Hello and welcome to my Capita Indoor Survival review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Indoor Survival as a freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Indoor Survival a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freestyle snowboards.
Note: The 2022 model of the Indoor Survival changed quite a bit - to a point that I believe it belongs in a different category now, so this review is representative of the 2021 model. When I test the new model, I will replace this review.
Overall Rating
Board: Capita Indoor Survival 2021
Price: $439
Style: Freestyle
Flex Rating: Medium (5/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5/10)
Rating Score: 79.7/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Boards
Out of the 37 men’s freestyle snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Indoor Survival’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Indoor Survival’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freestyle |
Price: | $439 |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Turn Initiation: | Medium-Fast |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Camber Capita's "Park V1 Profile" - mostly camber with flat sections before tip and tail |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered - Capita's "Quantum Drive" base |
Weight: | Lighter than Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
150 | 242 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
152 | 243 | 110-160 | 50-72 |
154 | 248 | 120-180 | 54-81 |
156 | 251 | 130-190 | 59-86 |
158 | 253 | 140-200 | 63-90 |
160 | 257 | 150-210+ | 68-95+ |
Who is the Indoor Survival To?
The Indoor Survival is great option for those looking for a park deck that's predominantly camber, mid-flex (so a little stiffer than a typical park board) and those who prefer to hit the jump line more so than the jib line. But also for those who want a board that can still ride the rest of the mountain, whether carving up the groomers or treating the mountain like a park.
Not for beginners but should be fine for intermediate riders, IMO and does best in soft to medium-firm snow, rather than hard to icy snow.
The Indoor Survival in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Indoor Survival is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Capita Indoor Survival 2021, 154cm (248mm waist width)
Date: February 21, 2020
Conditions: Groomers on the firmer side of medium but not overly hard and softened up a bit later on.
A little crunchy off groomer, but not too bad.
Relatively cold and a little bit of a cold wind made it quite cold on lift but overall just moderately cold. Warmer in sun of course.
Nice and sunny and great visibility.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 530mm (20.9″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 257mm (10.12")
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 175lbs
Rider Boot Size: US10 Salomon Lo-Fi
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Weight: 2720grams (6lbs 0oz)
Weight per cm: 17.66 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.36 grams/cm*
*based on a small sample size of around 80 models that I've weighed in 2019, 2020 & 2021 models. Lighter than average, which is typical of Capita boards.
Powder
Had nothing on the day, but from the specs and the feel, this isn't something that's suited to powder.
It's mostly camber, true twin and centered.
Of course any board is fun in powder, but it will get fatiguing on the back leg after a while and the nose will prone to sinking in deeper powder.
Carving & Turning
Carving: A good board for carves and that's the style of turn this board prefers, but can get a little washy just at the end of a carve at times, particularly in harder snow sections.
Turning: Felt a little catchy/grabby when not really getting up on the edge properly, but when you did it was fine for regular turns.
Maneuverability at Slow Speeds: Pretty good, but not super maneuverable. Not a tank at slow speeds either, just not super agile.
Skidded Turns: Not easy to skid turns on. A board that prefers good turning technique and prefers to be on the edge.
Speed
Not a bomber, but can handle a fair bit of speed well. Better at speed in soft to medium-firm snow as opposed to hard to icy snow.
Uneven Terrain
It's pretty good going through bumps and crushing crud, but you've got to attack it relatively aggressively. When you do, it performs well in this area, but not so well if you get too casual with it.
Let's Break Up this Text with a Video
Jumps
Overall a really good board for jumps.
Pop: Good pop. Not epic but definitely decently poppy. And that pop is quite easy to access too - so it's not something you've really got to wind up to get it popping.
Approach: Good and stable and nimble enough. Just that slight catchy feeling is only thing, for trickier setups.
Landing: Solid on landings. Can stomp this board on landings.
Side-hits: Good, except for that slight catchy feeling which can make trickier approaches not ideal
Small jumps/Big Jumps: Medium to large are it's sweet spot, IMO, but of course fine for small jumps too. But overall more suitable for those already confident on jumps, rather than those just starting on jumps.
Switch
Good for switch. True twin and centered, so yeah.
Spins
Easy to get spin around and good for switch for 180s, 540s etc, plus good, easy pop make this board a good spinner. Only thing is the setup isn't always ideal, with that mild catchy feeling.
Jibbing
Not bad but not great. Feels OK on the jib and popping off, but not as good for the setup, IMO. Like most things on this board, it goes better when approaching quite aggressively, so you want to already be confident with jibs.
Butters
Quite easy to butter. More so than I was expecting, but yeah good for butters.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
JUMPS | 4.0 | 16/20 |
JIBBING | 3.0 | 12/20 |
SWITCH | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
BUTTERING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SPINS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
UNEVEN TERRAIN | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
POWDER | 2.0 | 2/5 |
CARVING/TURNS | 3.0 | 3/5 |
SPEED | 3.0 | 3/5 |
PIPE | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 79.7/100 |
The Indoor Survival is a jumps line park board that can hold it's own on the rest of the mountain, with powder being it's biggest weakness. Something you want to have solid technique to ride, and be a fairly aggressive park rider, that already has some park skills.
If all of that sounds like you, then the small price-tag on this board makes it a very appealing option.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Indoor Survival, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other freestyle snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Indoor Survival compares to other freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hey Nate,
Skinny guy, 130 pounds, US 9 in Adidas Response ADV boots, park rider wanting something light for jumps and spins. Size 150 the way to go?
Also, not sure if you’ve got to try the new season’s version but if you have, is there anything significantly different?
Hi Andrew
Thanks for your message.
The 2022 model is a bit different – quite a few changes for the latest model. I tried to get on the 2022 model, but unfortunately couldn’t get on it. Check out my 2022 Capita preview to see a summary of the changes (scroll to the bottom section for the changes to the Indoor Survival). Note that the Indoor Survival for 2022 is a little less freestyle oriented than the 2021 version.
I think the 150 would be a good bet for you as a bit of a do-it-all kind of board, that you use for everything with a bit of park. For this particular board I’d probably try to go a bit smaller (if they had that option), if you were using it predominantly as your park board. You may find it on the stiffer side in the 150. Not super stiff by any means, but depends how you typically ride the park. If you’re sending it for really big air most of the time and rarely hit the jib line, then going a little stiffer is a good idea. But if you’re doing more butter tricks, jibs, smaller jumps etc, then you might find it on the stiffer side in the 150 for your weight. I’ve found a lot of lighter rider’s tend to prefer something a little softer flexing, but not always, so your personal preference on flex will come into play here. I think if you like to go big and like something that’s more medium flex, then the 150 Indoor Survival could work.
If you were looking for something a little softer and more buttery/jibby, then the Capita Scott Steven’s Pro is a good bet or the Ultrafear if you wanted the option of going shorter. Not as poppy/good for jumps as the Indoor Survival though (IMO).
If you can’t find the 2021 model of the Indoor Survival but still wanted to go mid-flex, then the Asymulator is worth looking at (and even lighter).
Some other non-Capita options that could work:
– Never Summer Proto Slinger 146 or 149 – gives you the option to go smaller – it’s softer flexing (if that’s the way you wanted to go) and whilst it’s not full camber, it’s camber dominant
– Burton Kilroy Twin 148 – full camber, but softer flexing. I haven’t weighed this one, so I’m not sure what it weighs on the scales but it felt light to ride to me
– Niche Wraith 149 – this one felt normal in terms of weight to me, but otherwise could fit the bill. It’s predominantly camber, but the camber isn’t as pronounced as on something like the Kilroy Twin or Proto Slinger (not a good thing or bad thing necessarily, but something to be aware of)
Could also look into Salomon The Villain 147 and Salomon Sleepwalker 148 – I haven’t ridden them, but Salomon boards tend to be light.
Definitely not saying don’t go Indoor Survival, but there’s some other options, if you felt the Indoor Survival isn’t quite what you’re looking for in the 150.
Hope this helps
Hey Nate,
Thanks for replying!
The heads up is much appreciated.
I’ve now taken a look at the 21-22 catalogue and it seems Asymulator is rated with a flex of 6 compared to the Indoor Survival at 5. The new 22 Indoor Survival also looks to have been updated to the same core, glass and base as the Asymulator while being narrower with a shorter side cut (150 IS vs 152 Asymulator), reportedly lighter compared to 2021…with that switch up, maybe the difference in weight won’t be as much as last year? Then again of course a titanal booster is worlds apart from flax ones…
Thanks for the food for thought in any case. Maybe I just gotta chow down some burgers and protein shakes
You’re very welcome Andrew.
Yeah could well be lighter – was already pretty light anyway – anything Capita is always lighter than average, but sounds like it could be lighter than 2021 model.
Adding a few pounds would certainly open up your options size-wise, but there are definitely some good options still.
Hey Nate, I’m looking into getting either this or the outer space living. I consider myself a intermediate rider who enjoys buttering and hitting some small to medium size jumps. Currently I ride my old burton uninc 156, I wear a boot size 11 and weigh about 180. Which board and size would you recommend? Thanks.
Hi Matt
Thanks for your message.
Both would definitely work. Both similar in terms of jumps and butterability. The OSL a little better for riding all-mountain – and if you’re going to be hitting powder on this board at all, I would be leaning OSL. But for buttering and small to medium jumps, there’s not much in it. I would say maybe the Indoor Survival has a little more pop overall, but the OSL that pop is a little easier to extract (less effort to extract that pop). That said, the pop from the Indoor Survival isn’t hard to extract or anything.
Size-wise, I would say 157W for the OSL, but you could also ride the 155W, if you prefer something a little shorter – going shorter will make it more buttery, more agile at slower speeds, but less stable. For the Indoor Survival probably 158 or even 156, but both sizes are probably risking it in terms of being too narrow. That said, if you had no issues with drag on your 156 Uninc, you probably won’t have any issues on the Indoor Survival either. If you could also let me know your height, that would be helpful too. I size predominantly on weight and boot size, but still like to take height into account as well.
Hope this gives you more to go off for your decision