Firewire Surfboards at Hawaiian South Shore

Although Firewire is now a household name in the surfboard world, many people on our side of the Pacific don’t realize that it actually has a deep and rich history that dates back to the 1990s. Firewire was actually originally the surfboard brand Nev, which was headed up by Neville Hyman, a respected and prolific shaper in Western Australia.

Hyman expanded Nev and created Firewire in 2006, using machine shaping technology and epoxy sandwich construction to create some of the most high-tech surfboards on the market. Since that time, virtually every respected board company has gone on to adopt some sort of variation on Firewire’s futuristic construction processes. In the meantime, Firewire has expanded globally, acquiring a number of other brands (including Carve Sport’s Thunderbolt longboard line, with names such as Harley Ingleby, Kai Sallas, CJ Nelson, Ben “Skindog” Skinner, and Taylor Jensen) and adding a number of the world’s best surfboards designers and shapers to their stable.

Kelly Slater invested in the company a few years back and integrated his Slater Designs boards into the Firewire family, bringing shapers such as Dan Mann, Akila Aipa, and Daniel “Tomo” Thomson to the team. And Rob Machado has recently come on as a surfboard designer/shaper, adding his cruisey aesthetic to the quiver.

Firewire continues to be a pioneer in space-age construction and materials that make surfboards strong, durable, high-performance, and environmentally friendlier. Utilizing three proprietary construction processes (LFT, Helium, and Timbertek), as well as Thunderbolt technology for its longboard line, the company offers an incredibly wide and diverse selection of shapes and builds for the modern, discerning surfer.