I’ve been trying to get in touch with Ned or any of the guys over there and the phone is coming up “disconnected or not in service”
Anybody know what’s up?
ha ha ha!
check out the 2008 sways awards thread
AHHH…good one!
No hard feelings.
Oh…
By the way…
Have you seen my votes? (-;
Saw your voteing
excellent choices
especialy the “Most well rounded”
It’s all good toddster
Just havin fun
Happy new year! Bro
My particular fav was “most likely not to get a board done by”
I almost didn’t do it because I thought it might be going juuuuuuuuust a bit too far.
The I figured you’d probably get a kick out of it.
Of course…ALL IN FUN!
Not a speck of seriousness in any of it bro.
I really got a kick out of it!
So…when are you making my next board? (-; LOL
i heard that they were shut down, out of business, no more. at least they had better be at this point, they have owed me four 8’10" blanks for 6 months now and i have called the factory and keola everyday now for a month, never an answer and never a call back.
i also heard that they were closed for the holidays but that is a pretty extended closure (november through january?).
if you looking for eco friendly foam i would have to say the Ice9 cane formula is much better and the people at Ice9 are much more reliable
PB Larry told me he spoke with HB east today and everything is fine.
It is strange that both the 800 number and the regular line are both turning up “disconnected or out of service”
Sorry to hear you have had problems with them.
Keola was supposed to be going back to Hawaii which could be why you haven’t heard from him.
Where did you hear they were shut down?
It’s funny how people have different experiences with companies.
Somebody else told me to go with HB because they had a similar experience with Ice9.
I have had OK experiences with both.
Anyone else have any news?
Mahalo
i guess it all depends on the rep that your dealing with. the Ice9 rep up here in santa cruz is very helpful and accommodating, and any problems with the product are addressed immediately. homeblown has not provided the same experience, i understand that a big part of the reason for this is because they dont have any distribution centers or reps up here in the SF/SC area but neither does US blanks and they have been great.
i heard that the factory was shut down from a few people- marc andreini told me that they were done but then a guy from carbon-free surfing told me that they were just shut down for the holidays.
one of the guys who works at the HB factory (randy i think) is on sways and i wonder if he could shed some light on the situation.
I Was emailed a copy of this and it had not been posted.
I appreciate the concern and interest in Homeblown US. We are still alive but because of the dumping of cheap Asian surfboards, the American surfboard manufacturers as a whole have been devastated. Add that to the troubles in the economy and it has been an ugly few months. So we decided to shut down for the last half of December so all our crew could get some much needed R&R.
As for Biofoam, etc. we have new formulations that have addressed all the initial problems with the foam from shrinking to weight issues. The current Biofoam is, as good, or better than any foam on the market. It is still a cream color and that is primarily due to the fact that we want leave out any chemical additives that are only there for aesthetics.
However, knowing what we all now know about surfboard chemistry, I believe it is unconscionable to continue to use the poisonous materials that have been status quo in the industry since the 50’s. TDI is deadly poison and I don’t know how we as surfers that truly care about the environment and the guys working with the stuff could support board building that hasn’t moved beyond this poison. Our Biofoam is made with soy – a pretty high percentage of soy, not just lip service amounts – but ultimately we need to move beyond food source agri-products and we work on that daily. As Philippe Stark says…â€it’s a crime against humanity when a potential famine is approachingâ€
The styrene in polyester resins is slowly killing our glassers and everyone working in a glass shop. Yes the boards work well, look great, and these craftsmen are dying to provide this for you. I have personally known a few guys that have died before their time because of exposure to the chemicals used in surfboards.
It is time that we take a serious look at what we are doing. Even though we are being invaded by Asian product is it ok that they are exposed or do we need a fundamental change in the way we make boards? Is it ok to use TDI if it comes in from Mexico and we just poison their air and workers? I don’t think so.
We are not perfect. All of this is new territory and the surf industry has always moved forward with trial and error instead of high cost research and that is what we continue to do. We had to form a new company called Malama Composites because we have been asked to use what we have learned in surfboards in other uses such as homebuilding panels and wind blades and thankfully this has come along as the overall state of the surf industry is not strong enough to support all the foam companies. This is why our shop phone has been turned off as we reorganize but we can still be reached at info@homeblownus.com for now. News will be posted on the website too.
We all came from a surf background and that certainly is where our passion still is but these other industries are so much more receptive to the work we have done instead of just writing something off because it is a different color or has had some growing pains.
I remain optimistic about the surf industry. There is a lot to learn and we are doing our best to work through it. I wish you all the best in ’09 and I thank you for all the support.
NED
Thanks for that kirby,
I’ll contact the guys today.
Mahalo