Hemp is at the hart of a renaissance of sustainable design. Whether it’s in the fashion industry or the military, engineers look to this plant for its incredible strength and unique properties. Solid is pioneering its use in surfboard design as a natural alternative to fiberglass cloth reinforcements. Many natural materials are weaker than synthetics or less durable. But hemp is incredibly strong, biodegradable, and its production removes carbon from the atmosphere.
Hemp is Extremely Strong
Hemp has the strongest and longest plant fibers in the world. It’s also naturally resistant to abrasion and rot, which is why it’s a material of choice for the U.S. Military. The Military employs it for parachutes, uniforms, bags, and ship rigging. So it’s an incredibly durable material to reinforce a surfboard. Our riders tell us that it is much harder for them to break a hemp board than a fiberglass board. It also makes surfboard decks more resilient to pressure dents.
Biodegradable
Since hemp is a natural plant fiber, it can biodegrade when separated from other materials. Most surfboards are made of entirely synthetic materials. Synthetic materials create more toxic byproducts and are hard to reuse easily so they often wind up in a landfill. Since we aim to help preserve our planet for generations to come, we are proud to use materials that won’t sit in a landfill forever.
Cultivation is Carbon Neutral
All plants remove carbon from the atmosphere, but hemp is extremely efficient and powerful. Scientists have even nicknamed the plant “nature’s purifier” because of how powerful it is at removing carbon. One small plant can remove four times as much carbon as a full grown tree. It is one of the only crops that is carbon negative. One hectare of hemp can offset a year’s worth of carbon emissions for two cars.
