Hope theres more than this…http://walkerfoam.com/BlanksCatalog.pdf
Yes there is. However they had something go wrong with their server. The foam is FAR better than the web site.
Thats good. Will check back when the server is up. Glad to see they have a website/catalog…Hope they can fill the void! Seems like it would be awfully difficult to satisfy the demand. I can only imagine the stress of managing a project like increasing blank production. Money, personel, space, distribution, EPA. Great to see that the blanks are still produced in the US. Wish them luck, and GODSPEEEEEEEEED!!!
Not for long. Production is moving to China. The vast majority of boards will be from outsourced labor in another part of the world where toxic rivers appear without warning. Custom rockers will still be done in Wilmington apparently, but the foam is all gonna come from China if I’ve heard correctly. Hooray for outsourcing!
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Yes there is. However they had something go wrong with their server. The foam is FAR better than the web site.
Anyone have an email for Walker that works.
Many Thanks
Shine
Thanks brett, Interesting that they have outsourced production to China. Hopefully quality and distribution will be good and efficient. It will be interesting to see how some react to shaping chinese blown blanks. Will all those that opposed offshore manufacturing refuse to use the asian knock offs due to the recent crisis. Will retailers that banned import boards in the past have the same attitude towards boards with Asian blown cores. Will somebody enforce a built with an asian blank sticker on the finished product? Will some refuse to use Walker foam because of this? Will the govt slap a tariff on the imports? Or will the shaky relations between our countries somehow, someday make it difficult on trade? Knowing a little about importing/exporting I do know that in some cases containers can be exposed to extreme heat and moisture combined with a container jammed with blanks leads me to believe a percentage of the imports could be warped/damaged etc. I do know of a retailer that deals with import boards. They send him a list of what they have on US soil to ship and thats all they have till they receive another container 5-6 weeks later. In my humble opinion it may be a safer bet to use our domestic Styrofoam suppliers, seems like to many what if’s at this point. My experiance with most of the Styro guys have been good, custom rockers in a day, 2-5 day delivery and the freedom to choose different densities. I hope that the planning going on can fill the PU void, and I hope we step up to the plate, At this point it may be easy to vision more finished boards coming in containers than foam blanks. Feels like they are winning, what happened to us.
We strive for profit in a capitalist society and so the bottom line is what really matters. It’s become too expensive to do business on American soil for many, and so outsourcing equals better profit margins. I don’t think the reaction will be as strong against Asian produced blanks since it isn’t the fact that the product is produced in Asia, it’s that it’s not custom shaped. So if the blanks are of the same quality that Walker produces in Wilmington then I do not see many people complaining about the source of the foam. Of course there are all the what if’s that you mention. I for one am going to be shaping/buying eps/epoxy stuff when i get home. The more I think about it (and that is all I can do being so far removed from the scene in California), the more I see a growing gap where those concerned with performance will fall in with the Bert Burgers and Greg Loehrs of the world, using new tech’s. I also see traditional shapes sticking with pu/pe, at least until the feeling of big traditional logs and eggs and guns can be replicated through eps/epoxy. If those concerned with performance are willing to take a chance using eps and Greg’s epoxy, and tweaking their shapes, there would not be such a panic for boards, and the traditional stuff could live in using the small amount of blanks available now.
SOOOO much speculation…can’t wait to just get back into the water. All you really need is a good set of fins and a nice little hollow breaker…breaking out the UDTs when I get home.
yes we to see greg’s epoxy as the best choice, Whether its eps or pu. I think the traditional shapes could find a easy home in the higher density eps 2.75lb. we have been able to eliminate the sealing step with them. Seems for so long we have relied on Clarks close tolerance plugs it will be interesting to adapt to the different PU plugs. I agree with you on all points made. It is sad that that we became to comfortable/lazy. It will also be interesting to see what happens to all the machine operations as there are few that can shape the EPS without drama. Good luck using the EPS/RR…
meanshapes…do you use eps/epoxy for traditional shapes? Greg has been talking about 4# density eps, that seems really interesting to me.
still people knocking a product they never have even have seen non the less cut into!!
We have used all of them, the higher densities are rock solid. We use an APS3000 to shape the EPS. We will be making close tolerance blanks available soon for the hand guys, (EPS-Clark rockers with domed decks) or you can use the aps program to design your own blanks/boards whatever. Been building srtingerless boards in the dense stuff if you like added weight or use less glass and wobble wobble…I would love to try the walker stuff, we have used Clark, Surfblanks Austrailia, Burford, for the PU Surfblanks are super sweet!!! I like them the best super white and you dont have to worry about cutting to deep into the deck, as they are solid throughout. You can get them in Pacifica CA…The more you try, the more you buy, TRY IT ALL!!! ITS ALL GOOD! Hopefully the chinese stuff will be super cheap so we can finally make a buck or two. Yeah Right!
I’ll be at the Hacienda@ Lax thursday nite. After that flight and a good nites sleep, I thinnk I’ll just cruise on down to Wilmington and find out for myself. Knock-knock; is a Mr. Gary Linden here? McDing PS stay tuned. I will of course report back to you Faithful Swaylockians.
I wasn’t knocking the product in the least. In fact I am quite interested in it. I am flying in to CA from London this Fri, and am most likely going to be at Cerritos Saturday morning. Giving up my first surf session to learn about eps. If my comments made it seem otherwise, well, damn them comments. I have been enthralled with eps/epoxy but have never really cared to step outside my comfort zone of pu. So no hard feelings, I am in to trying out EPS, especially the higher density stuff. Hope to see ya at Cerritos.
no worries and its good timing tobe here swell is on the way for sunday monday tuesday !! have fun at the composite workshop
I am getting chills thinking about waves…It’s been so long. Waves are gonna dominate me after so long out of the ocean. Get ready California, cause here I come!
it is supposed to be like 18 ft hope your ready
If by ready you mean able to hold my breath for long periods of time when I get drilled, then yes. Ha. That’s the best part anyways.
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We strive for profit in a capitalist society and so the bottom line is what really matters. It’s become too expensive to do business on American soil for many, and so outsourcing equals better profit margins
Its a sad thing when you read something that is posted like above. I just took a real good look at everything that I own that has to do with surf related items. I have been wearing Van’s shoes for the past 30 years, and have just noticed today that they are now made in China. I bought a Duke Kahanamoku shirt for $85 at a surf shop here in the South Bay, brought it home wore it and while in the process of washing the shirt, I noticed that the shirt was made in Mexico. I have owned several surf T-shirts from all the name brands companies and have stopped buying them due to the fact that none of them are made here anymore, they are all imported from out of the country. Some of the companies do make there shirts here but it is only a short run of the design.
I wish that our industry would stay here in the states and not sub out to a foreign country, but as Brett said, we live in a state where we want and need to profit. Being a business man I can understand where they (the surf companies) stand with workers comp. state disability, and all other leagal matters that an employer has to pay, it is cheaper for them to seek out of country.
Now we are going to be bringing our foam in. We shall only wait to see the outcome.
Surrfdaddy
I think you need to change shoes more often, vans moved shoe production overseas nearing 10 years now, china and brazil and some limited runs in italy.
I think we should have some designer italian foam next.
Why bring foam, when you can bring finished boards over? Oh no mannnnnnn whats the difference? Seems waiting to see had something to do with the crisis. We need to be on our toes and use the tech to our advantage. Todays tech is tommorows old news. Staying one step ahead of them is what we should do now. One things for sure if we dont we all will be surfing more 
on off shore boards! I can see an 80 year old grandma pouring foam and pedicabbing blanks from the factory to the docks 