Recycling surf gear with Krog Den Surf Shop, Cornwall, UK

With sustainability a key focus for many of us, we popped by to chat with Krog Den Surf Shop in Hayle, Cornwall, UK who have been leading the way in recycling surf gear for over 5 years. Krog Den works hard to keep surf gear out of landfill and instead finds it a new home. Not only is this great for the environment, it’s great for your budget as you can find high quality pre loved surfboards, wetsuits and more, at a fraction of the cost. If you no longer want or need your current surf gear, take it to Krog Den and earn some extra cash while helping to reduce waste.

The Hayle shop was so popular and the demand so high that they now have a second shop in Newquay, Cornwall.

We had a chat to find out more…

 

How did you get started?

It started probably about 10 years ago, I was at a car boot and I bought a wetsuit for a couple of quid, I bought it for my partner at the times son and he didn’t like it. So, I sold it again on ebay - wrote a lovely description, took some nice photos and sold it for £30 something like that. And I thought, I’ve probably got something there. I’ve always been into surfing and have never bought a new wetsuit, never bought a new surfboard. I went to the next car boot sale and bought everything I could and started an online shop, then started supplying some surf shops. I then thought I could probably do this on my own, there must be enough stuff out there that people aren’t using. So got this little shop and then started getting into surfboards and fixing them cause they were always damaged and then it just took off. People go crazy for second hand surf stuff at good prices.

 

 

How have you expanded since?

I started with the Hayle shop about 5 years ago, and it just got to the point where I was getting so much stuff and the demand was still really high, that I had to decide whether I was going to get some storage space or look into getting a second shop. This shop had done really well so I needed somewhere to fix the boards as I was doing that at home and that’s not good for the work life balance and the resin isn’t great to do at home either. Now the Newquay shop is full as well so I don’t really know where I’m going to get more space from, people still have got so much stuff that they’ve outgrown, they don’t use anymore or that’s damaged, and they can’t afford to fix cause it’s not worth it or they don’t use it anymore. There’s a whole area there still to be worked on I think.

 

What are some of the benefits of buying pre loved surf gear?

The cost saving to start with. I think at the moment its more prevalent than ever before that people’s budgets are being squeezed, the cost of living’s rising at a horrendous rate so the money saving is a big one.

There’s the fact that stuffs already there, so nothing new is being manufactured to replace the things that people are buying, so environmentally it’s really good.

We’re keen for people to buy the right stuff though, there’s lots of stuff out there that’s difficult to surf. Some wetsuits that don’t last long if people don’t look after them and again all these things are expensive to repair by a professional, so we can get it, we can fix it and we can make it useable again - so environmentally and the cost saving are the two big features for us.

 

 

Any top tips for someone buying second hand?

Get some advice. Talk to people who have made mistakes before. One of the things we get is people have bought a cheap surfboard from somewhere and it’s really not right for them, it’s generally too small or too difficult to surf but it’s a surfboard so they bought it thinking they’re all the same when they’re really not.

I’m more than happy for people to pop in and have a chat, grab a coffee and we can sit down and if I haven’t got the right sort of thing for them then I won’t sell them something else. I’ll point them in the direction of where they can go, or we’ll contact them if the right thing comes in for them. Quite often people are after a longboard or a mini mal or something like that and when we get them in, if they’re in good condition they go quite quickly. They’re pretty user friendly.

 

Do you have a favourite board in at the moment?

Yeah, I’ve always got a favourite board! And that’s the thing for me, I love the wetsuits because of the design, they’re quite artistic really, the shape and the form and it’s the same for the surfboards.

I personally like the older boards that have got some history and have got a story to tell. They’re generally hand shaped and are quite beautiful so something from the 70’s. Currently, I’ve got a favourite which I’ve promised to a friend and it’s going to be so difficult to let him have it and he’s coming down in two weeks time for that surfboard. He knows he’s very very lucky and its nice for me when things like that go to someone who love them as much as I do.

Sometimes that’s just as important for me as it keeps the shop going with the money coming in but if I can see somebody loves it as much as I do then that makes me really happy. I love that side of it.

 

 

Any final tips?

Practice! People need to practice. The more you practice surfing the better you get. You’ve got to stick with it and that’s the thing I see quite a lot, is people come in but they don’t get the opportunity to go surfing very often. So yeah, just getting in the water, and it’s good for your mental health as well, really good for mental health.

 

Massive thanks to Krog Den for giving us some insight into recycled surfing gear and definitely pop by to check out everything on offer in Hayle or Newquay.

Check out Krog Den on facebook or Instagram