Surfboard FAQ
Why does Lib Tech make surfboards?
We love it!
Founders Mike Olson, Pete Saari and head surf Engineer Jeff Henderson are lifetime surfers and shapers who love exploring new waves, new surfboard constructions and shapes. Traditional surfboard construction hasn’t changed much in half a century or more and involves toxic materials and is unhealthy for the planet and crafts people. Mike Olson knew there had to be a better way and set out on an mission to develop a more environmentally friendly process and materials. ‘We didn’t want to enter the surf industry unless we had some improvements to offer”. Our passionate surf crew works everyday to keep pushing the envelope of process and materials and despite our already amazing advances it feels like our most exciting work is still to come!
What is special about Lib Tech surfboards?
Everything!
The boards are shaped by the worlds best shapers, they surf amazingly well, are incredibly strong “dang difficult to ding”, high performance “light and lively” and handcrafted in our own dedicated facility located in SequimWashington State USA.
Are Lib Techs indestructible?
No!
Our boards are very ding resistant but NOT indestructible. The ocean is power full and can break almost anything but we are much more ding resistant than a traditional surfboard We recommend you treat your Lib Tech with the same care you treat your normal surfboards just to be safe. If you do get a ding the closed cell foam won’t absorb water and get heavy.
Where can you buy a Lib Tech surfboard?
Tell your local shop to bring them in!
We sell to quality surf shops around the world. We have a dealer finder on our website that will help you find a dealer near you.
What fins can I use on my Lib Tech surfboard?
FCSII, Futures, Two Tab, Lib RRIPs
We build both FCSII and Futures Compatible boxes into our boards. Some models are offered in both options some are offered in one or the other.
Do Lib Techs surf well?
They rip!
We work with the worlds best shapers and our board weight and feel is better or on par with the best production boards available on the market. Our boards rip. Our industry leading durability makes them amazing daily drivers and travel boards you can count on when you are far from home. The “dang difficult to ding” toughness of our boards allows you to relax your lifestyle and focus on the good times and your surfing.
Are Lib Techs environmentally friendly?
Yes!
Our boards are radically more environmentally friendly than traditional surfboard constructions. The foundational premises of our surfboard program is to make surfboards, stronger, lighter and less toxic to build and for the planet. We have our own board building facility that allows us total control of every variable in the process and all the materials we use.
Our process is very unique and proprietary and incorporates a variation of infusion with minimal resin exposure for our board builders.
Our boards come out of the layup process requiring much less sanding than traditional board finishing minimizing dust exposure for our crew.
We only use water based solvents.
Who shapes Lib Tech Surfboards.
The world's best!
Matt Biolos is arguably the world’s best shaper for both competitive pros on the WSL world tour and everyday surfers like you and me. Based out of San Clemente he is a passionate surfer himself and is deeply entrenched in all things surfing and shaping. He is a 3 time WSL shaper of the year and this year won Sima’s Waterman of the year. He shapes boards for world champions like Caroline Marks, Carissa Moore and Yago Dora as well as lots of top contenders like Griffen and Crosby Colapinto, Cole Houshmand and many of the worlds best freesurfers including Mason Ho, Ian Crane and many more.
Jeff Henderson is our in house board designer balancing cad design with our unique prototyping and production tooling process. Our inhouse shaping and prototype process is as unique and our production process. He is responsible for the Jet Stream, Pool Jet, Whirlpool
Mike Olson has been shaping surfboards, sailboards, wakeboards and foilboards for decades and has worked on long list of shaping and board development projects for Lib Tech and others over the years. He developed our overall process and designs and is always hand building some sort of one of a kind prototype for himself, his wife or friends. He was instrumental in the development/shaping of the 8’ and 9’ Pickup Sticks.
Do you offer a warrantee?
Yes
We warrantee for manufacturing defects.
The ocean is very powerful and we can’t warrantee against breakage in that uncontrolled environment.
If you do think you have a genuine warrantee claim, send your proof of purchase/receipt and an image or images of the board to our warrantee/customer service department along with an explanation of your claim and we will honestly and fairly evaluate and resolve the situation. We are surfers in this business for the long term and care about your experience with our boards and will do our best to handle things as quickly as possible.
Where are they made?
Every Lib Tech surfboard and snowboard is hand made by surfers in the USA near Canada at the world's most environMENTAL board factory!
What is the difference between the 3 Lib Tech constructions?
We have 3 constructions levels each progressively lighter because of foam and glass schedule changes.
EcoImpacto is our original construction that in the same weight range as a traditional off the shelf polyester board.
EcoImpacto2 features our tempered hexzylite and is 6 oz lighter than our original Eco Impacto and is on the lighter side of a traditional off the shelf polyester board range.
EcoImpacto2 Lite features lighter foam and tempered hexylon and reduced resin volume and is on average 1lib lighter than our original EcoImpacto construction making them lighter than most traditional off the shelf polyester boards.
Are they Epoxy or Polyester?
Epoxy variation
We use a new plant based Bio Resin chemistry that has higher elongation, extreme ding resistance, and responsive rebound. Much tougher and less toxic than traditional polyester resins.
How is the float on Lib Tech surfboards?
If you are in the water you are winning
They float and feel great paddling and under foot. There is no significant difference in float between a Lib Tech and a traditional epoxy or a polyester of the same weight and volume.
How is the flex on Lib Tech surfboards
Perfect!
We have tuned the flex to match a new polyester surfboard but maintain that crispy lively feel for many years. Poly’s break down and deteriorate quickly. Lib techs retain their original desired flex for a significantly longer period of time.
How much do these boards weigh?
Our construction uses ultralight foam core (much lighter than traditional polyurethane foam) and features a stronger outer structure (much stronger than traditional polyester resin and glass) the results are added strength and reduced weight.
What is that Hex material?
Cool stuff
The hex material is a proprietary laminate layer that was developed specifically by our composite tech wizard Mike Olson to strengthen our surface laminate layers and manage resin flow and distribution during our infusion wet out process.
How do you repair a Lib Tech?
It’s easy but a little different.
Traditional epoxy ding repair process work well with our boards.
Use Epoxy resin. Do not use polyester resin.
Common repair products available on the market are:
Solarez Epoxy Ding Repair
Ding All Epoxy Repair Kit
Resin Research Epoxy Systems
West System Epoxy
At home repair
Our inhouse crew recommends a “Tight and Tidy” minimal sanding approach to repairs. Tape off area around ding. Lightly sand surface to be bonded. Cut out and replace damaged foam. Wet out glass with traditional epoxy using just enough resin to saturate glass and surface but not too much excess. Place/tape a mylar sheet over ding area to ensure a smooth surface that will require minimal sanding when cured. Place foam or a soft material below a 3-5lb weight above mylar shield in flat areas of board. Tape mylar in place over ding as tightly as possible in curved areas like rails. Sand and polish lightly (as needed) when cured leaving tape on perimeter of ding to minimize area sanded.
Surf shop repair
If the damage is beyond a simple fix and you are going to see a professional ding repair guy or into or surf shop most will be very familiar with epoxy construction and can handle Lib Tech repairs very well. Let them know it’s an epoxy board and they will know what materials to use and not use.
What is special about Lib Tech fin boxes?
Everything!
Our Hammerbox fiber reinforced urethane fin boxes are incredibly durable. We developed and tested them in powerful relentless energy of wave pools like the Lakeside Surf City wave and in the rocky beaches around our home. They are designed to survive most impact and have the fin tabs break before the box breaks.
We offer a two set screw Futures box that allows you to “Performance Lock” a fin in place if you want or you can operate the box like a normal futures. The second screw in our “double grub” design replaces the pin used at the rear of a traditional Futures box.
Our FCSII compatible box fits all normal FCSII fins. Our fins use two set screws to lock fin in position. Our FCSII compatible boxes also fit two tab and our large base mobility focused Lib RRIP’s fins
All our fin boxes feature an “hour glass fit” aka a narrow center of box and fin width that flexes slightly to lock your fins in place and normal width ends. Ends of fin box are designed to match exact fin spec. To set up fins initiate fin placement at one end of fin box and rock towards the center. The fin should fit nicely at the end and then tighen and flex slightly through the middle as you rock fin into place. Tighten as appropriate for Futures or FCSII. Initiate Futures fin placement at tail using the back set screw as your pin and rock towards the nose. Tighten front set screw to lock in fin. Tighten rear screw if you desire extra performance lock in.
Why doesn’t Lib Tech use stock Futures and FCS II fin boxes?
We can’t so we made better boxes.
Our process is so unique we can’t use stock traditional boxes. We had to innovate and developed our own Futures and FCSII compatible boxes that offer higher performance and durability than stock boxes and work perfectly with our system. The introduction of our Hammerbox urethane fin boxes has taken our box durability and toughness to unmatched heights.
What are B grades?
Cosmetic flaws.
We work hard to maintain tight tolerances and overall quality as we craft every board we make but occasionally something goes a little wrong...we handcraft each board and our process is complicated and incorporates a lot of variables and a little bit of magic. B grades are all 100% surf ready and primarily incorporate discolorations, cosmetically shifted materials and other minor flaws that are often hard to find. We have high standards and offer these board at slightly lower pricing.
Can I really go into a surf shop and squeeze the rails on a Lib Tech?
Yes. Olson recommends it.
Will they rot?
100% closed cell foam won’t absorb water... our boards won’t rot like wet polyurethane blanks do.
What makes Lib Techs the world's best travel boards?
“Dang Difficult to Ding”
Our combination of performance and durability. Lib Tech surfboards are significantly more durable than and ding resistant than traditional polyester or epoxy surfboard constructions making them ideal for travel. Our urethane Hammerbox fin boxes are also more durable than traditional fin boxes. Matt Biolos’s dependable / versatile shapes like the Quiver Killer and Super Smooth Operator work in a wide variety of ocean conditions. We recommend you bring at least on Lib on your trip so you have a board you can count on making it through the planes, trains, automobiles and shore break. Relax and Rip it’s a Lib Tech.