Surfing School - Equipment - Board Bags

This subject is open to a great deal of interpretation. We always keeps our boards in individual board bags when not being used. While commercial bags are available, at a price, most surfers make their own using canvas or heavy nylon based cloth, plastic foam sheeting, and rope draw strings. About 1/4 inch thick plastic foam sheeting works best.

A board bag is simple to make. Lay the cloth you want to use over your board and cut four bag shaped pieces about one foot wider and 26 inches longer than your board. This will allow room for the fin. Make the bag longer if you might use it with a longer board someday. Also, cut two pieces of the plastic foam sheeting the same size as the other material. Surfers often choose to use a decorative outer material and a plain colored inner material. Whatever is used, the inner material must be strong enough to not tear when subjected to repeated rubbing by sharp edges.

Using about a 1/2 inch overlap, arrange the material and sheeting inside out and stitch around the bag on a heavy duty sewing machine or by hand using heavy twine or nylon thread. Don't stitch the opening of the bag or the last 5 inches near the opening. When finished, turn the bag inside out, lap the end over on itself, and stitch the closing overlap all the way around the end. Thread a flexible cotton rope through this overlap using a piece of cloths hanger as a guide and then tie knots in each end of the draw rope so they don't pull back through.

Some added touches that look neat include embroidering your name on the outer material and using hot yellow or red draw ropes. Silk screening a design is also used sometimes.

Otherwise, just go out and spend some cash on a commercial bag if you have some to spend.