If I鈥檓 backpacking to my surf spot,聽I want聽the lightest, most buoyant board possible. It also needs to be tough,聽because if (really when) I knock a hole in it, I鈥檓 not going to be able to do an elaborate backcountry repair. hopes to check all those boxes with its聽innovative聽new board material.
Varial doesn't use聽your standard polyurethane or epoxy. It uses聽something else entirely鈥攁lthough, and here's the rub, the boardmakers won鈥檛 say what, just that聽it's聽from the aerospace industry. From testing, I've found that聽it鈥檚 strong as hell. According to the company, boards made with this material don鈥檛 need a wooden stringer down the middle, making them 25 percent lighter but still聽20 percent stronger than a normal board. The material聽is聽closed-cell foam, so even if you end up with a sizeable ding, you can keep surfing because it鈥檚 not going to soak through. And it鈥檚 just as easy to shape as regular foam, so there鈥檚 no learning curve.
I used a 5鈥 8鈥 Rusty Dwart made with Varial foam, and found it to be incredibly responsive and light. I now want all my boards to be made of this stuff.
$TBD (Ask your shaper),