Airline charges for surfboards are just getting out of hand, and some won’t even carry boards anymore, regardless of length.
On my return flight from Bali last August, surfer in front of me at the ticket counter tried to slip 3 thin and short reef rockets thru in his board bag as a single board ( I sold my quiver to an Ulu shop before I left). China Airlines made him open the bag, gave him a ration and then charged him over $400 for the flight home.
This all makes the Pope bi-sect boards a fairly sensible idea if the weight and ride is decent enough. The shortest board they make, however, is a 8’2 Wayne Rich hybrid. Nice looking ride for us elders if the destination isn’t a shacking reef, not going to appeal to the younger chargers however…
As the travel cost and restrictions on surfboards continues to become more and more prohibitive, would think that Surftech would jump into the sectional travel board arena, as they have the shapes, hard shell technology, and definitely the research capitol…
Why not work towards three or four piece boards for which short sections can be added to or removed to adjust the length for conditions?
They do that, I might even have to break my vow to never ride another pop-out (my first ride back in 63’ was on a Duke Kahanamoku pop-out I bought for $20 at a yard sale. thing was tippier then a canoe.)
I took a WR-9 Pope Bisect from San Diego to Bali earlier this year. The Wayne Rich shape worked great, and with the bisect hardware it felt more like a normal board than a pop out. I spent most of my time at Dreamland in head high to + waves and the board felt solid the whole time. There isn’t any of the flex at the joint that one might expect. The board made the round trip without any damage other than a few chips to the paint on the rails (caused by hitting the hotel room door frame).
I used American Eagle, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines for the flights and didn’t pay anything extra for the board. The only time a ticket agent asked about the case was while leaving Bali, and instead of charging extra they simply added a “fragile” sticker to the bag.
I’m not a huge fan of pop outs, but in this specific case the application worked well. If they have a size you are interested in I think it is worth considering for travel.
I think a shortboard that broke down into three 2-foot-plus sections would be awesome. Not just for airline travel, but for all travel, near or far. It would fit in a large backpack or bag–perfect for the trunk of a car or a bike ride. It would be perfect for Baja trips too because the Feds tend to pull over American pick ups and cars with boards on the rack.
I’ve never ridden a pop out or had any interest in them but this idea, if some clever mother would do it, would change that for sure!
I also did a bonzer pintail section too, so with only three pieces I have two wholly different boards. Now that I’ve been through the process, I see where it would pretty easy to accomplish with an already-made surftech. Of course, doing such projects commercially would probably attract the attention of certain patent-holders, but as a one-off garage project you’re probably pretty safe.
nice job - very clever work arounds, think you definitely qualify for true MacGyver status!!
If you can accomplish this in your garage, would have to think that multi-piece travel boards in all shapes and sizes would be so dam doable by the mass producers…
Problem is, Pope. He holds the patent. I’ve emailed him, and he’s just not interested in making shortboards. Nobody else wants to fight him (or pay him) for rights to make a multi-piece surfboards.
Besides, if everyone starts showing up at the airport with sectional boards, they’ll just change the rules so they can charge us for those as well.
I’d be surprised if Pope holds a “lock” patent on multi-piece boards, as it is a general concept. Would think it more likely that his patent would be on the joiner system for his particular madness…then again, who knows how good of a patent lawyer he had working for him…
Guess we won’t know until if and when another manufacturer brings their concept to market.
I’d be surprised if Pope holds a “lock” patent on multi-piece boards, as it is a general concept. Would think it more likely that his patent would be on the joiner system for his particular madness…then again, who knows how good of a patent lawyer he had working for him…
Guess we won’t know until if and when another manufacturer brings their concept to market.
People here on sways have messed around with making multi-piece boards and documenting the build, and have been hassled by him or his reps. I’ve read the patent, it’s actually for a sectional surfboard, amazingly enough. Why do you think he’s got the only product on the market?
Quote:
United States Patent 5,711,692 Pope January 27, 1998
Sectionalized surfboard
Abstract
A sectionalized, disassemblable board-like hull which can be adapted for use as a surfboard, windsurfer, or the like. The hull preferably has two sections, i.e. front and rear. The hull sections are joined using a detachable securing device which includes a single loadbearing tube assembly extending into each section concentrically along a centrally located longitudinal axis of the hull. The securing device also includes a clamp assembly located in an upper surface of the hull and another clamp assembly located in a bottom surface of the hull. These clamp assemblies bridge the joint between the front section and the rear section, and when engaged, hold the front and rear sections together longitudinally. The clamp assemblies can each include a breakable link. This link has a tensile strength such that whenever the hull is subjected to a prescribed bending moment the link breaks and causes the corresponding clamp assembly to disengage. In addition, the tube assembly can be made to exhibit a bending strength such that whenever the hull is subjected to this prescribed bending moment the tube breaks or crimps. The prescribed bending moment is chosen to be less than a bending moment sufficient to fracture the hull sections during use. In this way, the relatively small, inexpensive, and easily replaced breakable link and tube assembly are sacrificed to save the hull sections should the hull be subjected to a bending moment which would otherwise be strong enough to cause a section to fracture and destroy the hull.
But that patent only protects him against people making them to sell comercially… Us backyarders can do as we please.
In other words, make your own, share the process on sways. No law against that. If enough people tried it, worked out the bugs, maybe an easy DIY process could be developed so all of us could easily make ourselves one.
its something ive actually been thinking a lot about recently. if most people driving round with boards on the roof of the truck suddenly started dismantling them and putting them in the boot think of the difference we could make to the environment! our carbon footprints would be miles smaller. come on mr pope i dont know you from adam but think of the environment! lol
maybe we should just design a different way of dividing the board up so as not to infringe on his patent and by making it public here no-one could ever patent it. sways team effort!
(If you click on the “View Patent PDF images” on the lower right of the pages you can download the pdf, (not the “PDF images” link which requires you to join))
“In 1654 Otto von Guericke gave the citizens of Magdeburg a remarkable lesson in the force of the atmosphere. He machined two hollow hemispheres, twenty inches in diameter, so they fit snuggly into a sealed sphere. He pumped the air out of it. Then he put sixteen horses, eight on each side, to the task of pulling the halves apart. The horses couldn’t, of course. It would’ve taken a force of over two tons to separate the halves”
I’ve built a 3 parts surfboards last year. I’ve surfed it every day during a 14 days surf trip but I felt it needed some strengthening so for this year’s trip, I’m adding some tubes.
It’s not difficult to build but it’s very very time consuming (a lot more than building a wooden hollow). First of all you won’t find most of the parts you’ll need so you’ll have to make them yourself : carbon tubes, tightening plugs, tightening tool, alignment pins, brass nuts, special bolts, board bag/case. Then if you want something strong and a perfectly tight and aligned assembly, the building process takes many many steps … But the result is very rewarding. My board is designed to get the most board out of the 158cm Air France max size (length+width+height must not exceed 158cm otherwise you’ll pay extra). It’s a mini log and it rides beautifully.
