DESIGN, EFFICACE & DURABLE
MATERIAL
From the fisherman's float to the surfer's grip: 5,000 years of cork
When we launched OAX, we were looking for an alternative to wax. We ended up choosing a material that has accompanied people of the water for millennia.
A material as old as fishing
As early as 3000 BC, cork was already used for fishing lines in China, Egypt, Babylon and Persia. In Italy, remains from the 4th century BC show floats, barrel stoppers, women's shoes and roofing elements made of cork. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus already marveled at the tree's ability to regrow its bark once removed. The word itself comes from the Spanish alcorque, the cork sole: a fishing line float was already called "cork" in the mid-15th century.
From the stopper to industry
The Romans were already sealing their wine jars with cork and pitch. The stopper was rediscovered in the early 17th century and, by the middle of the century, had become the main way of closing bottles. Large-scale industrial use only took shape at the end of the 18th century.
A tree that is stripped without being cut down
Cork is the bark of the cork oak. You have to wait about 25 years on average for the first stripping, and the tree can live up to 200 years. After that, it is harvested about every 9 years. The tree is not cut: the bark grows back. Portugal has more than 730,000 hectares of cork oak forests and supplies 53% of the world's cork. That's where ours comes from.
Why cork underfoot?
In our 2022 specifications, we set simple requirements: a soft touch, close to EVA, that withstands friction barefoot or in booties, and moisture. Cork ticks those boxes.
How we use it at OAX
- The material: a 2 mm sheet of agglomerated cork from Portugal, cork granules bound under pressure to form a flexible, tough surface. An OAX grip therefore combines two materials: cork and a 3M adhesive.
- The patterns: cut into FLAKE (fan-shaped scales), DIAMOND (diamond) and HEXASTAR (hexagon), so that grip is designed like a drawing.
- The specifications: seawater from 0 to 28 °C, sessions of 2 to 3 hours, friction barefoot or in booties, and even a board bag forgotten at 50 °C in a car in the sun. We designed it to last more than 100 hours at sea.
- Manufacturing: in France, with an installation template so it's simple to stick on.
Looking after the material
Cork is a living material: rinse it with fresh water and let it air dry.
Surf Better. Leave the Wax.