Tom’s Background with Durable Boards : When I was in 7th grade, 1976, I bought my first early 60’s longboard for $11.00. It was a mint condition Wardy that was my favourite board for years. The boards of the 1960’s were made to last. In 1986 I became a team rider for Donald Takayama. He made me beautiful boards but I had to give them back after 6 months because they were still in OK condition and could be sold as used. I never gave them back it time and the deck would delaminate with a big air bubble under the back foot and the board’s value plummeted. Donald would give me a lecture. In my formative years that was the way it was. With California’s Clark foam a board was designed to last 6 months of surfing and then fall apart. Those days never really made it to Australia. The blank manufacturers like Burfords, South Coast and Bennetts never strayed into the stupid consumptionism of the USA. But even in Australia making a proper, super durable board makes the board last a lot longer with less maintenance.
