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x2. I may do this to my DIY split since I rarely ride it switch and it was an experiment to begin with!

Does the swallowtail improve edge-to-edge transition in deep or heavier snow?

I cant comment on the clip as my board is a solid but I rode it in some pretty deep powder in japan, compared to my other board with a full tail and 164 length my 172 swallowtail was way more manuverable and agile I guess you could say.
Check this vid, I simply couldnt bite into the snow like that with a full tail.

plastafara
You dont need the tail clip, the chinese hooks become the tail hook.
The further the up the board the hooks are placed the more the tail will flex. Again play around with it.
I even seen a few boards with no hooks on the tail and the board pucks are the last bits of hardware. I think Winterstick do it this way.



Good luck

I'd say it's worth it... My primary split is a Prior 172st, so, it's a factory split, but.... It rocks... I use it inbounds on pow days at the resorts as my go-to ride. Very quick surfy slashes and bottom turns... Still a lot of fun in spring corn. The 172 is still short enough for easy jumpturns in the steeps, but it does suffer a little in sluffed out icy chutes where edge hold is at a premium...

As for the hardware, the Prior isn't quite as crazy as the Winterstick in shape, allowing room for a set of Chinese hooks behind the rear pucks as the last point to join the halves. There is probably a minor loss in torsional stiffness, but you forget about it real quick when riding anything but ice or very hard windboard or sastrugi.

A do it yourself, or mellower factory swallowtail than the Winterstick would be more versatile, at the cost of float in bottomless uber fluffy powder. So, think about your conditions and how often you will be on hard, icy, windboard type stuff.

Got my 164 stepchild powder OG in pre op at the moment.

Do it!!! I turned my split into a swallowtail at the end of the winter and have had a couple of spring/summer trips on it and it's been superduper fun. Even only being on spring corn. Feels like surfing a shortboard. The only negative is my touring brackets are way far back now. It hasn't been an issue yet, even climbing up Mt Adams, but I would still like to move them forward.