Fatum surfboards
FATUM GOES ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS AND INTRODUCES THE FATUM ECOGOLD RANGE
Fatum Surfboards is all about making beautiful, functional surfboards the right way with the best ingredients and components while maintaining the utmost integrity. We don't follow fashion or look at what others are doing, we simply focus on ourselves and our mission. There's a reason I mention this, and that's because we've finally found a way to become even more environmentally friendly with the newly named "Fatum EcoGold Range".
Why did it take so long and what is different about our eco surfboards?
You may remember reading or seeing countless solutions for more sustainable surfboards, from Firewire's "wool core" series to all the variants that have EPS as their core. And there are several of them. We don't want to waste time listing these, just say that we never really believed the hype. The real problem so far has been that using EPS changes the board. EPS is a material that we don't think should be anywhere near a good surfboard. The next problem was that our imported South African blanks are made from polyurethane foam and that is the worst part of the surfboard for our beautiful planet.
Then how did we find a solution?
The real problem is that we believe that the heart of every great surfboard is a great blank. The (very polluting) South African surf blanks we currently use are, in our opinion, the best we can get for coaxial and latitudinal dynamic flex, reliability and tensile strength, and they work closely with us to produce blanks, that match our templates.
So we already have a great blank, which contributes a lot to what makes the Fatum surfboards so good. If we wanted to be more environmentally friendly, we HAD to change our blank, but the problem was that the replacement blanks were all worse than a wet bag of kippers. Until now...
At the heart of the answer is a company that makes very, very good surfboard blanks. It's a new company with an eye on the future, it's called Polyola and its blanks are as environmentally friendly as possible.
The world of surfboards is full of deception and misinformation. Let's start with some facts.
1 - Most surfboard blanks are not made in Europe but have to be transported from South Africa, the USA, Australia or Asia. This is very bad for the environment and will only become more complicated given recent events and current fuel prices.
2 - Most good polyurethane blanks are made with a chemical called toluene diisocyanate, or TDI for short. This chemical is by far the most harmful part of making a surfboard.
3 - About 40% of a surfboard blank is milled and sanded and ends up in landfill.
So in summary, the blanks mentioned above are terrible for the environment, are made on the other side of the world and then we throw 40% of them away. But as we've said before, there's nothing that can hold a candle to them when it comes to the functionality of a surfboard.
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Most important to us at Fatum is that polyola blanks come very close to the performance characteristics of our South African friends. We've made over 50 boards using polyola blanks, surfed them ourselves, and given them to sponsored riders and regular Joes for feedback. The response was sensational and universal, everyone, including Gero, our shaper, loves them.
The entire polyola process is 100% made in Europe. This is a huge win for us and the environment. We no longer have to transport cancer-causing items halfway around the world.
Polyola does not use TDI in its blanks, but rather a chemical called methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, or MDI for short. MDI produces approximately 3,000 times fewer volatile compounds than TDI. This is another big win for the planet.
All of the foam produced during molding can be recycled and used to make the next blank.
You can choose your skin plastic yourself. That's right, since it's a polyurethane blank, you can choose between polyester and epoxy resin. You have the choice.
So what are the disadvantages?
- The first is that the blanks naturally have a dull, yellowed color, the color your board might have if it has been exposed to UV radiation for a long time. Some people like this effect, but you should know this.
- The second reason is, yes you guessed it, it's more expensive. As with items that are manufactured in an environmentally conscious manner, this blank is also slightly more expensive. How expensive? At the time of writing, the price of a normal Fatum board would be around 100 euros higher.
And that's it, folks. If you've been waiting for us to do the right thing for the environment, it's taken a while, but good things are usually worth the wait.
Contact Gero and discuss what he thinks about the suitability of Polyola for your next hive. We will have a test series with polyola in our factory outlet in Peniche and some of our stock boards, both online and in our physical store, will be made with polyola.
