Why Bamboo?

At Wappa, our goal is to create stylish, well built and affordable stand up paddle boards while respecting the Earth .
Bamboo allows us to accomplish these goals. 
Paddle boards made with real bamboo are strong and durable, naturally beautiful and Earth friendly.
That's the Bamboo Advantage!

Environmentally Friendly

  • Bamboo is a renewable resource. It’s can be harvested in 3 years compared to 25 years for wood.
  • Harvesting bamboo does not kill a bamboo forest. Harvesting actually induces the plant to produce more new shoots.
  • Bamboo can grow in degraded soil.
  • During regeneration, the bamboo plant's root system stays intact preventing soil erosion.

The Bamboo Wappa Uses

  • Wappa only uses Moso bamboo.
  • It grows mainly in the Zhejiang province of China known historically as the Kingdom of Bamboo.
  • Moso is one of the hardest varieties of bamboo. With a  tensile strength up to 40 kN/cm2 it easily surpasses timber fibers (approx. 5 kN/cm2), or even mild steel (36 kN/cm2).¹
  • Janka Hardness Test results show that Moso is comparable to the hardness of European Oak (6280 kN).¹

Superior Materials

  • Bamboo has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any natural fiber¹.
  • In structural engineering tests bamboo has been shown to have...
    • Higher tensile strength than many alloys of steel.
    • Higher compressive strength than many mixtures of concrete.
  • Higher strength-to-weight ratio than graphite (precursor of carbon fiber)¹.

Bamboo in a Composite

  • In a composite environment like a Wappa paddle board, bamboo veneer is a good substitute for fiberglass because it's stronger.
  • Bamboo laminates are lighter and stronger than fiberglass. Bamboo epoxy laminates are twice the strength at equal weights¹.
  • A stand up paddle board made with real bamboo weigh at least 15% less than boards made only from fiberglass and epoxy.
¹ Mechanical Properties of Bamboo, a Natural Composite, Fibre Science and Technology, Vol. 14, Issue 4, 1981