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After getting fed up lugging round my 6" full sus bike on all day rides and realising that it is ruining my riding skills as i can just blast over anything on it i have decided for a change but am stuck in two minds and need advice!
Ive narowed it down to either
1) A giant anthem x3
2) Custom build Ragley blue pig
I am am swaying to the later but having not ridden a hartail for years im wondering if this might be a step too far! Has anyone else recntly made the jump back to hardtail or can recommend any other good options?
Having got both a Giant Trance 4" travel and Van Nic Ti HT I agree with your issue, former gathers dust / cobwebs and is 4lb heavier than the Ti hardtail. Go for a Ti HT, fit either a good quality carbon post or suspension post and it`ll be a very good ride. Enjoy the experience!
Why is the 6 incher runing your riding, is it some kind of ultra-radcore freeritelite machine?
Get what you fancy and will want to ride, don't ask a zillion other riders on a niche' tastic forum
" i can just blast over anything on it"
Find harder trails
S-Works Enduro to steel 456 to Ti456.
Sorted.
Heckler to 456SS. Shame it took so long.
i'm faster on the ups, but slower on the downs.
so...
the uphills are over sooner, and the downhills last longer, perfect.
(Blue pig - which may or may not replace a Hemlock*)
(* i thought the Hemlock climbed well, but the pig is in a different league)
I have both, a Turner Flux 100/120mm travel and a Cotic Soul with 120mm forks.
To be honest i enjoy riding them both (ride the Soul more in winter). If i could only have one bike though it'd be the Flux...... thankfully i get to keep them both 🙂
Blue Pig and and Anthem are very different- I in effect have two bikes like that (Anthem and Evil) and consider them a compliment to each other, not interchangeable.
Personally, I'd get the Anthem as it'll end up much lighter and just about as capable as a reasonable Blue Pig build.
Just changed from an Orange Five to a Kinesis (alu) HT... and am loving it! 
I loved my Five, but I think I'm enjoying the Kinesis just as much overall! It's very different but fun in different ways. Go for it, a change is as good a rest or something like that! 😀
EDIT: To be fair though, a lot of what I like about the Kinesis is down to the lighter weight so what SpokesCycles says may well be true.
Much as I love my spindly steel Inbred its no substitute for a FS bike. If one had to go it would be the HT.
I'm in a similar predicament - am selling mt carbon road bike and want to get either a lightweight HT or a short travel FS to complement my 6" Maverick ML8 (which to be fair, is only 28lbs and climbs well anyway).
Currently erring towards a carbon HT
I'm bikeless at the mo. Waiting for a 2011 Orange 5 & I've just taken my HT to my (personal) frame builder for a new BB shell. You really need (or want) a HT & a FS. Can't wait for the Orange but will never be without my old faithful HT.
If I could only have one bike it would be my HT.
Tried a few of these bikes over the past couple of years and finally settled on what suits me best. For long events/races I initially had an spec epic - the major advantage to me seemed to be that it could be pedaled fast over uneven trails with comfort. Went over to a ti hardtail, fancied a change and a simplified setup. In a back to back comparison the ht is a rougher ride if you sit in the saddle and pedal on trails - no real surprises. But once up out of the saddle I preferred it for handling, control, lack of pedal bob. The fs may have been a bit faster but I prefer riding ht.
For razzing around trail centers such as Cannock, trips to Welsh hills, Shropshire etc I had a five. Started doing more of these rides on the ti ht and found that I again preferred the handling of the ht. It also climbed much better. Build was a bit light so I swapped kit over from five to Sovereign. Now all my normal riding is on he sov with the lighter bike coming out for events. It is a relatively heavy bike, may slow me down a bit on steep climbs like Long Mynd but that's not a bother to me.