Pro Surfing and Contests
Santa Monica Surf Case review
After having boards broken and/or dinged on every surf trip I took over a 15+ year period, I finally decided I needed to change the way I traveled. I searched all around the internet for a sensible solution and came up with only two options: 1) continue to use a soft bag, with my boards cocooned in cardboard and bubble wrap, or 2) acquire a Santa Monica Surf Case. All the years I suffered through option number one made me realize that the only thing that would save my boards on future trips was option number two. The only problem was, the founder, creator and sole proprietor of the Santa Monica Surf Case company suffered an untimely and unexpected death a short while before my revelation. This was horrible news for his family and friends, and awful news for the surfing community and the thousands of boards his brilliant creations have saved from airline destruction. This also led to the shutdown of the company, with a website and phone numbers that have remained in limbo for some time now, somewhere between life and death. I was fortunate enough to find a fellow on an outdated Craigslist.com post, who was looking to unload his custom made 6′3″ quad board case, just before a trip I was taking to Puerto Rico last winter. My initial impression? A bit clunky and difficult to travel with by car, but rock solid. The case got 1000 stares in the airports as people were wondering what the hell I was transporting, but try as they may, the gorillas handling the case were unable to ding or break the two boards I packed for the trip. My recent trip to Iceland featured an encore performance by the greatest case on earth, taking three boards unharmed to the icy north, and two boards back, in perfect condition. The only negative about the case is the difficulty of lugging it around from location to location. As for protecting boards, the Santa Monica Surf Case is unrivaled. Check your local Craigslist, and get one second-hand while they’re still available.
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I have three Surfcases in varying lengths and found that there is no substitute for protecting your boards. Recently I travelled without the protection of a Surfcase and packed a couple of boards into a FCS triple wheelie coffin, only to have one of the boards tail crushed by one of the baggage handlers. Lesson learned again! A board bag just won’t cut it no matter how well I pack it! Surfcases are getting relatively hard to find in sizes common for travelling. Rest in peace Doug! You are always in my thoughts and hope you are finding tasty waves where you are. Aloha~
i actually ordered payed for and never received a santa monica surfcase and im sorry for what happened but unclear why ripping me off was a byproduct of that sad situation. so i never had the pleasure of using the surfcase although i did experience what it feels like to pay for one
anyway i also wanted to suggest using pipe insulation to protect your board on flights. there’s some company that makes pre-cut tubes for surfboards but once in LA i bought a board and stopped by a plumbing supply store on the night before i left and had no problems with the board on the flight. you can basically split the pipe insulation down the middle and wrap it around the rails and then tape split tubes like ribs on the top and bottom. I used to do this and then use a 7 foot bag inside an 8 ft bag but over time having no problems with the pipe insulation i now use one board bag and a bunch of pieces wrapped around the board(s).
Yes, The company has been out of business for about 4 years now. But if anyone is in the Orange County area there is a guy on Craigslist(Sporting: Santa Monica Surf Cases For Rent) renting them out. He has a variety of sizes and may even deliever them to your house. Get one that holds four boards, split the rental cost with a buddy and your set.