Absolutely. Every single one of our boards, poly and EPS, are handbuilt from the ground up. We have some of the best craftsmen in the world working with our brand and we take great pride in our building process.

Our long-time Japanese friend Yu Sumitomo and his team of builders from Thunderbolt Technologies Japan are the geniuses behind our production boards. They are 100% the only people in the world building boards of this quality with these performance characteristics.

Not that much. A traditional surfboard known as a "poly" board is a board made with a polyurethane foam blank and glassed using polyester resin. An "EPS" surfboard is made out of an expanded polystyrene foam blank and glassed with epoxy resin. Either form of the blank can be used to build a board using nearly the same traditional shaping and lamination processes.

Carbon Fiber

• Japanese manufactured carbon fiber. The best quality in the world
• Flex characteristics….slow flex and fast rebound. Super responsive and snappy due to quick rebound rate. Ultra performance.
• Our lightest material with the best strength to weight ratio.

Carbon Fiber/ INEGRA

• This is a 50/50 blend of top quality Japanese carbon fiber and INEGRA, a bright white ballistic fiber.
• Flex characteristics….great blend of that traditional feel that we all love and the dynamic rebound carbon fiber has. Amazing flow and rhythm.
• A beautiful blend of both new and old.

Xeon Fiberglass

• Blend of traditional fiberglass and opaque pigment to give that classic look.
• Flex characteristics... Most amount of flex out of all of our lamination process. Immediate addiction warning.
• Traditional look with space-age feel.

Texalium (Silver)

• Magnetized fiberglass infused with aluminum. Gives its dynamic sliver appearance. This is our heaviest lamination material. Mega strong with beautiful aesthetic
• Flex characteristics….Feels like a more alive volan cloth or traditional longboard. Heavier weight with performance values. Rides like a dream.
• Space age look with a traditional feel.

Traditional Poly

• Made the old fashion way with traditional fiberglass, polyurethane blank and resin.
• We can shape, glass and color you up any custom or model you’d like.
• Inquire through our contact page and we will get back to you in a timely fashion.
• 6-8 weeks build time.

The primary performance differences are in the flexural characteristics of each material. Fiberglass is “stretchier” than carbon fiber, so boards laminated with fiberglass are easier to flex and have a rebound rate that is smooth and consistent. Carbon fibers take more energy to flex but once flexed, the rebound rate is very fast, making the boards accelerate out of turns with added projection.

Lighter surfers will often prefer the fiberglass exterior lamination as they can create more flex and let the internal flex control components of the Thunderbolt blanks come into full play. Heavier surfers who have more ability to flex the carbon fiber boards can get even more power from the carbon fiber rebound.

Surfers at all size can surf the fiberglass laminations and experience the Thunderbolt projection. Generally, save the carbon fiber boards for larger (175+ pounds) or for chasing barrels.

We have recommended fins for all of our models on each of our surfboard product pages.

No more than any poly board. Dark colors melt wax no matter what the building process is. We highly recommend keeping any and all surfboards in the shade or a bag to get the most life out of them.

It is a bad idea to leave any surfboard in a closed car, where temperatures on hot days can get well above 150 degrees.  This is even more important with Epoxy/EPS boards as EPS can actually start melting at 165 degrees or so. Our Thunderbolt Technologies boards use fused-cell EPS cores in our blanks, so we recommend keeping them in quality, vented board covers, and never lock them up in a hot vehicle.  These are Ferraris….put a cover on them and park them in the garage when not racing.

Our highest priority in building Thunderbolt boards is performance.  Fortunately, however, the basic design of our double sandwich construction yields boards that are also very durable.  Our Thunderbolt blanks all have interior fiberglass and/or carbon fiber laminations and are encapsulated by thin shells of high-density PVC foam before the external fiberglass or carbon fiber lamination processes.  This creates several layers of protection to the board, including deck and pressure dings... much more protection than traditional direct lamination constructions.

Life happens and if you need to repair a ding, use the same repair process as with any Epoxy board.  Epoxy resin only(!) is the key thing to remember. We recommend using a professional to repair boards to keep them as close to their original condition as possible.