Nick “Mez” Mesritz lance le Kinetic Core™
Après de nombreuses rumeurs (qui se sont révélées exactes) qui annonçaient la fin du PP (polypro) dans sa version extrudée (le “EPP”) de nombreuses fabriques de planches de bodyboard se sont se retrouvé dans une situation embarrassante: plus de EPP pour leur planches. Pas mal de fabriques se sont alors tourné vers des cores alternatifs sans forcément rencontrer un grand succès ou trouver le core parfait. Pourtant Mez pourrait bien avoir trouver la solution parfaite pour remplacer définitivement le EPP. Le Kinetic Core sera désormais utilisé par l’usine de Mez pour ses planches en polypro (NMD et VS) et très probablement pour les marques qu’il fabrique aussi, comme Pride, HB, Science, Sniper etc.
Voici plus d’infos en anglais avec 3-4 questions/réponses que nous livre Mez à propos du Kinetic Core:
Why the switch?
When Pregis, the USA based packaging company, ceased production of Propafoam extruded PP core, the only viable option was EPP. A year or so back we contacted all the major EPP companies and began testing their foam to see who could offer the best material. We settled on Arpro® EPP from JSP, the Japanese company that pioneered the development of EPP in the 1970’s. In JSP’s own words, Arpro® is an engineered foam material, constructed by combining polypropylene resin with spe- cial additives, and applying heat, pressure and CO2 in an autoclave, where the material is formed into small plastic beads. These small, closed-cell foam beads are injected into a steam chest to create parts custom moulded into complex shapes using steam heat & pressure. The next step was to work with JSP to design our own unique, bodyboard specific, moulded cores.
What’s with the name?
Kinetic Energy can be described as “the energy of motion”, and while I am aware that true Kinetic Energy is directly related to speed and mass of an object, I liked the connotation of the word “Kinetic” and its relation to motion. We noticed during our testing phase that the Arpro® EPP had these crazy compression set characteristics, meaning that you would compress the material and it would spring straight back to shape. PE does this to some extent, but nothing like what we were seeing with Arpro® EPP. The recoil was off the charts, which can only mean one thing in body- board terms, and that is projection. Motion, projection, recoil, spring, call it what you want, but I’m calling it Kinetic.
What’s the difference between your EPP and other EPP foams?
I really can’t comment on anyone else’s foam. EPP/ BPP/ EFC, they’re all the same material, which is Expanded Polypropylene, albeit at different densities as specified by the customer. All I know is that Kinetic Core is the best EPP I have found and it gives me what I want in a PP bodyboard.
When can we expect to see it?
As they say, coming to a store near you.
