Surfboard blanks
Nowadays, There are 2 different materials which are used in the humble surfboards today which is on the market, Polyurethane and expanded polystyrene. However there have been other Eco and sustainable blanks created from plant based materials which have failed to be a profitable core material for a surfboard
Surfboard shapers worldwide have been using Polystyrene foam since 1950’s, as it very strong consisted and easy to shape. It can be made light weight performance to a heavy solid super strong blank. However, is extremely toxic and bad for the environment.
EPS (expanded polystyrene) vs Polyurethane, both of these 2 materials are the most common foams used to build surfboards. Both Materials are made from 2 Raw materials, heated and mixed together and poured into a concrete mould . Eps is a cheaper and faster material to make surfboard blanks but have less strength then it competor PU .EPS foam can be recycled and broken down and remade into asurfboard blank ,the problem with a eco recyled blnks which are class as Green ECO foam that it has gone through 3 stages using petrolum base chemicals and that is 3x more impact to the enviorment
Most manufactures blank of choice is still polyurethane so that is why im using the original formula with a twist.
The surfboard Blank i am using developed by Kane Tankard (ocean foam) is a Polyurethane, however this specific blank is 60% polyurethane and 40% milled sugar cane. This Blank is significantly more eco friendly and better for the environment because it has been made with 2 raw and hasnt been remanufactured and has a structure strengh way strong then any EPS construction today which give surfers a board which has less chance of snapping. Kane has been playing with sugar foam for over 10 years and my Dads surfboards Zaksurfboards has been trialing this foam for years and has less snapped board since he has been using sugar foam. sugar foam has more flex and structure strenght when mixed into the polyurethane foam mix.
