09 Aug 2023
While not exactly new technology, even to this day vacuum bag lamination is probably not the standard for most surfers out there, but I'm going to venture to say it should be. I would guess most surfers are grabbing off the rack boards and heading straight to the beach, but for those of you who have gotten to the point of ordering custom boards, down to the foam density, stringer thickness, airbrush colors, cloth weight, fin set up, etc... you need to take a look at the Hydroflex 3D glass jobs and whether it's an option for your next whip. In fact since writing this and researching, I've found that a lot of the silverback board makers (Think C.I., Lost, Rusty) have started to offer the Hydroflex 3D lamination as an add on. If that doesn't signal something working in the surfboard making industry, I don't know what does!
My introduction to the technology came by fortunate accident. Some years ago I got hooked up with Kurt Arnold, the owner/shaper at KJA designs and he started making some boards for me. Like most good shaper/surfer relationships the first board worked like magic and there's been no going back. His shapes aside though I noted that the boards lasted longer and kept their flex profile longer than other boards. I run a surf camp and most days I surf multiple times a day. My boards get a workout. Not only did I break fewer boards, but my boards lasted longer, which translates into many things for me including less expenditure on boards that wind up breaking or in the rental fleet because they lost their 'mojo'.
I remember some years ago walking into a surf shop in Costa Rica, Tamarindo to be exact. I thought I might buy some shorts, but this was not the place where prices were discounted. Name brand shorts ran $90....and this was over 10 years ago! Like in most surf shops there were crisp new boards, lots of them, mostly from the hottest shapers we know...CI, Lost, Chili, you know the lineup. I was rubbing my hands along rails, eyeing contours and hefting boards, noting how light they were! I squeezed a bit to feel the flex of a particularly beautiful $998 "lost" ... my finger crunched into the glass and left a definitive "finger fuck" in the bottom of what was once a brand new unblemished board. I felt bad, but not bad enough to own up to what I had done. I slithered my way toward the door, I'm that dick, lesson learned and never returned.
That "ultra light" badge laminated in your glass job is great when you're a traveling pro, or at least have an indeterminate length sponsorship from the 'rents'. In the case of a working man like myself, or someone who is hard on boards, "ultra light" means "easily damaged", "easily broken" and "ultra expensive".
My request from Kurt, when I was making my board orders, was for a heavy glass job. Not only because I wanted durability, but because it's windy here in Nicaragua. Those incessant off-shores create chop and chatter which is further exaggerated by light glassing. 6/6/4 cloth usually does the trick and in this case it worked. My boards are heavier than those high performance off the rack "pro models", but my boards are far from heavy weights, though they age like heavy weights. Much of that can be attributed to the Hydroflex 3d technology.
Apparently there are some trade secrets which the company won't reveal. Let them keep their secrets. What we know is that the boards are glassed using vacuum bags... in the process air is sucked out of the bags which draws liquid resin into the blank, effectively creating a grip between the lamination and the blank. It's no secret it works. Pressure dings on the deck no longer de-laminate from the blank, flexibility is maintained and the boards seem to be more resistant to breaking. Hopefully I'm not going to jinx myself here, but I've yet to break one in half. I buckled a board by landing a failed attempt at an air...but my fat ass landing on any board is a test of its mettle!
What I first thought was a mindless decal laminated on my board, saying "hydroflex 3D" turned out to be anything but a golf gimmick. It's the real deal and I can't think of any reason you shouldn't try it. Then again if your sponsor is sending you a huge quiver of boards every year, maybe you don't need it. Go bust some boards. Me on the other hand, I won't order a board without it. Try it...I'm interested to hear your thoughts. You can also reach out to Kurt at KJA designs who knows a lot more about it than I do. You can also order some bullet proof boards while you're there.
NOTE: This is just personal feedback and not an advertisement, no compensation exchanged, just Aloha;-)
