Lir Child

Cardboard, Styrofoam noodles and duct tape, a surfer’s tried and true way to protect their favorite surf board for traveling. Sweating while wrapping the board is just the beginning and thankfully, there’s a better way for this arduous task.

I met a young San Diego man with Surf Travel Solutions demonstrating his newly created surf board protection item. So simple, why use duct tape and cut up foam when this device can be the ultimate board protector. Knowing surf tourism is big business; I had the owner explain his invention. Pt. Loma resident Jared Koett designed sustainable surfboard packaging as a quick and easy way to safely transport a surfboard. The reusable pieces are adjustable for different board sizes, made with polyethylene foam and ABS plastic which snap into place within minutes. Once slipped into the board bag, they stay in place throughout the long plane rides and multiple baggage handlers making sure the board arrives undamaged.

Bast Board Protection

Koett said when he worked at a surf camp, he continuously saw surfers unwrap their boards with the traditional jerry-rigged method of packing only to find their boards with dents and the noses and tails broken. He commented that airlines may not have the same appreciation for a personal board as the owner does. And who knows how much luggage had been stacked on a board, let alone how many times the board was thrown like a javelin. People spend lots of money on iPad and iPhone protectors; why not spend $80 to protect your personal board investment. I showed some old surfer dudes this new innovative way of traveling with a surfboard and they unanimously responded, what, no torn foam or duct tape? Some think it’s about time something like this has come down the pipeline. Koett is working on a new version using less expensive molded pulp, a material much like an egg carton that can be returned to the soil after it wears out. It has possibilities beyond surf boards. Surf traveling may never be the same, especially for baby boomers taking to the waves with an easier and more protected way for boards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FAY_MhVwLM

For more information contactSurftravelsolutions@gmail.com

JOHN COLLINS

A YOUNG Limerick entrepreneur has created what he hopes will become the “Irish Swiss Army knife” of the world’s 17 million surfboarders.

Nick Ryan’s SurfBuckle is a belt buckle that doubles up as a multi-purpose tool to allow

surfers tighten or remove fins from their boards. It has a sharp edge for removing old wax and a “wax comb” to improve grip.

It also acts as a bottle opener for the all-important post-surf beer.

Mr Ryan’s fledgling surf-wear company LirChild is using the Fundit.ie website to raise €30,000 to start producing the SurfBuckle.

Fundit.ie allows supporters to pledge money towards a project, in exchange for a reward such as a copy of the product created, but they only have to pay if the total amount being sought is achieved.

Mr Ryan, who studied marketing and entrepreneurship at University of Limerick, got the idea for the SurfBuckle when a friend was stuck at an airport without the necessary hex tool to remove the fins from his board.

“I began thinking you might forget a hex tool but you never forget your belt,” said Mr Ryan.

LirChild has developed prototypes in plastic and aluminium, but ultimately it will be built using “bio-plastic” from a French supplier and hardened P20 steel for the hex key. “I want to get this built in Ireland by a medical device manufacturer,” said Mr Ryan. “The quality is really important as the product can’t be a gimmick

Limerick Leader: 18/08/2011

Great day today here at LirChild, got a nice write up by the local paper about our fundit.ie project only 53 days left and there is a lot more of blogging and emailing that needs to be done.

For more info about the surf buckle please visit the following link:

http://www.fundit.ie/project/the-lirchild-surf-buckle