Capita Black Snowboard of Death Review

Hello and welcome to my Capita Black Snowboard of Death review.

In this review I will take a look at the Black Snowboard of Death (BSOD) as a Freeride snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the BSOD a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other Freeride snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Capita Black Snowboard of Death

Price: $629 (USD recommended retail)

Style: Freeride

Flex Rating: Medium-Stiff (6.5/10)

Flex Feel: Medium-Stiff (7/10)

Rating Score: 85.3/100

Compared to other Men’s Freeride Boards

Out of the 39 Men’s Freeride snowboards that I rated:

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Black Snowboard of Death is capable of.

Demo Info

Board: Capita Black Snowboard of Death 2019, 159cm, (waist width 256mm)

Date: March 23^rd, 2018

Conditions: Snowing! At times it was hail like snow. Really cold day with relatively strong winds at times. -12 degrees celcius with the wind. Visibility was pretty bad first thing in the morning but got better, though was never great.

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 555mm (21.9″)

Stance Setback: Setback 25mm

Width at Inserts: 268mm

Weight: 2700grams (5lb 15oz)

Weight per cm: 16.98 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.21 grams/cm*

*based on a small sample size of 24 boards that I weighed. Like most Capita boards, the BSOD is really light. Given that it’s also quite a wide board, makes it a very light core.

Powder

Really good in powder. Floats pretty effortlessly.

Though there is only a very subtle taper, there is a decent setback (25mm on effective edge, 40mm on overall length). Also there is rocker in the nose but not in the tail. This board felt best in powder or not-to-hard, groomed snow.

Carving

Felt really confident just opening out with this board, getting up on edge and letting rip.

It was also surprisingly quick edge-to-edge given that it’s a little wider and was quite fun in the trees, especially since there was plenty of freshies in there.

Speed

So stable at speed. Just felt like you could bomb the steeps without consequence. Didn’t feel a wobble at all – and it’s not necessarily that damp a board as such. But in soft snow, you can let it rip and was just super confidence inspiring riding at speed and riding steeps.

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

Uneven Terrain

It’s not the dampest feeling board, but you get that when it’s this light. But overall, it’s not bad in messy snow and can handle undulating terrain well too.

Jumps

Definitely better with jumps than your average Freeride deck. If you really want to go through the jump line in the park you can but mostly this is great for popping off lips, rollers, etc.

It’s got a fair bit of pop and that lightness makes air time easy to get. It’s super stable on landings but also forgiving enough, though a little too stiff to be ideal for smaller jumps.

Not the best for spinning, especially taking off or landing switch, but a good straight air board.

Switch

Switch is doable but not that comfortable. It’s got directional camber, it’s setback and has a mild taper. But certainly doable.

Changes from the 2019 Model

There have been some changes to the core and to the base but the 2020 model is predominantly the same board as the 2019 model. 

Changes from the 2018 Model

The 2019 model has apparently being softened in terms of flex. I certainly still felt it at a 7/10, or possibly even more, compared to the 6.5/10 that Capita rate it at (the 2018 model was rated as 7/10 by Capita. Other than that very similar to the 2018 model, with a couple of other little tweaks.

Changes from the 2017 Model

Th 2018 model has undergone a few changes.

1. It’s slightly stiffer than the 2017 model
2. It has gone from a 5mm taper to a virtually non-existent 0.3mm taper
3. Carbon X-Arc stringers added to the nose (in place of straight stringers)
4. Different fibreglass formula
5. Different resin formula
6. New Hyperdrive NC12 base

Changes from the 2016 Model

There have been a couple of changes for the 2016/17 compared with the 2015/16 model.

1. The camber section has been elongated
2. Lower tip height
3. Nano-Carbon Race Base™

Hello and welcome to my Capita Black Snowboard of Death review.

In this review I will take a look at the Black Snowboard of Death (BSOD) as a Freeride snowboard.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the BSOD a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other Freeride snowboards.

Overall Rating

Board: Capita Black Snowboard of Death

Price: $619 (USD recommended retail)

Style: Freeride

Flex: Medium to Medium/Stiff (7/10)

Rating Score: 85.3/100

Compared to other Men’s Freeride Boards

Out of the 20 Men’s Freeride snowboards that I rated:

• The average price was $599 (USD)
• The average score was 82.1/100
• The highest score was 91.8/100
• The lowest score was 57.1/100
• The BSOD ranked 6th out of 20

Overview of the Black Snowboard of Death’s Specs

Check out the tables for the BSOD’s specs and available sizes.

Specs

Sizing

Who is the Black Snowboard of Death Most Suited to?

Anyone who isn’t superstitious about the name!

Jokes.

This board is ideal for anyone looking for a freeride deck but wants one that is a bit softer flexing than your average freeride deck.

So if you want to ride the backcountry finding powder, carve up the trails and generally ride hard and fast – but want a little bit more forgiveness in the flex, then the BSOD is a great choice. It also handles jumps pretty well – so if you like to throw in some jumps over rollers and drops off lips etc.

The 2018 model especially is a little bit more towards the do-it-all type of board, but I still consider it freeride – just a little closer to the all-mountain end of the freeride spectrum than previous models. It’s something you also ride switch ok on too, now.

This is definitely not for beginners – this is an advanced rider’s board only.

The Black Snowboard of Death in More Detail

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the BSOD is capable of. This is for the 2017 model, so some things will be different with the 2018 model. The scores have been adjusted to reflect the 2018 model, but the demo notes here are for the 2017 model.

Demo Info

Board: Capita Black Snowboard of Death 2017, 159cm, (waist width 256mm)

Date: February 27^th, 2016

Conditions: Choppy and slushy on the groomers. Some sparse pockets of powder off. Rain came later in the afternoon but fine prior to that. Visibility great all day even when the rain came.

Bindings angles: +18/+3

Powder

The strength of this board is in powder. I didn’t find a lot of it on the day I rode the BSofD, but when I did get the chance to float over some slushy powder this board really felt at home.

It’s got a tapered directional shape, a 12.5mm setback and some rocker (reverse camber) towards the nose – these things all really help this board to be a good powder floater.

Carving

Felt really nice on a carve when I got the chance to open it out. Felt no fear of washing out and could really get up on the edge and carve with confidence (in the spots where I could – it was very choppy).

Speed

This board is pretty fast and pretty stable at speed. It would probably feel even faster and more stable at speed if it was a bit stiffer. But I guess that’s the deal with this board – it’s a bit softer flexing but this is on purpose to help it to stand out from other freeride boards.

So if you want a softer flexing freeride board then this is definitely a good option – just be aware that it does necessarily sacrifice some stability at speed because of it.

Uneven Terrain

One thing that that softer flex does do is help this board to be better in bumpy conditions. Which I was definitely thankful for on the day because there was plenty of that!

It handles going through, around or just charging straight over all the bumps.

Jumps

The other thing I found with board was that it was better with jumps than your average Freeride deck. If you really want to go through the jump line in the park you can. But what this is really useful for on the rest of the mountain is dropping off lips and popping over rollers.

It’s got a fair bit of pop and it’s stable but forgiving on landings.

Switch

Not great riding switch. Feels a bit cumbersome in the other direction. But that’s not surprise really. With a setback stance, tapered directional shape and an aggressive feel, it was never going to be great riding switch – nor is it designed to be.

You can definitely survive if you’re going backwards at any point for short bursts, of course – but not one if you want to be riding a lot of switch.

2018 model should be much better for riding switch but it’s still got a directional camber profile, so won’t feel like a twin.

Changes from the 2017 Model

Th 2018 model has undergone a few changes.

1. It’s slightly stiffer than the 2017 model
2. It has gone from a 5mm taper to a virtually non-existent 0.3mm taper
3. Carbon X-Arc stringers added to the nose (in place of straight stringers)
4. Different fibreglass formula
5. Different resin formula
6. New Hyperdrive NC12 base

Changes from the 2016 Model

There have been a couple of changes for the 2016/17 compared with the 2015/16 model.

1. The camber section has been elongated
2. Lower tip height
3. Nano-Carbon Race Base™

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.

Overall this was a fun board to ride and I definitely wish I had more powder to take it through. What powder I got was just a teaser.

Probably the biggest stand out for this board compared with other freeride boards is the softer than average flex for the type of board (slightly stiffened up for 2018 but still slightly stiffer than the average freeride board). This has advantages and disadvantages.