Firewire Taps into Primal Energy with Its New Volcanic Tech

Firewire has been at the forefront of surfboard construction essentially since the company started, leading the race to use the strongest, lightest, most durable and ecofriendly materials in surfboard design. Now the company has taken things to the next level, moving beyond carbon fiber to something called basalt fiber.

Basalt fibers are extruded from volcanic rock at extremely high temperatures and woven into a cloth, similar to fiberglass and carbon fiber. The difference is that basalt fiber is superior to fiberglass in terms of strength and weight (similar to carbon fiber), and it is superior to carbon fiber in terms of flex memory, temperature tolerance, and eco footprint.

Basalt fiber has been used extensively in the aerospace industry due to the fact that its heat tolerance makes it a good option for rocket and jet engines. It hasn’t been used much in the surf industry, but Firewire aims to change that and is currently releasing two boards in its Volcanic Tech, which is the company’s name for its basalt fiber-based board construction. The El Tomo (from Daniel Thomson) and the Seaside (from Rob Machado) are both being built with these ultra-high-tech materials and are poised to revolutionize the surf industry. The fact that both of these boards are ultra-fast rocket ships (the Seaside is a fish-style quad and the El Tomo is a hybrid/fish-style twin-fin) only serves to make them even more exciting.

Coming from an island that was created by a volcano, it seems natural to ride boards created by the same forces. We are excited to start testing the Volcanic Tech on Hawaii’s reefs!