So back to the title SBWH boards.
What's your verdict.
And what is it based on?
Actual hands on?
Actual ride time?
Actually owning one?
Or just purist resentments?
For me the specific board I chose rocks.
But others in the stable might suck?
So if you are commenting state the board, the size, your experiences etc.
Saw a carbon wrap railed SBWH short board yesterday. A grom had some 5'8" pulled in nose, flat rockered board with forgiving rails. Look solid as. Didn't ask a price as I figured it was a prezzy. Better than branded boards in the cool shops. But where and by whom were those made anyway?
I ride a SBWH board for around Perth and I personally like it
i have customs as wel, (Ross from souldboard store makes a good board as does shrednaught boards)
they serve a purpose cheap board I can leave in the Ute and not care about sun damage or damage when surfing point packed in summer
not everyone has thousands of spare dollars to spend on boards so I will take a brand new board for $400 any day (it is lasted me two years now so I would say it was worth it)
.... I dropped into the shop in ossy park a few weeks back to grab some wax and had a look at the boards. To pick them up they are all quite heavy.
The shapes themselves and build quality/refinement seemed fine,... but personally I couldn't get past the weight of the boards. I just didn't get the sense that they would be lively under foot. I would suggest picking one of these things up before making a decision or any assessment. Just my 2 cents.
The 5'10 Tajen I had wasn't heavy, but the board just did not perform well compared to other small wave boards I have or have had.
Oh the smell of resin, here is my friend Victor the best laminator in Bali making handcrafted surfboards in the temple of enthusiasm Canggu.
Mctavish are the best ya can get in my opinion. Flawless finish. Love the look of the 70s style blue bird model.
now it's all shaping by machine. do any shapers apart from small backyarders fully shape and glass by hand anymore? my last 3 boards were customs, but were machine shaped and finished by a shaper with 40 years experience. that was 5 years ago.
i can make a board myself so my next one will probably be hand made. wont be high quality but good enough. i'm over 60 so it's not so important to me.
but it's true some soul is being lost. remember when you had a board hand shaped by a hot surfer? back in the day most of the top guys shaped and surfed. then there is always the most important; how does it feel under your arm?
just sayin
Dude re read my comments. Not bagging quality boards or shapers, in fact I am hoping for and wishing them more success off the ground swell of new surfers who will eventually want a custom. Not a branded pop out, and be honest, even MT have a range of their own Aussie pop outs.
You want to bash off shore made and defend Aussie made, good. But make sure you read the labels, head out the back and look at the packing boxes all the merch came in and where it was made. Go look at the drums of resin and rolls of cloth and trace back to the actual supply source. Check out the slick marketing to the hipster crowds with wording like upcycled, repurposed, and sustainably sourced. Then trace back to the actual source and certify what is claimed. FYI it's called greenwashing.
You want to spruke the virtues of Aussie made then get your facts right. The only value add in the supply chain is that it was shaped in an Aussie or Bali sweat shop instead of an offshore one.
As for soul shapers making customs, my hats off to them for their tenacity and survival.
And if most long term surfers have soul and do not agree with selling out the industry... Sorry mate but that horse has bolted.
Send your out soul outback again and you will see the labels with made in China on them everywhere.
They have to use these elements or supply chains to remain competitive and derive a profit.
Seriously are you that naive?
I love your passion, I love that you defend Aussie made, I love that but take off the rose coloured glasses brother and see it for what it is. Slick value added marketing with a hipster, environmentally greenwashed flavour, all driven by the need for a return on investment.
My hats off to the custom shapers who etch out an existence amongst all of the slick marketing and branding. Those guys get my respect and eventually when I can afford one of their customs my business. It certainly won't be going to an over priced, branded product that is supposedly worth three times as much using the same materials. All because it was shaped in Oz?
I would seriously love to get my hands on a MT 6'10" Sumo and compare the ride to what I spent a third of the money on. But I can not justify the $1500 dollars vs. $450 spend for something that might give me a 5% performance benefit. So I will soul surf the crap piece of sweatshop rubbish I could afford untill I can afford to pay a real shaper to make a real board for me out of environmentally certified and sourced materials.
To me and a thousand others who do not have the luxury of loose coin to afford the "Aussie" made customs that you can, all for a perceived performance advantage. For us poorer cousins suppliers like SBWH, ECS and others are our solution.
Long winded rant over, might start a thread challenging the soul surfing purists to certify the origins of not just the shaper input but the materials used. Let's cut to the chase and see how much of their product is truely Aussie made?
And let's be clear here about facts. I have never slagged out shapers who apply their skills and can use them to etch out an existence. In fact I have clearly stated that I hope they benefit from the groundswell of new surfers that lower priced entry into the sport generates.
Nothing against MT or any other brand, I'm just not that gullible idiot that bows down to the so called shaper gods that are simply slick marketing of brand recognition.