Fiberglass vs. Epoxy Surfboards

"BRIAN FIELDS: Hey how's it going, I'm Brian Fields here at the Aussie Island in Wilmington North Carolina. We're here on behalf of Expert Village. I'm here to talk to you about picking out a surfboard and what you can do to help take care of it in the meantime. Alright now we're going to talk about the difference between fiberglass boards versus epoxy boards. Fiberglass is more of your traditional foam, they're actually hand shaped. Obviously before the glass is put on a shaper will either start from a total blank piece of foam, hand shaped into the way he wants it or put it through a machine, have them start that and then somebody else will come through and finish it behind. A lot of more traditionalists want to stay with the foam because it still holds the art value. Somebody's hands were put on this board shaping it exactly how somebody else wanted it from every nook and cranny to the height, length, thickness things like that. You can custom order any fiberglass board exactly to the dimensions of you desire so that's one good thing about a fiberglass board. Epoxy boards, this is a little newer technology. Epoxy boards, they're spit out by a machine; it's a different material inside, different type of glass. One thing you gain with epoxy is they're more durable. You can actually bend them. If you're traveling putting them on the plane they're going to be a little safer as well. Also they'll handle dings a little better, a little lighter as well. That's one thing many people like isas the lightness and the floatability of an epoxy. It does feel different though however than a--your standard fiberglass board."