Skip to main content

This Modular Surfboard Will Change the Way Surfers Travel

modular surfboard
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Surfing in an exotic location halfway around the world is awesome. Getting to that exotic location with your board (or boards) is another matter entirely. Thanks to little help from the airlines, it’s often inconvenient, cumbersome, and pricey. Renowned product designer Thomas Meyerhoffer is changing the game with the most travel-friendly surfboard concept we’ve ever seen.

The aptly named 2PRT modular surfboard solves the travel problem first and foremost. With a design that splits just ahead of the fins, it becomes portable enough to pack on a train, bus, or airplane. Airlines, in particular, are notorious for hitting surfers with oversized luggage fees — as much as $150 each way, in some cases. Depending on the exact components of the 2PRT and the specific airline being flown, a traveling surfer could break down his board small enough to skirt any excess fees at all.

2PRT modular surfboard
2PRT Modular Surfboard/Thomas Meyer Hoffer Image used with permission by copyright holder

Since this forward-thinking design is modular, it allows for a mix-and-match approach to combining nose and tail options. It’s infinitely adaptable to a variety of waves and surf styles, from longboard to fish to thruster.

Recommended Videos

Meyerhoffer’s project has been nearly two decades in the making, although he’s not the first to rethink the footprint of a surfboard and make it more portable and adaptable. Walden’s Trifold surfboard was clever but over-complicated, which is why it never quite took off. Both North Shore Travel Boards and Carbon Compact offer innovative segmented boards as well, but reassembly requires clamps, bolts, and tube inserts to maintain their rigidity.

The 2PRT surfboard, on the other hand, makes use of an ingenious key-and-latch system to connect and separate the two parts. The entire affair can be disassembled or reassembled by one person in 30 seconds or less.

Meyerhoffer expects preorders for the 2PRT to become available on his website December 2017. The anticipated $1,600 price tag secures a custom board with one nose and two tails. This clearly isn’t a board for surfers looking to dip their toes (pun intended) into the sport, but rather a niche product for anyone serious about traveling to find the world’s best — and often most difficult to get to — surf spots.

Mike Richard
Mike Richard has traveled the world since 2008. He's kayaked in Antarctica, tracked endangered African wild dogs in South…
Backcountry Puffy Blanket is cozy enough for home, rugged enough for overlanding
It's lighter, warmer, more affordable, more sustainable, and even vegan. What's not to love?
rumpl backcountry puffy camping blanket lifestyle

If you're a camper and you like cozy blankets, chances are you've heard of Rumpl. The Portland, Oregon brand's OG puffy blanket is still our go-to gear grab when we're headed into the woods, to the beach, to a concert — anywhere outdoors, really. So, we were stoked to hear of its latest release: The new and improved Backcountry Puffy Blanket.

The next iteration in Rumpl's wildly popular technical blanket series aims to be better than its predecessor in every way. It starts with a proprietary NanoLoft synthetic insulation that's a vast improvement over traditional down for a number of reasons. Namely, it's more affordable and more sustainable. The latter is thanks to Rumpl's move to using 100% post-consumer recycled content in manufacturing the new Backcountry Puffy. By ditching old-school down, the blanket is also 100% vegan. Nice.

Read more
The all-new Moonlander X is both and neither a truck camper and pickup hardshell
Haul all your favorite gear wherever you're headed, and sleep on a queen-sized mattress when you get there.
Man jumping off the back of a Moonlander X truck camper shell.

Pickup owners love versatility, and that's doubly true of adventure-loving pickup owners. In-bed truck campers are a near-perfect camping solution, but they're often short on gear storage, while hard shells are a near-perfect storage solution but hardly make for the ideal on-the-go living space. The Moonlander X hardshell camper solves both problems with a clever, all-in-one design.
Get the low-down on Radica's Moonlander X pickup truck camper

True to its name, the Moonlander X (MLX for those in the know) features a modern, minimalist aesthetic with a sleek, industrial "NASA-esque" vibe that feels perfectly plucked from the agency's Apollo missions. On the outside, the hard shell is all-business with a boxy silhouette and (optional) large, panoramic windows on the sides and rear. It's everything that made Radica's original Moonlander cool: A deft blend of "in-bed camper" and "pickup hard shell," but the Moonlander X is wider, taller, and more livable in every way.

Read more
Looking for solitude? These are the 3 least visited national parks in America
Adventurers seeking isolation will love these 3 national parks
least visited national parks three bright yellow tents on red autumn tundra with mountains blue sky  amp survey equipment

If you're sick and tired of those crowds at your favorite national park, you're not alone. Many parks have seen a huge increase in visitors in just the last year alone, leading to the implementation of reservation systems that can sometimes be more complicated than helpful. In this article, we will explore some of the least-visited national parks according to 2023 statistics.
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Gates of the Arctic is the northernmost U.S. national park, and its remoteness makes it one of the least-visited with only 11,045 visits in 2023. Located entirely above the Arctic Circle, this 8.5 million-acre park has tons of wilderness with hardly any roads, trails, nor established campsites. Key sights include the rugged Brooks Range, wild rivers, and all of the wildlife, such as caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, and wolverines.
Activities around the park

Read more