’s different the other way.

Jumps: That tail might make carving seem different than other boards with camber there but it sure helps it pop. The Capita Black Snowboard of Death has a nice stable approach to a man-made or natural kicker and It’s pretty easy to land.

Jibbing: Doable but far from ideal.

Pipe: We liked this better for getting air than riding pipe. The edge hold was lacking for us but it did drive well wall to wall in a soft pipe and it didn’t feel too sluggish in transitions.

So overall, the Capita Black Snowboard of Death is a good choice if you want to take it a little more directional than the Mercury and get a little better float in powder.

2018- 2019 Capita Black Snowboard of Death Review

The 2018 Capita Black Snowboard Of Death changed back into the board it used to be.  It’s got a stiffer more damp flex but still retains some butterability in the tip and tail.  Other than the edge hold in harder snow the BSOD really shines as a board that lives right in between the world that is Freeride and All Mountain. It’s a great choice if you want something more set back and directional than the Mercury but doesn’t want to go super tapered.  It drives off the front foot well compared to many freeride boards with more taper.

The 2019 Capita Black Snowboard of Death is a touch softer, has a few minor tweaks under the hood and on the base compared to the 2018 but its overall ride is almost the same.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 159
Days: 6+
Conditions: Pretty good spring conditions.  Some hard mornings but overall pretty good.
Riders: James, Jimbo, 
Boots: Burton Almighty, Adidas Tactical ADV,
Bindings: Union Atlas
Set Up:   Centererd to set almost all the way back.  15 front -9 back 15 front -15 back 22.5″-23″ wIDE

Approximate Weight: Feels normal bordering on light but still well built.

Flex: Really love the flex change of the 2018 Capita Black Snowboard of Death this year.  It’s stiffer between the feet and a massive improvement over the 2017 model.  You can still butter around with the tip/tail and we love what Capita has been doing with the overall flex this year.

Sizing: The 159 felt right for my boots despite it’s a wider waist of 25.6.  It’s got a good feel for normal size feet and as you get up to the taller sizes it seems like it borders on being a mid/wide. The tip and tail are pretty wide too.

On Snow Feel:  So the 2018 Capita Black Snowboard of Death is night and day different than the 2017 model.  For us, it’s different in a good way mainly because the flex now matches its name.  It now has a much more aggressive personality but it still lets you butter pretty well.  We would say it’s just barely a Freeride board with a lot of All Mountain personality.  It definitely takes it a step further as a directional ride than the Mercury.  It’s got a technical semi-locked in feel to it that is great for flat basing and one footing off the chair. It appeals to good condition riders that love to turn, carve, float easily in the deep but also like to butter and occasionally ride switch.

Edge Hold: Felt like it borders on being a hard decent hard snow ride.  It’s got more grip than many of the Capita boards but not quite as much as the Mercury thanks to that little bump in the middle called Death Grip.  We would love to see a little more when you pull it out of the wrapper.  You can probably tune it to grip better but even when the edge seems sharp to us the grip is slightly off.

Turn Initiation:  Despite it’s wider waist and wider nose/tail for a 159 that would fit my size 9 boots really well it turns quickly.  It’s fine for making quick turns through trees or in tight spots.

Turning Experience: The flat in the back of the BSOD didn’t seem to affect the turning experience as we have felt in the past.  Maybe its because there seems to be less flat in the back than before.  It almost seems like it’s camber from the tail to past the front binding and we like that.  The Capita Black Snowboard of Death is a pleasure to turn and if you want to just make turns around the mountain all day this is the way to go.

Carving: As long as the snow is medium to soft the BSOD carves well and you can really lay it out. I found it fun to carve and it really springs out of the turn.  If it could grip a little better in harder snow it would make it a little better.  The past model used to be more washy off the tail than the 2018 BSOD.

Skidded Turns: Not ideal for skidded turns and it prefers a more technical rider on it.

Speed: The biggest improvement isn’t the new shape but the new flex. It’s so much damper and speed friendly.  Also, that base is just as fast as ever and it’s got a good glide to it that picks up speed quickly as well as keeps speed on long flat cat tracks.

Uneven Terrain:  The overall build these days from Capita makes the BSOD much better than it used to be in uneven terrain.   The softer model from the past few years could weave in and out of turns well but couldn’t power through the chunder.  The one from a few years before that was super stiff and could power through chunder but wasn’t the best for sloppy messy snow.  The 2018 BSOD handles both really well.  It’s damp but the flex is also more forgiving in messy snow.

Powder:  There is a good set back on board that’s around 4″ with a normal insert and close to 4.75″ back on board with mini discs like you see with the upper-end Union bindings as well as many other companies these days.  The rocker in the nose helps a lot too.  Also, the tiny bit of taper in the tail, as well as the reduced volume, makes it a good deep powder board.  It’s not super surfy as the older shape but pretty floaty.

Switch:  The 2018 Capita Black Snowboard of Death is not a perfect switch but better than the 2017 design.  If you get more centered on sidecut as well as duck it out it’s pretty good for such a directional camber profile with rocker in the nose and a touch of flat leading to camber quickly in the tail.

Jibbing: The older model could but this is a pass.

Pipe: Great directional pipe rider as long as you are ok with the lack of edge hold.

Jumps: This flex and camber profile really makes the Capita Black Snowboard of Death pop off the tail.  A really strong board for directional air and an ok board for those that spend a lot of time taking off or landing switch.

So all in all the Capita Black Snowboard of Death really improved over 2017.  They could of just made the 2017 model stiffer and we would of liked it but the change of shape gave it a much less back foot heavy/slashy feel to it as well.  This will appeal to a much wider variety of riders than the past model and it reminds me of an improved version of the 2012-2013 model I use to really love.

2018 Capita Black Snowboard Of Death Review

2014-2016 Capita Black Snowboard of Death Review

The Capita Black Snowboard of Death has been around for a long time and in a few different forms.  We started riding this back in the days when it was more like the Mercury is now and then over the last few years (14-16) it evolved to a more tapered freeride board.  This year it still has a lot of the 14-16 personality but they added a little more camber and slightly tweaked the ride/tech from 2016.  It’s still pretty soft though so it’s not quite typical for a mostly mountain/freeride board.

Size: 159
Days: 1
Conditions:  Really good Sierra snow with only some small patches of hard snow.
Riders: James, Peter, Jimbo, Kyle
Boots: Burton SLX, Burton AMB, Nike Kaiju
Bindings: Union T.Rice
Set Up:  A little set back 23″ wide 15 front -9 back

Approximate Weight: Felt light and pretty snappy.

On Snow Feel: Even with a lot of new tech the ride felt pretty similar to the 2016 model.  The one thing that stood out to us most on snow was the extra camber but the lowered nose and other little tech tweaks were more subtle and would probably stand out more if we tested the 16 vs. 17 at the same time. Without the 16 to test against it felt pretty similar. It’s stable easy riding freeride board that handles one footing and long flat runs perfect but at the same time isn’t catchy in most situations.

Powder:  I’d actually prefer this over the Charlie Slasher because it’s got that nice rocker in the nose, a big nose and the topper is the camber to flat in the back pops really well off the tail. It’s also set back 1″ which is a good bit.

Turn Initiation: It’s pretty quick and pops well from edge to edge.  It’s a fun board to turn and when it’s not dumping you can go out and have a good time making anything from short to wide radius turns.

Skidded Turns: This is easier to skid turns than many of the stiffer freeride boards but it’s still not for the intermediate to beginner rider.  A stong intermediate on the verge of becoming a good turning advanced rider should be able to handle it but it’s not ideal.

Carving: The extra camber helps for sure but the flat in the tail doesn’t seem to help with carving.  While it pops on an ollie really well it doesn’t pop out of a turn off the tail. You just have to keep the pressure more on the camber points a little after the bindings and then it’s less washy.  I did feel though that the board could wash a little if you weren’t careful on where you put pressure on the board. I felt the taper still but not as much as I did before.  Can’t really speculate as to why.

Speed: You can get some mountain speed going but it’s not a bomber. As you heard from the vid we all felt a little bouncy clown shoe effect going on. For many this will be a deal breaker because they don’t like chatter in a mostly mountain/freeride board like this.

Uneven Terrain: It’s not a chunder buster but its softer flex can quickly navigate edge to edge in messy/bumpy snow and flex over it as long as you aren’t bombing through it.

Edge Hold: We all miss the death grip it use to have when it was more like the Mercury and would love to see that back.  As it stands now it’s more of a good conditions ride.

Flex:  So maybe this softer flex goes along with the joke about the name. When they started making this board way back in the day they called it Black Snowboard of Death because every snowboard was trying to give their boards more thrashy death metal names than the other.  So maybe that’s why the soft flex is there.  You know…..Death Metal name with a Dirt Twirling Hippie kind of flex but who knows for sure. It was stiff many years in the past so it might just be rider preference at Capita right now too. You can butter really easy than you would think with the Black Snowboard of Death. It seems a good bit softer in the tip/tail than it is between the feet. So you loose a stiff board at speed but you get some easy buttering out of it.  For some this could make this board appealing if you want butter-ability out of a Freeride shape. For us we liked the older stiffer model.

Switch: Feels doable but not ideal.  It’s a far cry from an asymmetrical twin but as far as a tapered Freeride board goes it’s doable for sure.

Jibbing: You could hit a mellow jib or two with this but even with the softer flex than you would think for a board of this type it’s still not an ideal jibber.

Pipe: We had a mid sized to small soft playful pipe to ride through and it did fine but I don’t think any of us would like to take this into an icy pipe. Just not enough grip and a little too directional for most.

Jumps: Like I said before great pop off the tail. Really good board for launching off a wind lip or hitting natural features.  Not for lapping the jump park but fun for where you want to ride it.

So all in all the Capita Black Snowboard of Death’s 2017 changes helped improve the board but there is still a lot of personality from the 2016 model. It’s a board we liked but weren’t completely in love with. The biggest deal breaker or maker for you, kind reader, will be the flex. If you want a Freeride board you can butter and play around with then this could be a really good fit.  However if you want a more traditional harder charging freeride board don’t let the name fool you into buying it.

The Capita Black Snowboard of Death was a great aggressive all mountain ride but the 2014- 2016 went more to the Freeride side. The 2014-2016 is a softer tapered directional ride where the 2013 and below was not tapered, stiffer and less directional. It’s less fun to ride switch but better for more of a surfy approach to the mountain. Also it’s a better directional powder ride.

2014, 2015 and 2016 Capita Black Snowboard of Death Review

Not much has changed since 2014 to 2016 but a lot is different from the 2013 and below models.

Size: 159 and 162
Days: 3
Conditions: Hard pack with some light soft snow pushed around. Petty good snow that got messy at the end of the day
Riders: James, Peter and Eli
Boots:  Salomon F3.0, Burton Ion, Burton Imperial
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Charger, Flux SF
Set Up: Peter and I- 23″ wide 15 front -9 back set back a bit. Eli- 22.5 wide Goofy 18 front and 0 back. James- 23″ wide 18 front -6 back

The Capita Black Snowboard of Death (AKA BSOD) has changed a lot but it’s but still great board.  It’s a tapered directional shape with the much larger nose and a new hybrid camber profile. It doesn’t have reverse camber in the back seat but instead has a flat section to the tail. So now it goes rocker in the big ass nose, camber between the bindings and then a flat section. It really makes the BSOD much more of a freeride board compared to the 2013 aggressive all mountain shape and it really only wants to ride in one direction now. The Capita TFA has taken over for the BSOD in the aggressive all mountain category and they were pretty close to each other before the BSOD changed up. The BSOD now it’s much more in the old school freeride world of directional riding with a new school float in powder.

On Snow Feel: On the first few turns it still feels like the light snappy Capita Black Snowboard of Death. The more you ride it though the more you start to feel the directional surfy change to the ride.  The flat in the back, big ass nose and slightly tapered tail really transform this into a kinky sex child of the Charlie Slasher mated with the Old Black snowboard of Death. It’s all about speed, pow, lively pop and surfy turns. It’s got a true camber feel combined with catch free rocker slashy surf the mountain like float.

Powder:  We had no pow but just by the look of it combined with our pow experience with the Charlie Slasher and the old BSOD you can just tell this board will float very very well.

Turn Initiation and Carving:  Still a really lively snappy edge to edge kind of ride.  It’s very quick edge to edge if you know what you are doing.  If you don’t know how to turn correctly this could be very challenging and unforgiving.  It requires you to be mostly on your game. I think I had more fun leaning into a hard carve with the old BSOD over the New BSOD though as it felt like it held better.   The flat in the tail does make it fun on a surfy laid back carve. Also the new taper does feel a little bit washy. It’s still really fun to carve but it just doesn’t hold like the old one did but they both still have that springy fun carvy feel.

Speed: The Capita Black Snowboard of Death has always bombed in the past but with the new model I felt more chatter free at speed. Before the 159 was always enough board for me but with the new 2014-2016 design the 159 felt too small.  It felt like the 162 would be closer to the older model 159 when it comes to speed.

Uneven Terrain:  Not the best here but the quick edge to edge nature of this board can get you around bumps.

Edge Hold: Pretty good edge hold but I liked the older BSOD’s grip better. The new tapered design is a little washy in the tail if you try to ride it like the old BSOD.  You have to get more weight on the tail/off the back foot. Also it just doesn’t handle the hard snow like it use to when it had the death grip side cut and wasn’t tapered.

Flex: The new Tapered 2014-2016 BSOD is softer than the 2013 and below BSOD. Funny enough you could butter this board rather well and there was more give in the tip/tail than the old BSOD. Some will like that but others might prefer the stiffer flex of the Old BSOD.  We did like that we could butter this better but I think all of us would prefer the older stiffer flex so it could handle more speed.

Switch:  The 2013 and below models weren’t perfect Switch but it was very doable and were very much like the Mercury is now.  The 2014-2016 is more difficult than the 2013 and below model.  It’s still doable just less doable than before. Now you really feel that taper in the tail and much bigger nose when riding switch.

Jibbing:  Not really a board for jibbing but now with the softer flex you can take a lap or two if you would like.

Pipe:  This use to be an excellent technical riders pipe dream but now it’s much more directional tapered shape isn’t quite the pipe board it use to be.  It just doesn’t feel the same. There is less edge hold and the taper makes it easier to slash walls but it’s not the pipe board it use to be.

Jumps:   Even more pop off the tail than before and it’s a very snappy one direction high speed ollie or bomb off a natural feature kind of board.  Not really one for the jump park if you like to spin and land switch.

All in all it’s a mixed bag with the newer model.  You get a better powder board, a more surfy directional ride and an easier board to butter but you get less edge hold, worse fakie riding and more chatter at speed.

2013 and Below Capita Black Snowboard of Death Review

Size 159

Days: 15+
Conditions: Hard pack to 1.5 feet of powder.
Riders: James, Peter and a few friends not on the site.
Bindings: Union Force SL’s, Union Atlas, Burton Cartel Limited

The BSOD has a small camber between the feet and then slowly kicks up like rocker after the bindings. This makes for a great all conditions ride and provides better float in powder than the old camber board.  Also the turn initiation will be a bit easier than the camber version but it’s still not easy.  Just because the 2011 Black Death is now a hybrid shape it doesn’t mean that it’s now a super jib friendly snowboard. This is still a very aggressive board for carving, doing things big and hitting runs at a high speeds.  For 2012 the BSOD is still the same design and ride except it’s a bit lighter.  The 2013 Capita BSOD is the same ride as the 2012.

The Capita BSOD was a board both riders really enjoyed.  It is a very fast aggressive board that isn’t for everyone but will be amazing for others. The BSOD ia inbetween the Yes Big City and the Rome Anthem in terms of stiffness and all mountain performance and design.  The BSOD has more camber than the Big City and more rocker than the Rome Anthem.  If you are looking for a camber like performance on groomers but want better float in powder the BSOD will do a great job as your one aggressive all mountain snowboard.  This was one of my (the editor’s) favorite boards of the year. Just to reiterate this is not a mid/wide board even thought he waist is pretty wide. The “death grip” side cut has an extension in the middle of the waist but the rest of the board is narrow.  Just look at the 2010 camber snowboard specs to get an idea.

On Snow Feel:  There is a very locked in feel here that feels almost just like regular camber that many of us really liked. It’s very stable under foot but there is some consequence if you get off your game. If you spend most of your time riding on groomed runs there aren’t many boards that are it’s equal in this situation if you like high speed turns and a more aggressive approach to riding groomers.  The camber like feel was quite refreshing in this world of rocker boards but it’s a little more forgiving than it’s old camber predecessor.

Powder: If you compare this to the Yes Big Cityit’s not going to be as good but it’s a little less work than the Rome Anthem.  Still the rocker at the tip and tail help alot over a regular camber board.  In addition to the rocker the BSOD has a decent set back and a directional shape that is more twin like than directional which helps keep it afloat as well.

Turn Initiation and Carving: This board takes a little work to get from edge to edge but it’s very easy for it’s stiff flex. Don’t get us wrong this board still requires you to be on your game almost all the time and it could make you pay if you aren’t.   You can make tight quick turns through trees or just fooling around on groomers as well as big high speed carving turns.  The BSOD might be one of the best hybrid camber carving boards we have tried.  It’s right up there with the new Rome Anthem.  It has a nice spring out of every turn that helps you gain momentum and set you up for the next turn.

Speed: This board is very fast.  The flex is stiff, the base is fast (maybe capitas best base) and the board is chatter free.  We didn’t really open it up due to the very hard conditions but found the modest speeds we brought it to chatter free and very comfortable.

Uneven Terrain: The BSOD is a bomber board on good snow and can handle some uneven snow but towards the end of a crowded day or if you deviate off a groomer to a hard bumpy patch it won’t be the easiest in terms of shock absorption.  If you have been on an aggressive camber board for the last 5 years or so and then go to this you will be happy with the progression but if you go from a softer board to this you might feel it a bit rougher.

Approximate Weight– Not a feather weight but pretty light.  Nothing noticeable on the bad side at all.

Edge Hold: The mostly camber shape and the little extension (we are guessing 1/2 cm) at the center of the board makes for amazing edge hold.  We’d say it’s almost there with Magnetraction and very grippy in almost any condition.  Even in the hard conditions we felt very comfortable making turns and never felt like our edge will wash out. It felt like it had limitless edge hold similar to the magnetraction side cuts we have ridden.

Flex: This is a stiff board but it doesn’t act as stiff as it is.  Must be the hybrid camber.

Switch: This is a directional board but it seems a bit on the twinish side.  It wasn’t bad riding switch but you could tell the difference when you did.

Rails/Jibbing: Not that much fun.  It’s too stiff.

Pipe: Many people like a stiff aggressive board in the pipe.  If you don’t size up too much the Capita Black Snowboard of Death will do a great job in the pipe.  The edge hold is great and the BSOD has a good personality for Pipe Riding.  It can be a little unforgiving but for the most part this is a great pipe board.

Jumps: The new hybrid camber tech is still really springy.  It’s does a very good job when it comes to generating your own air.  It’s also very easy to launch of a man made kicker.  Like in the pipe it can be a bit unforgiving but for the most part its very fun lapping a roller coaster or hitting a kicker after a long seep groomer run