eco blanks

Hi,

A friend of mine has been working on an eco friendly surfboard blank and he paid a fortune for the patent.

He showed me what he was “cooking” and two things called my attention; the material was 100% eco-friendly but in terms of structure I had huge doubts. 

He did produce a blank and gave it to a shaper and the end result was as I anticipated…heavy. It is great for tow-in though

He came back to me asking what had he done wrong.

I don’t want to go into detail but the whole thing was a disaster.

So he challenged me to produce a blank. I asked him fife  had any notion what he was asking?

So these last 3 weeks I’ve been thinking and I came to the conclusion that the material as proposed is not feasible. A few days ago I came across a surfboard site and had a good laugh cause due to their arrogance. They had an interesting idea and only focused on the concept and forgot completely about the board itself. 

The intriguing part was that they were using transformed raw natural material just because it was free. 

My friend has tons of this raw natural material so I’m going to give it a try.

My questions are:

  1. Is there a market out there for 100% natural non toxic blanks for shapers?

  2. I know the price makes all the difference to have success but in the worse scenario, would a natural green product have a place in the surf industry?

  3. How light weight would I have to aim? At least the same as foam or lighter? 

Doesn’t seem to be a huge market - skepticism on the part of the consumer might be a big factor, and at the end of the day, cost, performance, availability, even cosmetics, seem to come out ahead of “eco-friendly” on the checklist.

I’d bet the market for 100% non-toxic resin is much greater than for blanks.  Just saying.

foam is vey toxic too

Hi SLP,

Although most of your question was in code, it intrigues me nonetheless and wanted to chime in.  The code I’m referring to is that you don’t closely articulate what sort of material you are thinking… Intriguing :slight_smile:

So background to why I’m interested and then an answer to your question.  For the last five or so years I’ve been playing/toying with the most environmentally friendly / low environmental impact board you can make.  I’ve tried paulownia (hws with no glass) and found it heavy and hard work to shape, I’ve tried a few variants on eps and found that you still need resins etc to finish - my thinking is that the best “low impact” construction to the environment is someone like Josh Dowling who is increadibly efficient with materials and uses every bit of foam and timber in his board construçtion (ie re-use not recycle). He constructs the skins for his compsand boards from off cuts and intricately pieces them together.  So it’s low impact not no-impact.

ive the in the last few months shaped a board using Ochroma balsa (ochroma.com.au) which is constructed by laminating together balsa off-cuts that would otherwise be going to landfill (I assume off cuts are from balsa milling for the model industry which must be fairly wasteful due to the amount or small milled timbers)… So the theory was good - re-used balsa blank, then finished in oil.  I’ve found it makes a good board but the oil finish isn’t quite sufficient to hold out all water and as balsa has varying densities, some sections just need something a little more durable than oil so I’m back to the quandary of needing to think about glass… The quest continues.

So to answer your question - is there a demand for “environmentally friendly” surfboard blanks?  To first answer more broadly, is there a demand for an “environmentally friendly” anything?  To. Me the thinking is that with consumerism, there is a percentage that just don’t give a fu$k.  Give me a new mobile phone when a new model comes on the market, give me plenty of plastic on any food to keep it fresh, give me the cheapest petrol in my car (I don’t care how it was manufactured)… So there is a percentage that don’t care, then there is a percentage that are sympathisers (enviro friendly where possible… But will still err on the “what’s easier” from time to time) then there are those that go out of the way to be environment conscious.  Unfortunately due to the effort and volumes, environmentally friendliness can often come at a cost and therefore, the whole consumerism theory comes into what drives the demand and the supply.

So into the specifics of an environmentally friendly surfboard blank - yes, there would be some demand, and then some that don’t give a who-ha.  There will still be those out there that are happy to buy a Chinese surfboard made by somebody who lives 1000kms from the ocean and is paid $2 / day and at the sacrifice of the local river system just to that the board comes in $150 cheaper than other boards.  Also the blank is one part of the construction so without knowing what material you are thinking (hence the intrigue) I assume we still need to seal / glass / install a fin system etc. so the whole package needs to be thought through also.  In short I think there will be some demand but not every shaper will drop poly urethane… so e just get stuck in their ways and do what they always do.

I say go for it and put something out there - we need more thinkers like you to innovate and help produce the most enviro friendly surfboards we can.

Remember, achievement is not measured by what we finish, it is measured by what we attempt.

-Cam

OK, by your response, I can see my answer clearly wasn’t what you wanted to hear.  But the question, “is there a market…” comes with the unstated proviso that there be enough of a market to make a business venture profitable, or at least viable.  So the answer Yes there would be some market, isn’t really the whole answer.  

Consumers are skeptical because so much “green” hype is just superficial blather designed for one thing: promoting sales.  Environmental concerns are often not even figured in.  People are skeptical.  I’m skeptical.

How light?  Well, I don’t think there is a pinpoint answer to that question, you say “the same as foam or lighter” but there is no exact weight for foam.  There are varying degrees of lightness, different types of strength, density, etc.  That’s why I put “performance” on the checklist, ahead of eco concerns.  How could a surfer buy a surfboard and not be concerned about performance?  Eco friendly or not, a board that does not perform well will not likely be an economic success.  Would there be some room for compromise?  I think so.  A balsa or agave board is likely heavier than a lightweight foam board, but there are still people building, buying, and riding them.  Hollow wood surfboards are generally heavier than foam boards, but people build and ride them.  Are there people making successful profits from building and selling them as an environmentally friendly alternative to foam boards?  I don’t think so.

My response wasn’t designed to discourage you from pursuing an interest in the possibilities, but an attempt to give a realistic response to your specific slant toward the economic viability of commercial production of “green” surfboard blanks.  I think its great that people are concerned about the health and environmental impact of the products we use, as surfers.  The need is there, yes, the interest is there, yes, but the economic incentive isn’t great, considering the obstacles, that’s just the reality, IMO.

Quality and performance is what matters.  There is only a tiny nitch market for “Green” surfboards.  At the end of the day the boards have to perform, the price has to be right, they have to look good and they have to hold up.

 

Heavier works with longboards not shortboards your market might be Malibu more money than common sense types in it more for the being seen than the actual surfing.

As others have said go for it you could be the next Clark with the right product marketing and hype.