Hey Clint. I’m extremely honoured that you would consider having one of my mats. They would cost between £250 and £275 (That’s $390-420) plus shipping. However, I’m not planning to sell them at the mo as I think PG has enough competition from the Far East. The mats I’ve made for others have been 40th birthday presents.
For some reason those photo’s don’t seem to be showing so I’ll re-post them as attachments, see if that works.
Super nice work there. I don't think many people appreciate what it takes to fabricate a quality surf mat. There is certainly more to a high end mat than meets the eye!
I'm surprised more people don't have at least one. In a world of hard plastic surfboards, it is a completely different craft... almost like riding a BIG SOFT TITTY.
(I threw that last part in just to see what Google does with this one. HAHA)
Those pictures have sold me on buying two of your mats when they’re available. One for me and one for the wife. They’ll be a great gift. I can’t believe you made them with colours !! Mats have always been just damn fugly, non descript drab bags, but by simply using coloured nylon or whatever, they’re appealing, exciting, im excited !! And the gripstuff adds a contrasting design too. Just shows how easily you can change the marketability of something. Good work !
such a simple thing to do and now they’re interesting to look at. I dig the orange/black and the red/ white ones. Let me know when they’re available to buy please. Now I want to ride a mat.
I looked at the 2 other mat sites and they’re doing blue and greyish mats, yawn…
Don’t know if it was a decision based on fashion but if I walked into a surfshop and saw these mats I’d buy one straight away, two if the price was reasonable and maybe kit the whole family for Christmas for a bit of fun so we can all hit the surf and have a blast.
i wonder why the other mat makers haven’t tried colours, fashion driven or not, it seems like an excellent business idea doesn’t it??
I enjoyed your Freudian metaphor John. Thanks for the comments all.
I individually dye mats (the coloured ones anyway). These are custom mats hence the ability to do this. It takes a lot of time to build one in a way that allows the light material to stay in one piece.
PG makes a lot of mats so buys long rolls of fabric, hence the colours. It’s generically appealing to go for darker colours. Building mats they way I do wouldn’t be practical for the volume that Paul creates.
4GF are great mats. I sell them in Europe for PG. You can get lighter versions called “Blue Streaks” via my website with Vulkem grip applied.
Wasn’t he a real innovator back in the day? I remember something about him making a wwaterproof housing for a film camera for a surfboard. But that was back in the 1970s I think.
Grayman Thats a pretty good explanation, so many questions…
do you get a bigger mat if you’re a heavy set guy like me, or just put more air in?
What dimensions do you,recommend for different weights?
how do the physical dimensions of the mat make a difference If the mat has barely any air in it? Wouldn’t it be like squeezing a Jellyfish and hoping its going to do the right thing?
whats the deal with mat rider lying so flat to the water ? is it for speed or flattening the mat?
The latter. You also have to remember that mats change shape on the move. Surfboards come in all shapes and sizes because the are hard lumps and you are constantly fighting resistance. Mats allow you to cycle through a quiver on one wave. Straight lines are faster than curves, hence mats are made straight. They can go curved when needed. Also, looking at mats when you don't ride them they look the same in the same way as a non stand up will look at 2 boards and just see 2 boards. My plan white mat, the black and white one and the red one, for example, are as different as a thruster, a twinny and a single fin. Count the pontoons. :-)
Thanks for the comments all.