KEEPER x Thomas Surfboards

· RECOMMENDED FINS · 

· FCS - FCS II Thomas Bexon PG - 10.75'" - Volan

· FCS - FCS II Thomas Bexon PG - 10.75'' - Bloom

· FCS - FCS II FLOW PG LONGBOARD FIN

· TOO GOOD FOR SCHOLL FOR A LEASH? ·

If you are a badass longboard rider and a leash it's much of a drag for you, you don't need this info. However, if you are not top notch when it comes to surfing these beasties, here you go some guidance about which one you should get to enjoy and be safe for you and others, in the line-up.

· FCS - FREEDOM HELIX 9'' CALF - NATURAL/BLACK

· FCS - 10'' ALL ROUND ESSENTIAL

Flat as Hell, Sharp Rails & Backwarded Widepoint

This is a classic board but very special, nonetheless. Since it is very flat and technical because of that, it will gain lots of speed because of contact with the water. The backwarded widepoint will help with movability.

A bit of a kick and a concave on the nose will make noseriding easier.

Clips from HANDCRAFTED: Thomas Bexon, short film by Mick Soiza.

The Perfect Imperfection For Magic

There was a 12 year-old Australian young boy who liked to spend school holidays and weekend trips with his uncle. They both would go together to the Gold Coast for surfing and spend time together. They were able to spend even more time together when the boy moved to Sunshine Coast when he was about 13/14 years old. That was when he started really stepping all the time and, surely, surfing kicked right away. He felt passionate about surfing, yes, but his heart and curiosity was strongly drawn by surfboard handcrafting. After some years as a surfer he felt the need to explore if he was capable of making the surfboards he used to watch in surfing movies and such. And indeed, try he did.

He conquered his mom’s garage and would try to do what he saw on surfing videos hoping that the resulted board would actually work …, and it did!

This curious and passionate kid is Thomas Bexon.

| Thomas 'Doc' Bexon, The Rad Shaper

The first 20 surfboards that he made were done in his mother’s garage. Can you imagine a 14 year-old boy shaping his own boards in his mom’s garage trying to make what he saw about boards on TV work? Well, he got a lot of experience like that and he considers himself lucky to have started at such a young age building and learning the basics of surfboards.

The mid 60's have been a big influence on Thomas Bexon in terms of surfboard making because a crazy progression in surfing history was happening then: Hayden, McTavish and Keyo, you name it. 

In the last decades Thomas is confident and happy about how his longboards perform when it comes to logging, stall-turns trim and good old-fashioned nose riding. The key element for him is the shape of the board, particularly the rolled bottoms, and not the size what makes them stand out. He also is shaping twinnies, mini-simmons, performance quads, hulls and eggs.

| Thomas Surfboards, a Great Team Combo for Finely-Crafted Surfboards

The dream for crafting handmade surfboards for a diverse range of surfers began in a shed and a credit card Bexon had with six grand limit on it. They did it all using that card; paying it off bit by bit and using it, kind of in a loop. It ended up working.

Once Bexon and Bowrey teamed-up, the started working in a very symbiotic way that puts style and inspiring new designs into the hand-shaped surfboard world.

Thomas goes next door to Jake’s room after each board is shaped. A couple of heads bouncing ideas between each other as oppose to just being alone with one’s thoughts, definitely makes a big difference. 

The art side of things is something that really inspires this team. The abstractness and effects that can be done with colors is wild and Jake is amazing at what he does with the resin. While keeping it interesting for them, they have been able to come up with unique results rather than just the run-of-the-mill sort of thing.

By living and staying out of the norm this combo really tries to keep themselves inspired while continuing perfecting their skills to create particular surfboards.

“Hopefully, I will never get sick of shaping and I really love doing it and I will do it until I’m old and I cannot do it anymore” –Bexon.

 

Friends and team riders have been the ones giving input to Thomas over the years and have been a great help to keep polishing the designs types demanded by surfers. Years of testing and shaping has giving him not only the experience but also the wisdom to give us some advice:

· Buying a surfboard that suits your surfing now is a mistake. Look ahead instead, not where you are at the present.

· The only secret to surf progression that has helped Thomas Bexon is the love of surfing and the eagerness to surf whenever the opportunity was there.

·  Using good materials and not cutting corners in the building process are the basics of what makes a good board.

Get to know better Thomas Bexon's story in our blog >>

'True Artisans Series: Thomas Bexon' short film's pic x La Marzocco