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It's not a quality of surfboard issue, it's a quality of life issue. I love my local shaper. As long as Surftech, Firewire, and GSI are in business, it is my duty as a core participant in my sport and a free human on the face of this Earth to provide info about those companies. The reader or listener can do with it what they want, I don't care. You won't hear me calling someone a kook for owning one. But if they don't know know about our manufacturing industry how can they make an informed choice?

Just be warned that day may come when talking to a shaper is a distant memory. And your next board order will be placed with an outsourced customer service department in India and continued to be made in Thailand unless Mark Price finds a cheaper place to make them.

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I don't agree at all, As long as there is a market for a local shaped board or a PU board or a hand shaped board they will all be around, although i do think the price is to cheap and people will need to pay more.

I do kind of fear sometimes that the knowledge of shaping a board purely from hand to finish could be lost to some degree in time,as even local shapers where i live that were once totally against anything but 100% hand shaped boards, say they need to use machine shaped boards to compete (they don't have a shaping machine, but pay AUD $30 each board somewhere else) but that's a machine versus hand shaped argument.

I also think its only a matter of time (perhaps its already being done) when a big well respected surfboard maker will shift to asia as like someone said whats the difference between a machine shaped board made in the west and one made in asia, and you would expect technology is only getting better in regards to shaping machines, surfboard making is a business for the big surfboard makers and cost in asia are like 10% or less of what they are in the west (that % is just from my experience of workers rates and electricity cost in Indonesia)

I also dont think epoxy will totally replace PU boards either, as everyone has grown up with them and a lot of guys don't like change or as get older will be nostalgic for a hand shaped pu board.

Talking about PU boards is kind of relevent because the whole construction process is something almost anyone can do, while many epoxy constructed boards involve more labour and complex construction techniques.

In regard to PU boards personally I think a bigger threat is some goverment bodys making it harder to produce (or so expensive with all health safety, disposal etc cost) as the whole board building process is so bad for one's health and goverments seem to love to stick there noses in.

BTW. Can someone answer just one question please.

How does FW threaten local board makers when there boards are more expensive to buy???

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