FCD surfboards have been using Patagonia Technology for almost 10 years to create the finest epoxy boards on the market. A careful combination of superior materials allows us to make stronger boards that perform better. All materials and hardware components used in the construction of our boards are of the highest quality available. Some examples:

Foam: Our extruded polystyrene foam blanks have a greater sheer strength (resistance to breaking) and use less toxic materials than polyurethane foam (the standard foam used in surfboards). They have consistent density, and thus strength, throughout the entire blank. Polyurethane blanks are blown into a mold creating foam with greater density at the skin, and weaker, less dense foam in the core. The high compression strength of extruded foam creates a stronger core to resist the buckling force of the outer shell under a load. Our foam blanks are also lighter than a polyurethane blank, which allows us to put more layers of fiberglass in the outer shell to further increase the strength of the board. When dinged they also absorb 73% less water than a polyurethane blank.

Resin: Epoxy resin is available in a wide range of formulations based on the end use. We use an epoxy resin specially formulated to balance tensile strength, flexibility, hardness, impact strength and lesser toxicity. It is 15% stronger than polyester resin, and 300% tougher (strength in resin resists breakage, toughness resists dings).

Fiberglass: Both the type and weight of fiberglass cloth used affects the strength of a surfboard. Warp glass has heavier fibers woven in one direction of the cloth. When oriented along the length of the board, it adds stiffness and strength without going to a heavier, balanced-weave cloth. Two layers of 4-oz. warp is the minimum amount of fiberglass you’ll find on any one side of our surfboards.

Stringers: In our search for better stringer materials, we experimented with all kinds of woods from apple plywood to okoume and bamboo. We looked into metal (too stiff and potentially dangerous), exotic foams (too weak) and PVC (too toxic). We currently use hemlock and spruce because of their high strength to weight ratio.

Fins: We use Red X Fin System®, Lokbox™ and Future Fins™ based on our strength and performance research.

Red X Fin System is a trademark of Larry Block Enterprises.
Lokbox is a trademark of Kasey Curtis, Andrew Bleecher and James Robertson