Abian Skateboards - Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - Sustainable Surf - Sustainable Surf

• HEADQUARTERS & STORAGE LOCATION: Getaria, Spain

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HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY

We are a company based in the Basque country that creates 100% sustainable and exclusive surfskates, longboards, balance boards and cruisers for surf training.

Abian is a project that was born in early 2017 to fulfill the dream of two people in love with surfing and nature. We design and create unique pieces that are unlike any other board in the surf, skate and balance industry.

Our respect for nature and environmental awareness makes us to create organic products. The materials that we use are high quality and carefully selected  to not harm the planet. We try to use the minimum resources and surpluses possible. Using recycled materials for packaging and documentation.

We love to develop new ideas and new challenges and this makes us to grow more every day. Closeness is one of our fundamental values, therefore, we seek the satisfaction and happiness of our clients.

The reliability of our boards is largely due to our extensive experience working with wood. It all started in 2006 when we created our first Paulownia surfboards.

After several years of work and development, we can say that we create original and reliable products.

MANUFACTURING

We design surfskates, cruisers, longboards, minilongs and balance boards.

We design all the boards in our Getaria workshop and they are all handmade. We try to buy as much as possible here in the Basque Country and Spain, obviously there are components that we are forced to buy from China, much to our regret. However, we have been working hard this last year to avoid this and soon we will be manufacturing our own Surfskate axle.

We select the birch wood sheets that we are going to use to create the boards, designing the visible part of the table with different woods or materials, cutting them to size and carefully joining them to form a sheet that we will later add to the previously selected birch ones.

When all the sheets are ready and we know the model we want to make, we glue them with a roller and put it in the press for hours, afterwards letting it air dry for 24 hours. After a while, using a template, we draw it, cut, mill, and sand to a finish that is pleasant to the touch protecting the table with a waterproof varnish and adding natural sandpaper to prevent it from slipping on it, repeatedly at intervals of 8 hours we will repeat the operation but this time with a three-component varnish that will reinforce and thicken the table until the desired termination.

Our products are produced manually making each one of them unique pieces, all of them made with acrylic products and certified materials.

In our manufacturing process there are no synthetic materials, as I said before, only acrylics, both the glue and the varnish. We avoid using plastic packaging and we always try to use recyclable containers. The wood we use in the whole process comes from sustainable forests and is certified as such. The sandpaper is natural, we do it with sand and varnish, it is resistant and durable as much or more than synthetic. We do not use vinyl, the logo is made by burning a fine wood, the personalisations are made with the pyro-engraver, we seal the products with sustainable dyes and the labels are made of craft paper, we take care of every last detail and finally we pack with recycled cardboard, protecting it with 1mm wooden sheets if the product requires it.

EMISSIONS

Our manufacturing process does not emit gases or pollutants as it is a manual and artisan process. But if it is true that we can do a lot to avoid the emission of gases in Abian, by simply avoiding buying the components used to assemble skateboards in China, avoiding plastics and packaging, avoiding air and sea transport, this will be the grain of sand that Abian will soon be contributing, as well as generating local wealth.

We will manufacture our own axle in Azpeitia to avoid buying it in China, we will start with the axles and our aim is to manufacture absolutely everything Abian needs here, avoiding pollution, generating wealth and being autonomous is our objective.

I try to plan and group the purchases I make abroad to avoid urgent transport. For local purchases, I avoid external transport, we do it ourselves, taking advantage of trips and synergies. We ship by road hauliers.

ENERGY & WASTE

Our process is manual, we need no water in the process, and very little electricity. The waste generated, as little as possible, is sorted according to the rules of the local institutions. We recycle the leftover wood to protect the products inside the box, which is also made of recycled cardboard, and also to make our work tables and supports as we need them.

FAIR LABOR

Our values are all reflected in our product. Manufactured by hand, with our hands, without using any synthetic material, hardly generating surpluses and with the minimum consumption, generating local wealth, with a personalised attention to the end customer and working hard to be autonomous in its entirety.

CARING & REPAIRING

Our boards do not need a different care than the rest of the boards on the market. We simply recommend cleaning them with a damp brush and drying them properly.

And we do not recommend using them in rain or on wet floors due to damage to the bearings.

For Paulownia surfboard clients it is recommended to hydrate them with linseed oil several times a year and not leave them in the sun.

Check here Abian shipping & returns info.

Materials

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  Bamboo
• 
  Basalt Fiber
• 
  Bio Resin
• 
  Wood
• 
  Cork
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  Craft Paper
• 
  Water-based Glue

Labels & Certifications

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