I think maybe surfboards made with traditional materials get a bad rap. The normal line you hear is the 'polyurethane foam and polyester surfboards don't hold up,' and 'they dent and ding easy.'

I decided to refresh the wax on my newest longboard.  I made it last year late October into the first week in November. Then it sat, and finally got it in the water the first or second week in December. So the boards new foam and lamination had a 3 or 4 week cure time.

You know what happens when you take the wax off your board? You get a chance to see what condition the deck is in after 6 months of surfing. This board of mine has a US Blanks blue label core and the deck is laminated with a single layer of 7.5 oz. over a single layer of 6 oz.

After the wax had been cleared and the deck is cleaned should I be surprised to see the board still looks new? At first I didn't think there was even a dent in it. After a good long look I began to see a few dents. One up toward the nose and a few... maybe 5 very small dents in the tail area, no doubt from the ball of my back foot when I'd load up a turn. No shatter in the stomp area and really the dents were so small I could barely feel them. As well, to see them you'd have to get the perfect site and light angle. The board is never left in the sun and I do my best putting it in and taking it out of my van.  Sure if the board is hit it will ding. So do most surfboards regardless of what they're made of. Yeah, once I did loose it into the rocks and got a half dozen shatters along one rail ( that I fixed right away ) but no damaged foam dings from the rocks.

No secrets here, just take good care of your board. Keep it out of the sun as much as possible... except when you're surfing of course. When you get a new board make sure it's got good foam and a good lamination and, let the thing cure for 2 to 4 weeks.

D.R.

These 2 new ones will hold up well when taken care of.