Hello and welcome to my Never Summer Dipstick review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Dipstick as a freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Dipstick a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freestyle snowboards.
NOTE: The 2021 model was the last model of the Dipstick
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer Dipstick
Price: $549
Style: Freestyle
Flex Rating: Soft
Flex Feel on Snow: Soft (3/10)
Rating Score: 83.5/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Boards
Out of the 37 men’s freestyle snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Dipstick’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Dipstick’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freestyle |
Price: | $549 |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Turn Initiation: | Fast |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Rocker Never Summer's Original Rocker Camber |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered |
Weight: | Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
150 | 251 | n/a | n/a |
153 | 252 | n/a | n/a |
156 | 254 | n/a | n/a |
157X | 260 | n/a | n/a |
160X | 264 | n/a | n/a |
* Note that the 2021 model looses 2 sizes. The 2020 model also had a 153X and a 159.
Who is the Dipstick Most Suited To?
The Dipstick is great for anyone who predominantly wants to ride the park or wants a separate board to ride the park with.
Also great for anyone just starting out in the park - or even just starting out snowboarding in general. Good beginner board option. But also good for more advanced riders for freestyle riding.
Best for smaller jumps/spins, side hits, buttering and jibs. Not as suitable for big air/big tricks. Also fun for double-direction shallow powder surfing.
Not for bombing or doing aggressive carves - this is a buttery playful freestyle board.
The Dipstick in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Dipstick is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer Dipstick 2020, 156cm (254mm waist width)
Date: April 13, 2019
Conditions: Snowing! A little dust on crust off piste in places but some really good fresh powder spots in other spots. On groomer good, getting a little cruddy later in the day.
Cold for mid-April. Around 20°F (-7°C), with wind chill. Visibility not perfect but not terrible either.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 550mm (21.7″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 265mm (10.43")
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 185lbs
Rider Boot Size: US10 Vans Aura
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Powder
Never going to be great in deep powder, but quite a fun surfy feel in powder. And good when you want to ride switch in powder too as it's as good in both directions.
Would be hard work to keep nose afloat in deep powder though - and certainly not best of the best going in one direction in powder.
Carving & Turning
Super nimble at slower speeds - so it's great for technical, tight trees, in that sense. Also makes it really good for a beginner. Plus really easy to skid turns on, which also favors beginners.
That nimbleness also helped with approaches to trickier access side-hits.
Not really suited for big arcing or aggressive carves. But can carve - has a more snappy short sharp feel to the carve.
Speed
As expected, this board starts to get wobbly when you try to open it out. For this flex, it's what was expected. You don't have to be going that fast before it starts to wobble a bit.
Uneven Terrain
For bumps it's great for going in between them (really nimble) and absorbs well when going over.
For crud those things also help, but it's not one to crash through crud, like some boards can. It will go over top fine though.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Jumps
Doesn't have epic pop, but there's some decent pop there. And what's there is really easily accessible. You don't have to put much into it to load it up.
Approach: Nice and nimble for trickier approaches but gets a bit wobbly for approaches where you need more straight line speed, like bigger jumps
Landing: Solid enough but for bigger jumps, it can feel a bit wobbly on landings too
Side-hits: Great for small side-hits - nice and nimble and with decent, easy pop and and really easy to spin.
Small jumps: Really really good. Enough stability on approach and landings, easy to spin, and decent, easy pop.
Big jumps: Not the best option for big jumps. A little too soft and playful for those.
Switch
Basically as good as it gets for switch.
Spins
This board is awesome for getting spins around. It feels light to spin, has enough pop to get you off the ground and gets around really effortlessly. For bigger tricks off bigger jumps, not as good - and a little more pop would have it scoring even higher, but overall a great little spinner.
Jibbing
Really easy/nice for hitting jibs with.
Butters
Super buttery. Really easy to butter.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
JUMPS | 3.5 | 14/20 |
JIBBING | 4.0 | 16/20 |
SWITCH | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
BUTTERING | 5.0 | 10/10 |
SPINS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
UNEVEN TERRAIN | 4.0 | 4/5 |
POWDER | 3.0 | 3/5 |
CARVING/TURNS | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
SPEED | 2.0 | 2/5 |
PIPE | 3.0 | 3/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 83.5/100 |
Overall, the Dipstick is a great all-round park/freestyle-everywhere-else board, if you're looking for something that's loose and playful. Pretty much ideal for anyone starting out in the park or anyone that just likes their park riding playful and doesn't tend to hit bigger features.
Not a bomber, not an aggressive carver and not ideal for really big features but really fun and a great option for playful freestyle riding over the mountain or in the park. A really snappy, buttery, loose, spinny playful ride.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Dipstick, 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 Dipstick compares to other freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
hi nate. what bindings do you recommend to get the most out of this board? for now I’m using salomon trigger but they are the rental ones and they don’t perform very well. I also have rome katana but maybe they aren’t suitable for the type of board. what’s your best option?
Hi Vincent, I would go with something softer flexing than the Katana for the Dipstick. Something in the 3/5 to 5/5 flex range would be a good bet. Anything from this list would be a good way to go, IMO.
Hope this helps
Nate,
I was able to get out on the white ribbon of death at Breck, Keystone and Vail during a pre-season trip to CO 11/19 through the 24th. We actually had a few days of good snow. But, there were few runs open and we were lucky to escape without injury. I was very impressed with the way the Peacemaker rode. It had good edge hold, reasonable stability at speed and carved a tight, quick turn – especially given that it is a pretty soft board. It was also very easy to ride switch. I’m sure my close to 140lb weight helped out a bit as I was not overpowering the board. Took a bit of time to get used to the small rocker in between the bindings. Provides a loose feel that I don’t have with my other twin tip that has camber between the bindings. But, that rocker made it very easy and fun to spin some flatland 360s. Looking forward to taking it to our local hill here outside of Kansas City (300 ft vertical drop. LOL!). It’s on the EPIC pass, so for the price of gas and time, I’ll be up there to work on my switch riding and buttering skills as soon as it cools off here in KC so they can blow snow. It is 12/2 and 72 degrees today here. We set a record today for the highest temp ever on 12/2. The old record was set 65 years ago. I’ll provide another update on the butterability of this board later. In the meantime, I’ll be praying for snow.
Hi Brett
Thanks for the update and insights, much appreciated.
I’ll be sacrificing some pineapples for you!
Nate,
I’m 55, 5′ 8″, 145 lb size 10 boot. I’ve been riding off and on for 20 years, but only get one or two trips in each year. So, I’m an advanced intermediate. I bought an EPIC pass this year and it allows free access to a very small hill North of where I live in the Kansas City MO area. I’d like get on that hill with a short, playful board so it’s not so boring. But, I’m staying out of the park. Don’t want to risk injury there. I also plan to visit some big CO resorts, but I have dedicated all mountain and powder boards for those resorts. I’m looking for a board to do some playful flatland tricks on (butters, flat spins) and practice my switch riding, which I’d like to get better at. I’m looking to pick up a used board. Would you steer me more towards a Funslinger, Peacemaker or Dipstick. they all seem to butter and ride switch well. The Funslinger will obviously have an edge in switch riding since it is asymmetrical. But, the Peacemaker seems to have a bit wider platform in the 152. Just wondering if there is enough difference between the three to warrant passing up a good deal on any of them. Also, do you have a recommendation on another board that fits the bill if I could find a good deal on it?
Brett
Hi Brett
Thanks for your message.
All 3 of those would certainly work. The Dipstick is the most playful – super soft and forgiving – which is saying something because the other 2 are also really playful. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them for what you’re describing.
But yeah, width-wise, I think the Peacemaker or Dipstick look the best. For your specs and given you’ll be using it on a small mountain and as a playful board, I would be looking in that 150-152 range. The Peacemaker at 152 will be around 261mm at the inserts (254mm waist), which should be fine for 10s. The Dipstick in 150 will be around 262mm at the inserts (251mm waist) – it’s a little wider at the inserts compared to waist. The 151 Funslinger more like 258mm (248mm waist) at the inserts – which is probably still doable, given that you’ll be using it playfully, but the Peacemaker and Dipstick give you that extra bit of leeway. Dipstick doesn’t have as much pop, but it’s still decent and really easy to extract that pop. All are easy to extract pop on – with the Funslinger overall being the popiest of the 3 (if that’s a consideration).
But yeah, overall, for what you’re describing, I don’t think you can go wrong on any of them. Only thing with Funslinger is whether it could be a little narrow in the 151. Dipstick would be the way to go, if you wanted it the very easiest, most playful possible. Peacemaker a good in between – especially with that extra width over the Funslinger.
Some others that could fit the bill:
– Lib Tech Box Scratcher 151
– Capita Horrorscope 151 (now called the Pathfinder Rev for 2022 model)
– Slash Happy Place 152
Hope this helps with your decision.
Nate,
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback – especially the dimensions of the boards at the inserts, which is more important than the waist width. I should have mentioned in my email that I typically run angles of + and – 15 deg. Add me to the list of people who think you provide the best snowboarding advice, reviews and feedback on the Internet. Just wish you could review even more boards. 🙂 I’ll take a closer look at the three additional boards you listed above. Keep up the great work. Hope you have a great season and stay healthy.
You’re very welcome Brett. Hope you have a great season too!
I was able to pick up a used Peacemaker in excellent condition. I’ll be sure to pass it along to another snowboarder when I’m finished with it. Thanks again for the advice.
Brett
Hey Brett. Nice one!
If you think of it at the time, let me know how you get on, once you’ve had a chance to get it out on snow.