Surfing Equipment 101: Types of Surfboard Materials

The revolution of surfboard designs has wildly improved the performance of surfers over the years. For instance, the Banzai Pipeline, which was deemed unsurfable to a great extent before the 1960s, was conquered by many since then due to the evolution of surfboards in accordance with the needs and skills of surfers.

But how was that evolution possible? What was the main ingredient of the surfboards the pioneers of the sport were riding before it was industrialized? Even more importantly, what are the current and most common surfboard materials, and how can they affect your performance?

In this OMBE guide, we’re aiming to answer these questions by giving you a historical overview of surfboard materials and help you find out which ones are more suitable for your skills and needs.

A Brief History of Surfboard Design

A brief search of ancient depictions of surfing will show you numerous Polynesians riding wooden boards on the ocean. 

Nowadays, though, the market is full of all kinds of surfboard materials. Let’s take a brief look at when, how, and why surfboards started to evolve.

The Past

If you’re looking where to start on the history of surfboard materials, The Illustrated Atlas of Surfing History by Joel Smith and Ron Croc, which you can find on our Best Surfing Books list, is a great place.

To make things as brief as possible, it can suffice to say that surfboards were initially made of wood, but not just any sort of wood. As surfing in its modern and pre-modern sense was conceived on Hawaiian shores, that wood tended to be of Hawaii’s local trees, such as acacia koa. 

The boards made of koa were quite heavy. Considering that they were also almost fifteen feet in length, they were not exactly as maneuverable. The wood’s capacity to absorb water and get even heavier isn’t exactly a feat of our dream board in the age we’re living.

However, the well-known fact of the market economy is that there should be demand before there’s supply, and for the supply to meet demand, there should be a material basis for it to happen. In other words, technology should allow producers to meet the demands of their customers.

In that sense, history was only able to catch up with the specific needs of surfers to challenge themselves on better and bigger waves and display their skills only after WWII. This was due to the introduction of fiberglass tech to the surfing world. 

Thanks to the possibility of fiberglass clothing, balsa wood emerged as one of the main materials for surfboards. However, the main step was the materialization of foam, namely polyurethane foam, as a surfboard material in the 1960s.

The Present

Although there were experiments with wood, such as drilling holes on the board to reduce weight, the real revelation was the PU foam which reduced both weight and length, thus enhancing performance.

Therefore, Clark Foam, run by Gordon Clark, a surfboard innovator himself, dominated the industry of PU boards for a while without contest. However, its operations ceased in 2005 because how it conducted business wasn’t exactly in line with the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA).

So, the more eco-friendly option, EPS boards made of expanded polystyrene (or EPS foam), came to the forefront of the industry. That wasn’t all either, as the gates for innovation were now fully opened. Another variation of PS, extruded polystyrene, also started seeing usage in surfboard construction.

Lately, composites such as carbon fiber and kevlar have also been employed in surfboards, and technologies like composite sandwich construction have emerged. However, despite all the big strides, the market is still dominated by epoxy surfboards and polyurethane foam surfboards.

Different Surfboard Materials and What They’re Good For

The number of materials that may go into the making of modern boards is quite a lot: solid wood, balsa wood, processed foam products such as polyurethane, expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, and dense composite sandwich blends that feature a bit of everything. Furthermore, these blanks are covered by a “skin.” That skin is mostly made of fiberglass, but hemp kevlar, Innegra, and bamboo may also be employed as skin materials.

Now that we’ve covered the evolution of surfboard design and the materials used, albeit briefly, we can look at the pros and cons of these materials. Also, we’ll delve into the specifics of surfboards, such as fins, tail and nose shapes, rails, and the different shapes you can find on the market.

Wooden Surfboards

As we mentioned above, wooden surfboards tend to be overweight and overly long. Despite the big strides in the construction of surfboards and specifically wooden boards as well, nothing really changed in terms of the source material. They still absorb more water than their alternatives.

However, there are certain advantages to them as well. For instance, wooden boards can handle momentum quite well, and they fare pretty nicely in choppy surf conditions. Moreover, and maybe more importantly, they’re the most eco-friendly option on the market, even though you need to chop up a tree (or two, that is, if you’re one of those sloppy surfboard shapers).

Especially considering the harm the synthetic production of polyurethane has on the air that we breathe, that’s quite an upside. Also, wood has the potential to last a lifetime, and it’s very durable against dings.

Considering that you cannot use a wooden board in good surf conditions, it would make a pretty good option for a recreational surfboard. However, wooden surfboards cannot get you very far in the world of professional surfing.

Either way, they remained the main choice of many local Hawaiian surfers until the middle of the twentieth century. Back then, surfing only had a recreational and sometimes a ritual purpose.

PU Surfboards

Of course, the surf couldn’t really advance only with wood at the disposal of surfers. They needed materials that had a lighter weight and feel. That material should also allow riding bigger waves so that the surfers could challenge themselves and each other. Once surfing had worldwide recognition thanks to the efforts of Duke Kahanamoku, it wasn’t possible to keep the trend restrained.

Thankfully, Hubert Alter, a surfing pioneer in his own right, came to the rescue of the aspiring and dreaming surfers in the late 1950s and drew up a chemical foam formula through his experiments with balsa wood. 

His formula was much easier to ride than boards made of natural wood. His boards were more buoyant and maneuverable, and surfers could have more fun on them.

Later, Hubert Alter founded a company with the help and under the leadership of Gordon Clark, whom we mentioned above and who was a legendary shaper by that time, and that company, namely Clark Foam, led the industry of surfboard blanks alone.

The idea was simple once polyurethane was manufactured: you had a PU foam core with a fiberglass cloth that was covered with either epoxy or polyester resin. Although applying epoxy resin was a bit costlier than its only alternative, the performance of these boards didn’t change. It’s worth noting that fiberglass and epoxy resin rendered boards more durable against dings.

However, there was one certain and quite decisive problem with PU foam: it wasn’t exactly eco-friendly, and the company met an untimely end.

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Boards

The epoxy surfboard has existed for quite a while, but its merits were well-overshadowed by polyurethane until Clark Foam was hit by the regulations of the EPA. We don’t exactly know when the first EPS board was shaped, but the presence of polystyrene, which is the source material of EPS boards, dates back to the early 19th century.

However, since polyurethane has always been the more affordable option for independent shapers and industrial surfboard producers, epoxy boards were mostly on the fringes until as of late. 

Since Clark Foam suffered repercussions from the EPA, EPS has started to gain more recognition from the surfing world due to both its eco-friendliness and higher performance.

The volatile organic compounds that feature a dangerous level of chemicals released into the air during the production of polyurethane are reduced by a staggering percentage of 75% with the use of expanded polystyrene. Moreover, unlike polyurethane, which remains unrecyclable, expanded polystyrene is recyclable.

Therefore, even though EPS boards are more expensive than PU ones, they surely are more lucrative in the long run, considering the recycling value. Moreover, EPS boards are more lightweight compared to PU boards, making them more feasible for surf tricks such as aerial maneuvers.

However, if you want to make hand-shaped boards, EPS might not be the ideal option since it’s quite difficult to shape with manual tools. More often than not, EPS boards you find on the market will be machine-shaped.

Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Boards

You can’t deny that extruded polystyrene sounds like expanded polystyrene. After all, their chemical basis is the same. Therefore, if you confuse it for EPS, we can forgive you quite easily. However, despite both being a version of polystyrene, they’re quite different in essence.

While expanded polystyrene features open-cell foam, which means that almost 90% of the board is actually air, the cells in XPS are close and extruded. That’s why EPS is lightweight, and that’s why XPS boards are heavier than their siblings though not as heavy as PU ones. Moreover, they’re highly durable and don’t absorb water.

In terms of performance, too, they’re much better than their alternatives, especially when it comes to advanced surfing. In advanced surfing, you want your board to be responsive so that it can truly translate what the wave’s doing, and you can adjust yourself, which is the key to a good ride on head-high to double overhead waves. In that sense, XPS boards are as good as a surfboard can get.

However, the market for XPS boards is still young, and the technology is not as advanced as those of PU or EPS boards. Add to that the many qualities of XPS boards, and you won’t be surprised when you see the high price tags. Will it be worth it? Well, you never know.

Before moving on, one last thing to note is that both EPS and XPS boards are often referred to as epoxy boards. Well, that’s wrong. Epoxy is only a resin that should be applied on EPS and XPS foams (you can’t apply polyester resin on those); it’s not the main material of the surfboard blank.

Carbon Fiber and Kevlar Composite Boards

In 2006, the legendary surfboard brand Haydenshapes, run by innovative shaper Hayden Cox, came up with a new technology called FutureFlex. This technology entailed a carbon fiber frame over the core made of EPS foam. It was quite a revolutionary move as it removed the stringer line from the boards, rendered the boards much more responsive, and smoothened out transitions and turns during a ride for surfers.

Since then, others have experimented with the idea of integrating different composites into their surfboard designs. Not all of them were successful, but the ones who totally removed the foam core were a bit better off. A hollow board with a carbon fiber frame and with no stringer line? That’s like heaven for rail-surfers since you have no choice but to engage the rail, isn’t it?

However, later it was found out that the indisputable blackness of foam-less carbon didn’t really bode well with surfers under the tropical sun: the boards were apt to get hot like a war zone. Moreover, they didn’t really accommodate wax, which is even a worse feature in the summer heat.

Yet, it shows that the surfboard shaping is still open to innovations, and there’s quite the possibility for ground-breaking developments.

Composite Sandwich Construction Boards

2006 was a good year for innovation in surfboard technologies. First came the carbon fiber frame of Haydenshapes, and then the composite sandwich construction of Firewire Surfboards, another brand that has its eyes firmly fixed on the future.

But what is a composite sandwich? Well, simply put, wrapping the surfboard blank with different materials in accordance with the performance you want to get from your board. So, it’s quite a customized way of shaping surfboards, and that’s why it has since been one of the most preferred methods of hand-shapers who use their garage as a studio.

Let’s get back to the Firewire and their cutting-edge shortboard technology. The EPS core of that particular shortboard is wrapped around in fiberglass cloth, and later, an aerospace composite is spread over the fiberglass to make it more durable against dings with the least addition to volume possible. Moreover, the board is framed with a blend of balsa and paulownia wood from its tail to its nose for extra strength and control.

However, the most important attribute of the Firewire shortboards is their parabolic rails. Thanks to the parabolic rail springers that are also reinforced with fiber, you have more control and flexibility during turns and a more responsive ride on the rail.

You might see different materials used in other sorts of composite sandwich boards, but making the rail more parabolic, smooth, and responsive remains the main purpose. And, yes, such surfboards are more suitable for advanced and experienced surfers looking for high-performance boards.

The Materials Used by Each Surfboard Type

You see that we refer to some of the materials above as more suitable for advanced surfers, and that surely translates, as the materials used in the making of a board certainly affect its performance. Therefore, the surfboard materials vary based on surfboard types.

Longboards

Any board that’s longer than 8 feet can be labeled as a longboard, and since the polyurethane revolution in the 1960s, it was the only board surfers had at their disposal. Since there was no other material for a surfboard back then, they were all made out of wood.

However, Hawaiians didn’t just go strolling around and chopping all kinds of trees to make a board. After all, these boards needed to be compatible with the salty water of the ocean to endure the toll and roll of the waves. So, the main options were paulownia, cedar, and acacia koa which we briefly mentioned above.

Since wood weighs heavily and has a tendency to absorb water no matter how carefully picked and shaped, these boards tended to entertain lots of volume to have the required levels of buoyancy or float. 

However, after the 1960s and with the introduction of foam into the surfing world, polyurethane, expanded polystyrene, and even carbon fiber composites were employed in the making of longboards. 

Of course, a majority of beginner longboards, like soft tops, still make use of polyurethane foam as the main material. However, there are also many high-performance longboards nowadays that necessitate more experimentation and innovation in design.

Shortboards

Only with polyurethane foam did shortboards come into existence since, as we said just now, wooden boards needed to be long, and the emergence of shortboards revolutionized surfing as nothing was able to do before. Once the surfers got a taste of innovation and the thrill of being able to ride bigger and bigger waves in better and better ways, there was no stopping the surfing world.

That’s why most of the recent surfboard innovations have been on shortboards including the introduction of the XPS and experiments with different composites. So, it’s also possible to say that any kind of material that allows surfing as a sport to progress might be used in the making of shortboards with the exception of wood.

Wrapping Up…

Knowing your surfboard is quite an important aspect of surfing, whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced surfer, and we think that learning all about surfboard materials is as good a start as any. If you want to know more, we’ve got ample guides on other aspects of surfboards as well:

• Surfboard Shapes
• How to Make Your Own Surfboard
• How to Paint a Surfboard After Glassing
• A Guide to Surfboard Tail Shapes
• What’s the Ideal Surfboard Size?
• A Guide to Best Surfboard Fins
• Waxing a Surfboard

Of course, you can also enroll in our Get the Right Board program and learn all about surfboards and which one is ideal for you with the help of OMBE head coach and accomplished board-shaper, Clayton Nienaber.