Ron
True point. I think when they made these statements about HDU they were comparing it Wood. I look at HDU as a great alternative to wood. Especially when you start pricing pre-Made Cedar or Redwood blanks of the same size. You can buy the HDU in 2x4 peices also from
http://www.signweb.com/richardsdist/
it is the 15# but its reasonable enough to get your feet wet with it and to form your own opinion.
I'll be honest also about it. If I am sandblasting the sign I would only use redwood, Cedar or Graphicore just cause you cant beat the look of sandblasted wood.