Caring for Your Dark Arts SurfBoard

 Traditionally, the life expectancy of a high-performance surfboard is a slender six to twelve months. We are pleased to boast much higher expectations for a Dark Arts board. Carbon is the most durable material used for creating surfboards while maximizing performance, lasting pop, and float. 

Dark Arts Factory Manager, Tony Curto states:  "To claim our boards are indestructible or warrant an abandoning of conventional care and maintenance would be amiss. Our boards are the most durable product on the market by far, but looking after your board is an important part of ensuring its longevity." 

Sun and Heat

The sun is no surfboard’s friend. The consequences of extended exposure to a hot environment begin with wax melting from one’s board. This is true for any board, no matter the color or material. Wax melts. While replacing wax should be the least of one’s worries, allowing a board to bake in the sun can cause permanent damage to the eps foam center. An abnormal amount of heat causes the foam to expand and bubble. A simple preventative solution is storing the board in a UV reflective day-bag, preferably in the shade, when not catching waves. 

"There isn't a surfboard out there made to take on heat and fair well. Our boards are no different. Keep it in a day-bag, in the shade, and you'll have no problem. Though our dark-colored boards have shown no deterioration due to heat and sun when stored correctly, for those buyers who are concerned about the heat, we do offer all our products with white pigment hot coats to make the decks lighter."  Tony Curto. 

Ding Repair

A Dark Arts board doesn't ding as easily as PU and Epoxy models. But even carbon will carry the scars of a brutal wipeout on reef or worse. In this case, ding repair is essential. Bad dings lead to openings, which leads to water moving in and out. Every surfboard should remain watertight at all times to avoid compromised performance. The good news concerning a Dark Arts board and dings is twofold:

• Carbon doesn't ding as easily. It's tougher. Small bumps do little harm, noticed mostly on the surface layer of the coating as scratches

• If a ding is substantial enough to create an opening for water, a simple fix using epoxy, resin, and if need be, fiberglass will work just like it would when fixing a standard epoxy build. 

"We use EPS foam in our boards. This foam is light, two-pounds per square foot. It works perfectly with our carbon vacuuming technique. It's one of the reasons our boards perform so well. Like any other board, though, it's important to keep it watertight. Any ding that has an opening needs fixing. These repairs are just as simple as a normal ding repair on an epoxy board. Out of all the hundreds of boards we've sold, I've had to do major work on only two of them due to neglected care." Tony Curto

Like most objects in our lives that keep our affection, our surfboards deserve to be taken care of and well preserved. Keep it out of direct sunlight, avoid the rocks, and give it a patch or two if needed. 

And for the dismal six-twelve month stat, well there's only one cure for that. We're happy to be the outlier here, pleased to hand you a board that will last a lifetime.