I've owned two surftecs over the years. One ranks in the top 3 boards I have ever owned (6'8 JC MelMachine) and another (a longboard) that is a dog. Personally in the grander scheme of things my opinion is that a surftec offers the best VALUE to the consumer from a dollars and cents standpoint. If you want a virtually indestructable surfboard a surftec is second to none. Hard to beat the 6'8 Melmachine for a step up or travel board IMHO.
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is the guy sitting randall french?
randy?
Some shops have recently dropped their prices approx $200 below suggested retail. Channel Islands TufLites are $499 at a local shop that previously was charging closer to $700. They're available on the internet at that price as well... here's one.
http://www.tactics.com/channel-islands/surftech-k-small-surfboard
Anyone who has dabbled in vacuum bagging would have to admit it's damn hard to achieve that level of quality without busting the bank in labor and material costs. Include overhead and government mandated benefits for employees and the generally cheapskate nature of surfers in general and you can not compete.
I'm thinking there are likely warehouses and shipping containers full of unsold inventory awaiting the next mark down in a tough economy.
Many guys have thrown in the towel and already outsource their products. As Balsa Bill implies.... where are your trunks made? I'll include board bags, leashes, stomp pads, fins, sunglasses, wetsuits, shoes,and the lion's share of everything we use/wear/consume on a daily basis including the power tools with which the few domestic boards are shaped. Hitachi? "Made in China." It says so right on the tag.
Yes, I'm sure there will be a few who chime in with "My planer is a Skil 100", or "My wetsuit is made in US" but we are currently experiencing what I refer to as my "Two Generations of Separation from Patriotic Consumerism Theory - Phase One." (In which the ideals of the WWII generation are sold out by their grand kids.)
Mine are made in the USA by the way.
Mine, too.
Made at 2129 S Wright St, Santa Ana, California.
No. He’s the CEO of Cobra international . Danu Chotikapanich.
Because Surftech is the most advanced surfcraft you can buy.
Stop this nonsense.
The cost of landing container loads of ST's ,ready to sell ,is miniscule compared to the price they sell for . Call it what you like....business...maximise your profit.......greed ......whatever . The simple fact is , without surftech ,the industry would be in good shape (notwithstanding the GFC ) and craftsman of surfboards would be secure ,knowing that they could make a descent living , doing something that has taken many years to learn. The sad thing is , this situation has been created from within the established surf industry by people who are well known. They smile to your face , while they got there hand in your pocket.
It's a roundabout argument. There's a lot of talk about supporting the shapers in your country, fair call, i agree with that, but hey, a lot of the surftech board models come from aussie and US shapers, and you're 10 times more likely to get a S/T afterburner than one shaped by the man himself ( just an example, nothing against the man ). Also, If they are made with compensation for the extra float, they can go great, but a 3'' thick surftech longboard would be a battle ship, even for someone like me who likes foam.
Many more questions than answers. What happens if you were ( theoretically ) blindfolded, and surfed a random board. If you loved it, but then saw it was a surftech/firewire etc, would you get rid of it on principle, even though you loved how it surfed??
Tricky issue.....
dbl post
Whatever happened to OTAY? Did he leave Surftech? He was one of the best debaters on the pro ST side in this forum? The guys posts where a lot fun to read.
the point is that WELL BUILT pu boards are too cheap. and we as an industry on a whole are the stupid ones for not charging enough. price parity is too level and education of customers involves work, everyone just takes the easy way out and drops the price for a quick sale…
to further my point i will pick on Base as an example i know about. when they formed they had a great idea and a dream of having enough work going thru to have corporates involved and they could just surf and design etc…
they had pretty much the best known brands in australia. they had an opportunity to make well built high performing boards. & pretty much command over the prices of short boards in australia. if they had told the market “our boards are the best, we are charging $900 for a pu” they would have dropped a little in numbers but risen high in profits, bringing the australian market with it. think about, it at the time they had a large portion of the wct/wqs on the boards. the old clark saga came along then they would have then helped dictate the world prices…
but no they chose to cut all the good staff , drop prices, make thier own inferior blanks, get cheaper glass and resin & use relativly inexpensive unexperianced labour.
their whole sale price dropped to $50 lower than my wholesale price, i had not changed for 15 years!
they dumped boards here in big sales every 2 months selling new boards (factory seconds) for $300-350.
what do you think happened to thier local market after unloading crap boards all over town? the public now thought there boards are all crap and say “ill never buy one again”
to give them some credit, the product coming out of there now is much better than before, but there has been a terrible cost to their brands image.
Back to surftech… pu from the same guy should be 25% more…
This is not a slight on the small manufacturers, backyarders, and home builders, who seem to be the majority here at sways.
In my early days I only made a few dozen back yard boards, mostly for friends who I surfed with, and they were stoked to get a board from me, and yes they were cheaper than the shop stock.
I travelled, learned more and went pro (ha ha, professional beach bum, professional board maker) for a company not long after that and have only once made 'backyard' boards since then. Even then it was only a couple of dozen to get me extra spending money for a sailing trip. And I made them at a friends place, a friend who used to get my boards and went hardcore and set up himself in a backyard garage.
Surfers are still generally cheap bastards, and it's the guys who continue to do the cheap deals who get turned to. Hey, it's just a board, and why should they pay the real value of a handcrafted perfromance product when someone who says they can do it just as good will make it for them cheaper.
I'm in total agreement with Feraldave. Surfboards in general are too cheap. Actually that should be quality boards are too cheap. But while ever there is an almost shaped blank available, and someone pretty good with their hands and willing to do a deal, then quality boards will always seem expensive.
While I loved (and still do) riding my own boards and learned a lot by trial and error, which even to this day is still a lot of fun, along the way my learning curve always jumped ahead by buying and riding top quality equipment from the experienced.
Surfing and boards.......still too many variables to pin down and categorise. Anyone can do it, and anyone can be an expert, just ask them, or should I say, us.
From a consumer point of view many boards out there in the market are over priced, they’re just not good value. Nothing sucks more than picking up a new stick costing $750AUD+ and the thing either folds like butter or lasts about 3 months due to the deck collapsing. I’m all for paying decent money on a handmade board and have many, many times but there’s so much crap out there that sometimes it’s hard for the average Jo to tell the difference.
as i said earlier "The point is that WELL BUILT pu boards are too cheap. and we as an industry on a whole are the stupid ones for not charging enough. price parity is too level and education of customers involves work, everyone just takes the easy way out "
Your correct in saying that its hard for the average joe…(the thumb test is one way) but its pretty easy to look at the s/hand racks at the very store your buying in and see how they look. or check thier warranty… we back our quality by giving a 50% guaranteed trade in for 12 months. hey not even surftech or firewire back thier product like that!
the surf media have never really sided with the customer in educating people on quality have they…
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its the biggest wank of all for some crew to rekon they are somehow more CORE by there little bum budie surf gangs and team riders. exclusive attidudes and bullying. fark them all. gimme a line up with a begginer on a bodyboard over some wannabe pro anyday. crew that makes boards for these blowhard showponies are so ego driven . they cant wait to try and pay out on anyone that doesnt fit the mold YAWN
GOLD!!!
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to further my point i will pick on Base as an example i know about. when they formed they had a great idea and a dream of having enough work going thru to have corporates involved and they could just surf and design etc…
they had pretty much the best known brands in australia. they had an opportunity to make well built high performing boards. & pretty much command over the prices of short boards in australia. if they had told the market “our boards are the best, we are charging $900 for a pu” they would have dropped a little in numbers but risen high in profits, bringing the australian market with it. think about, it at the time they had a large portion of the wct/wqs on the boards. the old clark saga came along then they would have then helped dictate the world prices…
Shit you nailed that, so true…They really F@#KED UP.
I Herd they just got bailed out “$” by someone up north.
…why doesn’t Mick Fanning ever thank his shaper when he wins a comp??? $$$ ???
well thanks for the affirmation fullas. but dont take any of this to serious
i dont think boards are too cheap really. surfing is an ego driven sport. folks could buy machine shapes off me that i finish and glass for 650 if they had an brains. but hey if they want to pay 850 in the shops so there frinds think they are cool. that sweet my me as well. surftechs are over a grand here. i think could happily make a couple a week for 650 and id have a fair and easy wage with maximum recreation time… im a fully qualfied goldsmith and gemsetter ( 20 years experience) and a semi decent artist and board builder but i cant get work in napier. everytings made in china now. so basically at the moment i am on an apple orchard going hardout thinning trees all day for 500 hundred a week in the hand. when i say hard out. i mean fucking 50 to 60 trees a day hardout. after a day that i went to grind the tile grout of a 50 year old public urinal 50 square meters with a 10 inch grinder right to the ceiling for 4 hours. lucky fucking me. what was it i did a trade for?. meanwhile my line up is crowded with cash loaded suck ass plumbers and refigeration mechanics and sparkys. hah they think they are so sitting pretty. well we can also import some cheap labour to do there friggen job AS WELL
i can do two boards in a few days without breaking a sweat a board cost me 250 materials. 3 boards and i would be sitting pretty
do the maths, surfboards are a farkin rip off. they need to be to pay wages to all the useless f$ckers in society . like retail clerks . wholsalers and sales reps. so they can stand around and scratch there asses all day blowing hard on all your best kept secret local spots
please smelly slater just bloody retire and spare me the misery of the asp. maybe when you do people will stop watching it. and the brands will crash and burn
really its about time the industry keeld over and died and all the skill100 masters end up doing repairs or cleaning shithouses. like every other industry that makes stuff. thats called friggen reality . deal with it
this recession has only just begun
asia will f$ck all our industrys including primary produce. and the government sits idily by and then when most our foreign debt is to asia they can open the borders .
waitresses are the most valuable members of society
tip them well and always be polite