This month’s giveaway is provided by Famous Surf!

All you need to do is email us at info@aquasurfshop.com a picture of yourself picking up trash from Ocean Beach. In our opinion this is something you should always be doing, during surf checks and on your way back from a session. We will select the winner, and the winner will receive a prize package from Famous Surf, which includes traction pad and a leash! Now get to it!

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With the new website, we plan to highlight the brands we are proud to carry. Quality gear is important because with the effort that it takes to surf OB, we need gear that works for us - not against us.

This month I'd like to introduce you to Sam of Famous Surf, a San Diego-based surf supply company.

AQUA: Sam, please briefly introduce yourself - and explain how you worked your way into creating Famous Surf.
 
SAM: Famous Surf is a Southern California based surf accessories company created by two lifelong friends/surfers (Sam Sciortino and Jamie Dillberg) with the idea of creating authentic, premium quality products with unmatched quality, style and timeless design.
 
When we decided to build a company we had both been involved in the Surf industry in one form or another for a handful of years and saw the need for a brand in the accessories space that was not based on gimmicks or a funny name.  Since we didn’t have a lot of money behind us we decided our first product would be surf wax. Not just any surf wax but the goal was to put out the best performance based surf wax the industry had ever seen and then develop a premium line up of products from there.  After a few years of testing with some of the best surfers in the world we put out what we believed to be the best Surf Wax in the industry and called it Famous Surf Wax.  The wax was received really, really well right out of the gates and soon after about 90% of our account base wanted more products from us. With that amount of support and where we were at as a brand we felt the next logical step was to create a unique, high quality line of traction pads.
 
At the time when we started designing and creating our traction pads, majority of the stuff that was on the market had very basic minimal design and everyone was just copying each other. The way we saw it at the time, no brands were really pushing the limits of good design with color pairing or patterns so that is what we set out to do.  For our first traction model we teamed up with Timmy Curran and created a timeless checker board pattern that was the first of its kind in the industry - and turned out to be a true game changer. This model is still currently in our lineup and still one of our best sellers to date.
 
From there we created a handful of other unique traction models that helped push the brand even further into the market but our next important step came when we created the first recycled traction pad and petrol chemical free, organic surf wax backed by a major cause that was Project Blue. Project Blue was a partnership of a select few of the biggest forward thinking brands in the industry put together to donate a portion of the proceeds from specific Project Blue branded products to the Surfrider Foundation to help in their efforts to protect and preserve our world's oceans, waves and beaches.  Since then we have continued to push forward and aggressively build Famous Surf into a full service accessories brand to meet the demand from our extremely supportive our retailers and customers including Surf Wax, Traction pads, Board bags, Board socks, Leashes, and a light apparel line.
 
AQUA: The Big Question - what separates you from all the other brands that manufacture wax, traction, and leashes?
 
SAM: What sets us apart from other surf accessories brands is that we truly value premium quality, good design and great customer service above all else. To be just another accessories brand is not enough and for us, it all comes down to not only putting out the best quality surf products we can but creating products that we can be proud of.   It’s not about cost cutting and just trying to stretch our margins like a lot of brands, we are constantly focused on the goal of making our products better and our customers happy.  Today, Famous Surf is still one of the few remaining independent surf companies left in the industry. At times this can make things pretty difficult for us financially, but we believe this is another reason a lot of our retailers and customers have continued to support us all these years.

 
AQUA: Please summarize your warranty policy, as we respect how you stand behind your products.
 
SAM: Famous Surf stands behind all our products 100%.  All Famous products, unless otherwise stated are guaranteed for a period of 1-year from the purchase date against faulty defects in materials and workmanship. This guarantee does not cover neglect, abuse or natural wear and tear. To make a warranty claim simply return the product and sales receipt to the place of purchase.

AQUA: Thanks, Sam. Keep bringing the quality and we’ll keep stocking it.