Airline travel with surfboards

[corran]

I just read the article on here about how to pack a surfboard for airline travel.

There is one other alternative I thought I'd mention.

http://2imagine.net/blogger2008/splitboard.html

Corran

[O_Danny_Boy]

no fu thanks, can imagine them handling with the grace of a purple plastic co/ck

[scsurf]

I love the Irish.

[tree4]

First time poster =

[corran]

no fu thanks, can imagine them handling with the grace of a purple plastic co/ck

The split boards? Actually, you'd be surprised.

You can barely tell the difference. You have to be one hell of a good rider to feel any difference in the flex pattern, and even then its not necessarily bad, just slightly different. I had two identical boards, and put brown packing tape over the shaft shadows on the deck, holes and seam of the split board, and then the same on the exact same board without the take apart option, so it looked like a split board, and told people that they were identical, and only one person noticed any difference at all, and he wasn't bothered by it, was just barely able to notice that they were different (his first question was whether the shafts were slightly flexier in one than the other, and I pointed out that in fact it was a normal board without anything at all).

But for 99% of surfers, it's an answer to a major problem.

[drowningbitbybit]

You can barely tell the difference. You have to be one hell of a good rider to feel any difference in the flex pattern

What are you talking about you lying, spamming muppet?????

Im a merely average surfer and I can tell the difference in flex patterns between, for instance, epoxy and fibrglass, heavily glassed and lightly glassed, thick and thin, so Im pretty damn sure I'd notice the flex difference between a real board and one with a couple of damn big sticks running through it and a great big slice through the middle.

Please close the door on your way out.

[corran]

Fore sure one can tell the difference between these things. often that difference is what one expects vs what one actually feels (the placebo effect) and more often, its real.

But... if one were, for example, to examine the exact flex pattern of a board, and then make the shafts so they have the exact same pattern so when loaded into the board the flex difference was so nominal that its barely noticeable, then... well, that would be different then wouldn't it.

That being said, its not for everyone. For example, if you like paying $150 per board, per way when you go on vacation, and it doesn't bother you when airlines break those boards, then obviously this idea is not for you. But if you one of...say, the other 90% of the world who is bothered by that, then maybe...just maybe...this idea is for you.

And as a surfer (intermediate surfer granted) said to me... even if it was a totally different flex pattern, it beats paying $300 to go on vacation with your board. I disagree... the flex should be as close as possible to a "normal" board, but when you consider that many surfers who go on trips are simply weighing up the lesser of the evils - excess baggage cost vs broken boards vs the chance of strange flex patterns - its a viable idea.

Someone once told me... I always want more options than less. That way I can choose not to take one of them, but if that option is never open to me, then my choices are limited. Having the choice between taking and paying for a normal board, or a split board gives you the OPTION to CHOOSE. You, quite plainly (without ever having tested it) are convinced that you'd never go for it. But you had the option of that choice. Had the board not existed, then you wouldn't have been able to make an educated decision.

Einstein once said "If an idea at first doesn't sound absurd, then it has no chance of success".

Happy Surfing

Corran

[drowningbitbybit]

Einstein once said "If an idea at first doesn't sound absurd, then it has no chance of success".

Einstein was quoting Wile E. Coyote.

[pkbum]

spam is good with egg and orange juice.

[corran]

Einstein was quoting Wile E. Coyote.

lol... yes I believe he was.

Corran

[FormosanSurfer]

I've just started buying used boards when I travel somewhere. I'll buy a board when I get there and try to sell it (or in some cases leave it with friends) when I leave. I can't justify 300$ to take a board somewhere. Sometimes the board isn't even worth 300$!

[billie_morini]

While not a surfboard, I have some interesting stories to tell about international air travel with guitars. I can only imagine how much more trouble it would be with surfboards.

[corran]

I've just started buying used boards when I travel somewhere. I'll buy a board when I get there and try to sell it (or in some cases leave it with friends) when I leave. I can't justify 300$ to take a board somewhere. Sometimes the board isn't even worth 300$!

Yeah, thats what I used to do. Not a problem in places like Puerto Escondido where there is a constant flux of surfers, and local shapers on hand, but I got burned a few times - once I couldn't sell my board before leaving and I ended up having to bring it back and spent a fortune (they broke it - go figure) and once got to a more out of the way destination and the only board I could find was either a 7' funboard or a 5'5" little grom thruster - neither of which was ideal. Totally ruined my trip cos finally I was somewhere with no lineup, but there was also no boards.

but it can be a good solution, as you say. Thats the thing - there is no perfect answer for all situations, and what we have done is come up with a viable solution as just one of the options a surfer has when going on a trip.

[FormosanSurfer]

I've just started buying used boards when I travel somewhere. I'll buy a board when I get there and try to sell it (or in some cases leave it with friends) when I leave. I can't justify 300$ to take a board somewhere. Sometimes the board isn't even worth 300$!

Yeah, thats what I used to do. Not a problem in places like Puerto Escondido where there is a constant flux of surfers, and local shapers on hand, but I got burned a few times - once I couldn't sell my board before leaving and I ended up having to bring it back and spent a fortune (they broke it - go figure) and once got to a more out of the way destination and the only board I could find was either a 7' funboard or a 5'5" little grom thruster - neither of which was ideal. Totally ruined my trip cos finally I was somewhere with no lineup, but there was also no boards.

but it can be a good solution, as you say. Thats the thing - there is no perfect answer for all situations, and what we have done is come up with a viable solution as just one of the options a surfer has when going on a trip.

Yeah, thats true. I really only do this when I know the place I am headed to will have somewhere to buy boards (i.e. Bali or Costa Rica). I brought a board with me last time I went to Nicaragua and I'm really glad I did because there was nowhere to buy one. I ended up just leaving it there though because it really just wasn't worth it to fly it home:(

[kamikaze272727]

yeah, this is what our community thinks of detach boards.

http://www.surfing-waves.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13111

It's somewhere between a pop-out and a piece of driftwood... No wait... driftwood is natural and floats well. Oh dear...

[corran]

Yeah, that board was... um... dumb? First of all, being hollow carbon it'll have the flex pattern of a door. Secondly, can you possible have any more pieces and complex parts?

its absurd. Keep it simple stupid. KISS!!!

The CONCEPT is good. The way it was done was not.

Anyway, as I've said before, if you don;t mind spending $200+ per board per way for airlines to break them, keep doing it the way you have, but most innovations on this world (from removable fins - if you had seen the debate in the 1980's about how "stupid FCS fins were" because they were removable and interchangeable) you'd know that your reaction is the same reaction everyone has every time to almost every new innovation. Some people love innovation and working solutions to real problems. Others simply prefer to keep thier heads buried as long as possible screaming "no no no, stupid... na an na i'm not listening...nyanyanyana".

There are both kinds of people. Its the former that are tired of paying good money to ship boards, than almost always arrive broken, and see a really effective solution to the problem that we're targeting. The other group... well you keep those glass on fins, PU fiberglass 1950's technology boards, and those airline fees going!

Corran
Corran

[maxine814]

Thanks so much for the link. I would have never knows. We have family in Florida and I know my grandsons would want the surf boards to go with us. I was trying to figure out if we would have to buy cases for them. You know like the case a guitar is in. Even though I know that would not be big enough for a board.

Thanks again for the link and information.

I just read the article on here about how to pack a surfboard for airline travel.

There is one other alternative I thought I'd mention.

http://2imagine.net/blogger2008/splitboard.html

Corran

[corran]

I thought you'd find this of interest: The split board just won ISPO's prestigious Best Overall New Product for 2009.

http://www.2imagine.net/blogger2008/ispo.html

Corran

[warchild]

love the idea! gr8 idea! just duno if i'd trust it, plus it'd be a bit trick geting it apart again if you were on your 1's... i could see my self popping up and doing the splits, tearing my wet suit and giving everyone a eyefull! hahaha!

[corran]

So far never had one break. More chance of breaking a conventional board and doing the splits lol.

Corran