Surfboards come in roughly three shapes: shortboards (“Pro surfers use them like skateboards, for doing tricks, getting air,” Rolandson says), longboards, for cruising, and gun boards, for taking on massive waves. The Octovo x Tilley boards have a shape that’s somewhere in the middle, so surfers can take them along different coastlines, in varying water conditions. Photos by Ammunition
Surfboards come in roughly three shapes: shortboards (“Pro surfers use them like skateboards, for doing tricks, getting air,” Rolandson says), longboards, for cruising, and gun boards, for taking on massive waves. The Octovo x Tilley boards have a shape that’s somewhere in the middle, so surfers can take them along different coastlines, in varying water conditions.
Photos by Ammunition
Jason Tilley, the Oregon-based collaborator, actually specializes in custom sailboats, but he'd been working on a technique for building custom wooden boards. Photos by Ammunition
Jason Tilley, the Oregon-based collaborator, actually specializes in custom sailboats, but he'd been working on a technique for building custom wooden boards.
Photos by Ammunition
For its line of non-tech products, Ammunition, the design studio behind Beats by Dre and other products, teamed with an Oregon surfboard maker. Photos by Ammunition
For its line of non-tech products, Ammunition, the design studio behind Beats by Dre and other products, teamed with an Oregon surfboard maker.
Photos by Ammunition
“We talked about, what would a traveling surfer need?” he says. “We looked about some shapes about boards that could be utilized in several conditions.” Photos by Ammunition
“We talked about, what would a traveling surfer need?” he says. “We looked about some shapes about boards that could be utilized in several conditions.”
Photos by Ammunition
Most boards have a foam core and fiberglass exterior; the combination is simultaneously lightweight and sturdy. Instead of fiberglass, Tilley’s boards have an exoskeleton of locally milled cedar, that’s layered on the foam core in sheets and then vacuum molded to fit. The result is more sumptuous, and according to Rolandson, stronger. Photos by Ammunition
Most boards have a foam core and fiberglass exterior; the combination is simultaneously lightweight and sturdy. Instead of fiberglass, Tilley’s boards have an exoskeleton of locally milled cedar, that’s layered on the foam core in sheets and then vacuum molded to fit. The result is more sumptuous, and according to Rolandson, stronger.
Photos by Ammunition
The design team at San Francisco-based Ammunition does work for companies with a heavy tech slant: Beats by Dre, Adobe, and Polaroid are all clients. As an antidote to all that hyper-connectivity, last year Ammunition launched Octovo: a spin-off line of travel goods meant to create an experience that, as Ammunition partner Matt Rolandson puts it, “is the complete opposite on the spectrum of checking Twitter.”
The thinking behind Octovo is simple: Our phones and tablets take us on virtual vacations every day, through screens. While actually traveling, however, we should be looking up, taking in our physical surroundings. We already have technology to help us stay wired; therefore, we should have other products that let us focus on our senses. The first Octovo goods were leather wallets and accessories. Now, they’ve partnered with Oregon-based Tilley Surfboards for a line of travel-friendly boards.
Rolandson met Jason Tilley years ago. Tilley, who lives in the coastal Oregon town of Port Orford, is trained in building custom wooden sailboats. His work dovetails philosophically with the Octovo brand. “Wooden sailboats are totally custom in this really intimate way, and they’re all about interacting with travel and the environment,” Rolandson says. Tilley is also a lifelong surfer, and had been working on a technique for building custom wooden surfboards. Most boards have a foam core and fiberglass exterior; the combination is simultaneously lightweight and sturdy. Instead of fiberglass, Tilley’s boards have an exoskeleton of locally milled cedar, that’s layered on the foam core in sheets and then vacuum molded to fit. The result is more sumptuous, and according to Rolandson, stronger.
“We talked about, what would a traveling surfer need?” he says. “We looked about some shapes about boards that could be utilized in several conditions.” Surfboards come in roughly three shapes: shortboards (“Pro surfers use them like skateboards, for doing tricks, getting air,” Rolandson says), longboards, for cruising, and gun boards, for taking on massive waves. The Octovo x Tilley boards have a shape that’s somewhere in the middle, so surfers can take them along different coastlines, in varying water conditions. The Ammunition team also created five bags for each Octovo x Tilley board out of material that’s UV-proof and water resistant.
“The idea of how to directly, viscerally, connect with the world, rather than connect through technology—that’s really heady stuff,” Rolandson says. “But when I look at what Jason is doing, it becomes really clear in how he lives his life outside in the wilderness, and how he’s totally devoted to experiencing wilderness through surfboards.”
The Octovo x Tilley starts at $3,000 a board, and can be found here.
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