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as a lifetime surfer, my natural instinct is to go locally made surf boards.
that has followed on to sups. if its good enough and is equal to oversea stuff most times i'll go aussie made. supports local business and workers, suppliers etc.
let me point out, if it wasn't dc for me, it would be lahui kia, laguna bay, woody, secret agent or someone else local
now i've noticed ex kiters, wind surfers tend to go for the os stuff.
and some other people point blank refuse to get anything but production and oversea sups including exshortboarders, longboarders who would only get local surfboards
why? don't think aussie made is up to it, to far behind, just the cost extra, no access to a local business
now i don't want importers etc jumping up and down and issuing death threats- this may well be informative for them too
cheers
for me its conevenience , i can walk into a store get the board i want and go for a surf or paddle that day.Dont have the time to talk to a shaper and then wait for it to be shaped.Plus plenty like me are novices to surfing and know FA about board design and would feel a bit silly talking too a shaper!maybee some shapers should come out with signature models , allrounders ect.
i will go with teatree. can walk into a shop demo a board and get a great product. Not many Aussie made boards that you can do that,if you can at all. I bought a magic carpet, pretty sure not made in australia,wiked board from some Aussie fellow. Surely the bigger guys could follow the same model or do they only want to do customs. I know it costs a bit to have that many boards out there but you got to back your skills to pay them bills. i am really happy with all the boards i have and not one is aussie,even though i try to buy everything made here it is not practical with sup imo. would love to if i could see some more boards around to look at,not just a dream in my head that the shaper thinks will be great for me. Have had many custom boards and alot of them were dogs,my fault i know.
Personally my shorties are all Aussie boards and all from QLD strangly.
I dislike tuflites as they just dont feel right, PU boards on the other hand feel great.
I have had boards from WA in the past and there is no real reson as to why all of mine at the moment are from QLD. I think its the rocker but hey they are all good boards 
OK i usually just let these slide past and dont bother with them but i thought this time i might just have a small say.
First off with all this Buy local stuff when was the last time you seen any of those brands you posted Advertise on here??? so they are happy to take the money and the free advertising but then they give nothing back to the industry!! when was the last time you seen any of those brands you mention put on a comp or put there hand in there pocket and help out the local clubs?Yes Laguna bay put on the Noosa comp but only after surf Tech joined forces. yet i see the local shops always giving to these things only to have the local boys turn up and get the free advertising at these events.
From my side i would love to stock more local stuff but the fact its most of them always want to under cut the shops and for a shop there is no margin in local!!! which with no margin then no shop its part of life. What if i brought 10 of the lastest Local **** brand and then next week they come out with a better model and they don't care they just release it!!!! then i have dead stock. Or a customer who just brought the latest local **** brand only to find out with in a week they have made some thing better or so they say, then all of a sudden his resale is half of what he paid!!!.
I can bet you i put more of my money back in to the local area than most of these local guys, as far as i know all the local shops are local people and employ local people. So you are telling me that all the blanks glass and what ever else goes in to making boards is all aussie?
If you want to buy Aussie that's great, no ones saying you have to buy from overseas but i would love to see how long Seabreeze or any of these comps would stick around with out the people give back and from where I'm looking at the moment its NOT local.
For me i want to help build the sport and help make it grow, i will suport the companys who support the industry and not the ones who ride on coat tails!!
Flame suit on!!!
Jacko
There is nothing like owning your own custom stick made by your local shaper who knows your local conditions and can tailor make a board to suit you and your home break. There will always be a need for this and as sup grows these shaper will benifit allong the way and rightly so.
Just another angle...
Keep in mind when you do purchase an Over Seas product from a Australian retalier your money is still going into a Australian business and put towards a huge list of other Australian products and businesses and services within the industry eg.. wages, Advertising such as seabreeze and the list goes on...
It all gets spread around the country pretty quick and the local economy def gets it fair share one way or another.
Yes the local shaper may miss out on some of the bulk orders that he probably wouldnt want or be able to facilitate anyway. But he will get his orders as the sport grows and people want particular shapes.
I have Just been up at the factory talking with Tully from Laguna Bay and he actually is quite happy about the way his boards are being handled by Surf Tech and is very positive about the whole situation.
Just another angle
Luke
Ha Ha Classic Jako, you must have typing your post at the same time I was typing mine!
Its going to look like a united shop defence now... woops
Luke
My main problem with custom is. You never really know what your paying for until its finished and if it doesn't turn out (ride) the way you wanted. Well it can cost you a lot! Its very true that resale on a custom is not as good as a brand name pop out. But in saying that. There is nothing better than when the shaper gets it right. but it can be pretty hit and miss. especially when your experimenting a bit.
I'm with Teatree. I don't speak shaper language, I'd have no idea what to ask for. I don't know a thing about hard or soft rails, concaves or anything else. But if a retailer or a distributer holds a demo day and I get to try out some gear and I like what I'm playing with, then I'm inclined to buy it. When the QLD shapers bother to bring their boards south of Coolangatta and let us demo them, or if they structure their business to make their designs attractive to retailers nationally, only then will the rest of us plebs be in any position to get all hot pants over these local boards. Because (and this might be a little controversial) as far as I'm concerned, the QLD boards are kind of not local, not to me in Vicco anyway.
I do do customs by the way so i know what it cost to make a board.
If these guys are doing it for the love of it thats cool but when there product gets pimped on say a forum like this that was built on the big brands putting there money where there month is then yes i think some of there topics should get pulled of as to me that is riding on the coat tails.
Do you think i have $8000 spare to a comp? Some how i find it, it's could planing ahead!!!
local dont have the R&D that big companies have.
and if i travel OS i cant get it warrantied or get any follow up customer service.
Kiting and windsurfing saw and still is seeing the same thing with local verus international. One these fronts they can't compete.
My 2 cents anyway.
ride what your happy with.
I am yet to meet a SUP shaper of cred , churning out real numbers (ie: trying to make a living out of it) who does not want to ultimately get his boards manufactured overseas. There will always be a market for both production and custom and the smart local guys will do both.
At the end of the day if you do have the health of the industry at heart you do need to look closely at who is giving back to events, local clubs, demo's and this forum.
i went for a paddle and ah well.
i was asking the buyers /sup pers their opinions, not so much what the industry reckons.
good to have their opinions too, but i was more interested to see what us paying public are thinking.
could be a good a could thread if we behave
cheers
First up Lacey,did you have a long think before posting this topicJust reading the heading I knew it was going to be interesting to say the least.
I can understand where Jacko is coming from in part.Margins stocking locally made are generally lower than the imported product no matter what product.The local product needs to be way above the pack which then would allow for greater margins.
The manufacturer and the retailer need to have an agreement in place and work very close with each other,its the only way it will work.
This is in relation to any product,go to a furniture store and ask for a price on an imported sofa verses locally made.The locally made manufactures work in very low margins and can only be successful producing large numbers.They will never beat the imported product on cost alone,I an talking about mass production,not the small guys pumping out a few a week.
To answer your question,I only ever order custom longboards from Mctavish (local)
and I dont really rate there sup's atm,so I am happy to buy off the rack,yes an imported board PSH,Naish.
PT, Not sure where your going from saying south of Tweed Heads.Is it sour grapes for some reason
At the end on the day there is plenty of room for both local and imported boards.
Love you all Mac
Just reading the heading I knew it was going to be interesting to say the least.
this really goes alot deeper than sup or surfing for that matter.
drunk bogan bigots want to bang their chest and shout 'oi oi oi', tough sticker themselves with that ridiculous mantra of 'aussie pride', rag on about boat people, then go buy something from china to 'save a few bucks'.
the comments on here are barely relevant also, the big retailers release the newest greatest with a flashy better than ever twist with seasonal clockwork regularity so paul.j's argument about being left with local dead stock is itself a dead argument.
most if not just about all of us chorusing on with not knowing what you get by going local custom only know what they get when going with a pop out because they live by the marketing spiel that comes along with their flashy 2-pact import. not because they themselves have any idea, infact the opposite is usually the case.
there is no reason these pop out could not be licensed to be made in this country, if this government whom we are supposed to control with our protests and our votes, were actually concerned for the well being of its citizens then imports would be tariffed off the market and local products would be the norm.
manufacturing is constantly being sent overseas and the products sent back here for consuming. cost is always cited as the reason. the real reason is greed.
talk of big business giving back to the community by throwing pennies at competition sponsorship, should be seen for the absolute garbage that it actually is.... advertising and marketing.
we prefer to pay for the privledge of being advertised to...? are you people insane...?
so your local get together now has flashy banners, a barkingly annoying p.a system spruiking kudos to shiny sponsor and other superfluous crap, big woop... none of that really matters, costs are always covered by entrance fees, and the community spirit that makes these things happen is always there sponsors dollars or not. (more often are way better anyway)
we are selling out or futures, your grandkids will be the poor third world servants catering to the whims of the big spending tourists from india and china, thailand and indo, and if we don't make an effort to make a change now, we deserve everything we're surely gonna get
