Never Summer Dipstick On The Table and Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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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: 5
Conditions: Good mid-winter snow to a little bit of thick powder ranging from a few inches to a little shy of 1 foot.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Nick (Size 9, 5’8″ 155lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV, Burton Imperial,
Bindings:  Union Strata, Union Superpro

Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Compared This To:
Never Summer Proto Type Two, Never Summer Funslinger

Set-Up: 22” Wide. 15 front -15 back.  Centered.

Approximate Weight: Feels normal.

Sizing: The Never Summer Dipstick comes in most average sizes and the 156 felt like it was a great fit for my size 9’s as well as Nick’s 10’s and it was fine with Nick’s lighter weight and my heavyish weight. The regulars are good with 8-10 and the mid/wides are good with 10-12.

Flex/Buttering: There is a very easy flex underfoot and it butters really well. It’s medium, bordering on medium-soft and a little softer than the Type Two we compared it to but also stiffer than my Funslinger. Never Summer has this very interesting flex personality. The first impression is this board feels kind of rubbery and it bends really easy in the middle but then you pop it and there is soo much liveliness hiding inside the core. Especially towards the the tip/tail.

On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: This older/mellower rocker/camber profile has a pretty loose feel underfoot in most conditions except soft snow and powder and then it can start to feel somewhat stable. It likes to auto-spin if you flat base and likes to be on edge when you one foot.

Edge Hold: Pretty competent grip that won’t slip out on you in harder snow. Doesn’t grab at all in soft snow either.

Turn Initiation: Very quick edge to edge and goes where you need it to. Also good for a hard direction change.

Turning Experience/Carving: You can for sure carve but we both preferred the Proto Type Two, with its extra camber in the tip/tail over the Dipstick.

Powder: So it felt like it had just a touch better float for its size than our Proto Type Two but both were super close. In clean powder both were pretty close but in more messy thicker powder we felt that the Dipstick did a little bit better.

Speed: We liked the Proto Type Two a little better than the Never Summer Dipstick but it still had very competent mountain speed.

Uneven Terrain: This is just great for those that want to take a twin off-piste and it can handle riding all day on a crowded Saturday.  It really shined in uneven snow off the groomers and it was one of the most comfortable twin rides we had off-piste this season. It’s forgiving but handled chunder well and both Nick and I felt like we were riding better when we left the groomers than we did on other boards we compared it against.

Switch: Pretty smooth either way and just a touch shy for us in comparison to an Asymmetrical Twin like the Proto Type Two.

Jumps: Never Summer packs a lot of pop into their boards and the Warlock is no exception. It really springs into the air well. It’s not quite as fun as the Proto Type Two but it does a great job.

Jibbing: Not quite as good as our Funslinger but no slouch either. Better than the Proto Type Two though so it’s a good choice for those who like to jib but still want mountain competence and like to hit medium to semi-big kickers too.

Pipe: I had a lot of fun in the pipe with this. It didn’t drive wall to wall as well as my Proto Type Two but it was really fun and forgiving.

So, all in all, the Never Summer Dipstick felt like it was often in between the Proto Type Two and Funslinger in terms of funness but it does have it’s own unique personality that could work for a lot of park to mountain freestyle oriented kind of riders. Especially those that want to get some off-piste mountain freestyle oriented riding going.