Jungle Fever!

It’s always good to see developments in the custom mat world and for me this mat symbolizes one of those moments.

Ian Jermyn is the man behind Organic Devolution. A talented artist and mat surfer, Ian has devoted himself to the art of dying Surfmat skins, having contributed to some colourful creations over at Warpmats.

I dye plenty of mat skins but there is a significant difference on that front between me and Ian. I can use dye to create some pleasing, simple, designs. But Ian is a hugely talented artist who can create complex and awe inspiring pieces that you could happily hang on a wall in their own right.

So I was over the moon when Ian made the decision to broaden his business and went free-lance, meaning that anyone (including my customers) can get his artwork on their mats! To kick off it was obvious that we needed to build a mat for Ian. And given Ian’s talent as a mat surfer, it was a pretty short discussion around which mat to build him.

On to Ian’s mat then… G-Mat 190 had to be named. It has been a tradition since number 1 that my custom mats are named. I won’t even ship them until they have one! After some consideration, Ian  has named this mat Dengue.

Dengue is a G-Mat RB-JMC 70/70 with negative rocker. A super-free-breather and with a light ¾ grip in clear Sikaflex EBT with front corners gripped. After some discussion, Ian opted for a Hestered valve.

 The navy fabric has a very open weave so feels super light and pliable, and the acid dying process makes the material more supple so along with the light grip, very free venting and neg rocker, Dengue should go like the clappers!

Dengue is en route to Ian on the West Coast of Ireland to get in to some of those long, quiet points and reefs. Very much looking forward to the feedback on this one.

Back to Ian, as I said he is a real talent and produces all sorts of wonders, many of which are for sale, so take a look at his website:

https://organicdevolution.com/

Cheers

G

Bruce - Every Mat has it's Backstory

This is a mat built for Mike Janich of SoCal named Bruce. Bruce is a 200/70 free rockered Rubber Bucky. Mike is something of a Connoisseur of surfmats having a range of differnet models and brands.

When we wore talking about this mat he explained that his main rides are a G-Mat 5 Star General and a Neumatic Contrail. Civen this mix we figured that something to atend more to the bottom-end might be in order. Mike is a lover of that surfmat glide and he felt that a Rubber Bucky would hit the spot.

The extra venting and lighter weave than the black deck of Mike’s 5SG will make this a notably different, and faster ride.

So why Bruce? Well I’ll hand over to Kike for that one.

“As the story goes.... the year was 1963. November I think. Sitting in my 4th grade classroom one late morning, our teacher told us her son was coming in after lunch to show part of a movie he was making.

So after lunch her son walks in carrying a HUGE film projector, taking his time setting things up. Then it’s showtime. What I saw on the movie screen that afternoon changed my life forever for the best. My teacher’s name was Mrs. Brown, her son’s name was Bruce, and the movie was The Endless Summer, months before anyone else saw it as it was shown limitedly in 1964 before its official release in June, 1966.

In honor of Bruce Brown.... I hererby christen thee... “BRUCE”!”

— Mike Janich

Great story! I’m looking forward to hearing back from Mike on this.

Cheers

G

God on Gas

This is a Andrew Smith's new mat. A super-free-breather negative rocker RB-JMC. That's right... Another one.

Andrew has been a mat rider for a long time having scored a couple of Neumatics from Dale around 12 years ago. Andrew cares for his mats and they will last a really long time with love but everything is finite and Andrew has been trying to score a G-Mat for a while.

Andrew is primarily a mat rider and was keen to get a sensitive ride. So a 70/70 highly vented mat is perfect for him. The conversation over which model was a brief one... "I want the model that Buck and Jamie are raving about".

Roger that.

(Just a quick note on models. This is the base design. I take careful measurements from riders to tailor their mat).

We talked about what Andrew wanted to call his mat. Andrew is a football fan (soccer for the philistines) and supports Tottenham Hotspur. His favourite all time player, Glenn Hoddle, was known to the fans as God on Grass so the name presented itself... GOD ON GAS.

G.O.G. is heading to San Diego and should be there soon. It'll be good to hear how Andrew gets on.

Cheers

G

PS as a Liverpool fan I should have charged Andrew more for this! 

Andrew riding his Newmatic at the first Cottons Matmeet in SoCal. Photo by Dirk Brandts

Cool Runnin's

This is a G-Mat Ute named Cool Runnin’s built for Simon Caddick. Simon lives in West Cornwall and is an experienced surfer who has riden a wide range of craft from standing to knees to prone.

Simon was looking for an all round mat to deal with a range of conditions. He also wanted a more predictable feel so we went for a 200/70 Ute. The venting is restricted meaning that the air moves through the mat more slowly than a free-breather or super-free-breather.

Simon was after low key colours so went for black top and bottom with black grip, but also with a large logo in green, yellow and red.

In addition, Simon wanted a bungee fitting to allow a leash. He surfs heavy reefs with little room for error so was conserned about losing his mat to the reef. Therefore it makes sense to have the option there. Simon and Cool Runnin's have been getting to know each other of late.

Simon went for a mat bag too.

Let's hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Have fun Simon. Be good to hook up for some waves when life is a bit more normal.

Cheers

G

Little Wing

It's been a little while since I've built an Ubercat but when Claude Ricord got in touch that was exactly what he was after. What's more, Claude was after a 70/70 free-breather. Vroom vroom!

This is "Little Wing". Claude was unfortunately bereaved recently losing his wife to stomach cancer. Of course, Claude is grieving but he is bringing a real positivity to his life, mat surfing with his son in the breaks around their home in Southern California. 

Claude says that his and his wife shared a favourite colour scheme of green and white so this was Claude's choice for Little Wing. The deck has been acid dyed in 2 tone green with clear grip which is set off with a clear logo with a mix of holo and green glitter. Claude has gone for the option to have a leash just for those big rippy days.

It's been a real honour to build this mat for Claude. Ride on mate. 

Cheers

G

WHAT THE BUCK?!

Terrible pun I know but please enjoy…. Sr Buck riding his RB-JMC name Caligula at his local.

G

HI there Gigi!

You know that old adage “right place right time”? Well Mariah Ernst seems to be the sensei of that!

Mariah had a mat off me last year named Jamu Jamu when she was living in Indo. Jamu Jamu is the mat that I had to perform plastic surgery on to get back on the water:

https://customsurfmats.com/blog/2019/12/21/ding-monkey

Anyway, I rotate the time that I send out emails for orders and what do you know, Mariah has moved to Hawaii and managed to get in quickest again! This time around, Mariah wanted something to cover all conditions having already having a Nouveau Racer. Mariah decided to go for a RB-JMC.

We discussed the 70/70, neg rocker, super free-breather option but Mariah opted to play it safe and go for a 200/70 free-breather. Don’t get me wrong though… This is still a very fast mat!

Mariah has named her mat Gigi after the man himself (GG). Gigi is built with yellow 200d deck, 70d bottom skin, has clear grip and a sexy black and purple large rail wrap logo. As planned, she will really open up the bottom end for Mariah. I’m also pretty confident that the top end will be pretty high too!

It’s good to be building mats right now. My surfing has stopped due to our lock down in the UK so focusing on building rides for others is a pretty rewarding second.

Have fun Mariah!

Cheers

G