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Checkout this surfboard that actually changes color with heat. |
The board’s fiberglass has a pigment that’s sensitive to heat. As the board gets hotter, the fiberglass turns white, which deflects the sun’s rays. This keeps your board from getting too incredibly hot. Then, when you paddle out into the water and the board cools down, it returns to its normal, darker color.
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You have to do something with those used surfboards, right? Turn them into lawn chairs you can take to the beach.
I found this blog post that shows how these guys turned the surfboard above into the chair you see below.
Here’s the finished product. I’m gonna have to make one of these.
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Whether you’re buying a surfer a gift for Christmas, Valentine’s or for their birthday, these are some gifts they’re sure to enjoy.
Surfers want a surfboard for one or two reasons: To show off what they can do in the water, either just to their friends and family, a girl, or to make a sponsor film. Another reason is to have the ability to watch themselves surfing, check out where they’re placing their feet on the board, and how they react to the waves, in order to improve. GoPro offers a great surf cam.
If you swim every day you don’t want to wear the same swim suit every single day – that’s not fashionable at all. Surfers don’t want to wear the same board shorts every day, either. Aside from not being fashionable, the ocean makes your shorts stink. Hurley, Quicksilver, and Billabong make good board shorts – find out what their favorite brand is and what colors they like.
Wet suits are essential to surfing in winter. If your surfer doesn’t already have a wetsuit, you’ll be opening up a whole new world of surfing to them by buying one for them. Winter surf is entirely different (bigger, better, more powerful, more fun) than summer surf. If they already have a wet suit, take a good look at it; wet suits are prone to getting holes in them, and over time, we tend to outgrow them. It may be time for a new one.
This is the king of new gifts for surfers. Look at the boards they already have and get one that’s comparable. Or ask them if there’s any kind of surfboard they’re really like to have; chances are they have one in mind. There’s really nothing better you can get them.
Stickers are good for several things. For one, they look cool. It’s fun to stick them on your surfboard, your car or truck, and your pet’s food bowl. They’re also good for putting on little dings in your surfboard. As a gift giver, the best thing about stickers is that they’re cool and very cheap. You can probably get a handful for under $5 at a surf shop. They don’t have to be the expensive ones (there are expensive ones, too, $3-5 each).
The Indo Board is a good gift because it’s a new challenge that improves your balance, which surfers must have. These boards are useful for improving surfing and fun for everyone who tries them. I’ve seen them be quite useful at parties.
If the surfer is like me or any surfer I know, they like plad shorts, tshirts, flip flops, and hats from their favorite surf shop. Just be sure to get the right size and their favorite brands.
If you’re not sure what size or brands to get, or if they’re rather the money be spent on clothes or surfing equipment, get them a gift card for their favorite surf shop. If the surf shop doesn’t have gift cards, they probably have a way to add credit to a person’s name, which is basically the same thing.
Surfboard tiedowns tend to get loose over time. If they break while they’re holding a surfboard down onto a vehicle, the surfboard will fly off and probably crash into another vehicle. Either way, an expensive surfboard will be completely ruined. It’s a good idea to replace them every couple of years.
One thing surfers always need is more surf wax. Luckily it’s really cheap, around $1-2 a bar. You’ll want to find out what their favorite brand of surf wax is and how often they surf. They probably need one bar for every day they surf. If they surf 20 days a month, pick them up 20 bars for around $20-30.
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Used surfboards are great for learning to surf, but most experienced surfers buy custom surfboards. They go to a local surfboard shaper and talk to them about what they want their board to be like. You can specify everything about it: the length, width, how much of a curve you want at the tip, how many fins you want it to have, how it’s cut in the back – everything.
Every beach town has its local surfboard shapers, and if you’re in Corpus Christi, Texas, Mike Doyle is the shaper you want making your custom surfboards.
Custom ordering a board built just for you is a wonderful process for the surfer who wants and expects a little more when the all important decision needs to be made on what you expect to get out of your first, or next surfboard. – Website of Custom Shaper, Mike Doyle
Mike will even fix you up with custom surfboard art.
You can view a LOT of pics of Mike’s surfboards by clicking here.
If you want the highest quality surfboard design, a board that’s made just for you in Corpus Christi, this is the guy who will be shaping your next surfboard.
Mike Doyle
Get directions to Mike Doyle Custom Surfboards shop, contact Mike, and order your own by checking out his website here.
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Seriously. Mike Sheldrake, who lives near Newport beach, has been making cardboard surfboards. He even has videos on his website that show you how to make your own and you can also buy a kit from him if you like. It looks like a fun project, and I’m pretty sure you’ll be the only one at the beach on a cardboard surfboard. Check them out; he has kits for several different designs, and will even answer your questions as you build your own. Pics are below, and his website is here: Cardboard Surfboards.
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With this contraption you can carry your surfboard on your bicycle. These pictures were taken recently in Galveston, Texas. Surf shops in the area have these; I’ve seen them at Surf Specialties and I’m pretty sure the others will have them too.
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I’ve looked high and low for a shark repellent and finally found one worth mentioning. It’s a product called Shark Shield, which repels sharks with an electric field that induces spasms in the shark’s snouts. It’s used to repel sharks while participating in numerous water sports: “surfing, bodyboarding, longboarding, snorkelling, scuba
diving, free diving, spear fishing, commercial diving, kayaking, ocean swimming and boating or fishing.”
Shark Shield is provided by an Australian based company, of the same name, that specializes in manufacturing products that protect people from sharks. According to their website, Shark Shield is used by the Australian Elite Army, the South African Navy, the US Coast Guard, and is approved by NATO. It provides protection against all predatory shark species. Tiger sharks, Great Whites, Bull sharks, Makos, Bronze Whalers, and more are deterred by this product.
Here’s an illustration of how Shark Shield works for surfboards.
“The Surf unit is compact and lightweight and produces up to an eight meter shark safe zone. The unit can attach to all surfboards and weighs around 350 grams, and the less once in the water. The unit comes compete with mounting plate, deck grip and electrode tail. If you have more than one surfboard, mounting plates can be attached to numerous craft and the unit is then detached, using an Allen key, and reattached to another mounting plate. This Shark Shield Surf has a 7 hour rechargeable lithium battery.”
I talked with the head of the surf unit at the company, who told me a shark shield device for a surfboard would cost
$499. That’s not cheap, but it’s worth it, especially if you plan to surf in waters known to have shark attacks.
Here’s a video that provides more information about Shark Shield.
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One of the greatest pleasures of surfing is riding on a surfboard that was shaped by a fellow surfer, a person you know at a surf shop you love. But technology and mass production are invading even the surfing world, with companies like Firewire producing thousands of surfboards every year. Surfline.com has made a video for you to checkout if you’re curious about how surfboard shaping machines work.
How Mass Produced Surfboards are Made
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Found a really good article you’ll like about injuries caused by surfboards over here. I like to think that everyone gets smacked by their board now and then, but who knows. I do know it happens to me at least once a year, and it hurts pretty bad.
When you go under water, it’s a really good idea to be sure you know about where your board is before you bring your head back above water. This can be difficult if you’re totally out of air after a wipeout and you’re having trouble finding the board, but it usually only takes a second or two. What you do is kick back the foot that has your leash attached to it, or pull on the leash if you can find it, and you also know the board is going with the current.
It’s a good idea to also never put your board between yourself and a wave, because a wave could quickly push it right into you.
You could also be hit by someone else’s surfboard, so you have to lookout for others’ boards too.
Here’s an excerpt from this article:
… A lady that had progressed nicely over the last year since I gave her surf lessons last summer was out surfing and attempted to push her board through a breaking wave. For some reason, the board didn’t penetrate the wave as intended and it was pushed back with a vengeance, hitting her in the mouth and breaking a couple of her front teeth.
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