Are you a purist or do you demand low cost when it comes to your craft?
You don’t come here for political talk but can we chat free trade? Globalization? Integrated economies? Just for a moment? Oh let’s!
Surfboard shapers, glassers, artisans are the lifeblood of what we do. Without them we’d be clanging gongs. Bodysurfers. With them we glide and shred and limp through multi-staged cutbacks. Upright kings of the sea!
But surfboard shapers, glassers, artisans, like all others dependent on manufacturing, are getting bled by foreign trade. Cheaper imports coming from Thailand, Vietnam, China. It is more difficult to make a living with fiberglass coated hands then ever before.
Protectionism is lame, though, isn’t it? Fear-based and outdated? Maybe not? But what are other less drastic solutions? Are American/Australian made boards tons tons better than Chinese ones? Should all surfers buy boards hewn only by American/Australian hands?
What are your surfboard buying habits?
Mine? Oh I’m such a horrible queen! I only buy Italian made suits, French made bags and Matt Biolos made surfboards. He is true artist and is looking more and more like Hedi Slimane!
PBS, anyhow, takes a wonderful longer form look at manufacturing with a focus on surfboards! Let’s watch HERE and become more educated!
Yes?
Boards from an Australian shaper based in Sydney and couriered up to me 1000km/ 650miles away. Won’t be buying from anyone else.
There’s also a few factories set up in Indo now. Seems to me not that far removed from buying a production line boogie board
I dont even surf and i just had a custom twin fin made for me by Rodhe from WRV/EVO. Dudes been laying glass since the 70s at the factory, and if you’ve ever held a board with that circular dolphin logo then you’ve held his work. Meanwhile at the shop i work at all the local shaper boards collect dust, as the GSI Hayden shapes and 7S’s fly off the rack.
Im just pumped to be able to support one of the raddest guys ever to exist in the industry and get a replica of the first surfboard i bought when i was 13. Maybe on those mushy waist high days ill take it out and kook it up by myself somewhere on the island.
Top American/ Australian shapers are all pushing their own China boards like they are the best thing since sliced fucking mango’s. Mayhem Carbon Wraps, built in Thailand, JS Hy-Fi’s, built in Thailand (and built with the flex of a 2 foot thick steel bar) the worst of the worst, the infamous Hypto Krypto from Hayden, built in Thailand, so fuck off to anyone who is defending any shapers other then the broke ass one in your hometown. Lost, JS, CI, all those brands only care about their bottom line just like any other big business.
yeah, I skipped on getting a FireWire Sci-Fi because they are made in Thailand. Not even cheaper. Not sure if I’d even want a custom with that reputation. Just got HS futures fins and not liking the fact where they build boards, but the fins are the specs I needed. I’ll be trying to scrape or sand off the HS logo…
Not sure where you get that carbon wraps are built in thailand.
sorry, Vietnam not Thailand. You can order a custom built in CA though, they are a bit more expensive but they feel fucking amazing! all the pro’s are riding CW’s from CA, most of the CW’s on the racks in surf shops-if not all- are made in Vietnam (but to be honest they feel pretty damn good too)
Some of the Cork and Carbon Wrap …Lost made in Vietnam
wtf. C3 (‘cork’) is made in Florida by Drew from Inspired Surfboards.
clueless…
Drew’s made in Fl, not …Lost or at least not the large batches. Those are/were made in Vietnam. Drew helped set up the factory there for Matt.
Inspired Surf Boards
Manufacturer
Address: 2310 Dobbs Rd, St Augustine, FL 32086
Phone: (904) 347-8879
http://www.usimports.info/s…
Exporter – Shipper
KINETIC SPORTS CO LTD
TRANG BANG INDUSTRIAL PARK TAY NINH PROVINCE VIETNAM
Importer – Consignee
US Importer
2310 DOBBS ROAD ST AUGUSTINE FL 32086 USA
https://www.importgenius.co…
Inspired Surfboards imports from Kinetic Sports Co.,ltd in Singapore through the port of New York, New York
https://panjiva.com/Lost-Su…
Date2016-06-27
Shipper NameKinetic Sports Co., Ltd
Shipper AddressTRANG BANG INDUSTRIAL PARK,, TAYNINH PROVINCE, VN, TAYNINH,,VN
Consignee NameLost Surfboards
Consignee Address1030 CALLE SOMBRA UNITD, SAN CLEMENTE CA92673. USA, CALIFORNIA,CA 92673,US
Notify Party NameLost Surfboards
Notify Party Address1030 CALLE SOMBRA UNITD, SAN CLEMENTE CA92673. USA, CALIFORNIA,CA 92673,US
Weight1328
Weight UnitKG
Weight in KG1328
Quantity72
Quantity UnitCTN
Country of OriginVietnam
Details1,328 kg
I buy boards from a local shaper, he’s not famous, probably not world class, but he knows the conditions I will be using the boards in, makes sense to me, and he is always available to fix a bad ding!
Fuck, Gabs got robbed. That is all.
Oh shiiiiiiiiit Tanner may have saved Simpo’s sponsorship.
Off topic: how fucked would it be if Brett Simpson ruined John John’s world title campaign? A not-so-mysterious nonrenewal of Simpo’s Hurley contract in the future?
Short answer: yes. But probably only because there are so many American made boards available. It’s really a unique situation. I couldn’t buy American-made basketball shoes if I tried. I do try to stay away from the imports of certain countries for human-rights reasons (I grew up in the late 90’s- Free Tibet!), but even that is virtually impossible. And of course, a tad hypocritical, considering the US’ um, “spotty” record on the matter.
It is really quite remarkable how the board building industry in America has survived (prospered?) this long.