Gary Linden has been shaping boards for 40 years and has carved out a pretty powerful reputation in the surfing world, yet he has purposely kept his business small so he can live an organic lifestyle.

I can walk to the beach and go surfing in the morning, come home and eat lunch, and walk up to where I have a shaping room. Somebody brings me a blank, I shape it and they pay me. I can make surfboards and surf, and live that organic lifestyle where it’s not really a business. That really inspires me, and I can bring it back into my work.

One of Linden's newest projects is the Agave boards.  These boards are made from dead Agave plants that Linden finds on roadsides and in back yards which he then mills himself.  Instead of traditional fiberglass fabric and resin, Linden uses sisal cloth from the Agave leaves and resin made from the Agave sap...

Aside from creating a remarkably striking aesthetic, this process is completely sustainable and organic, which really stands out in an industry that in increasingly outsourcing their foam core board production to China.  Linden's Agave board will set you back a few bucks but what you'll get is a surf board with killer performance that is so beautiful and unique they will have to pry it from your dead fingers.  Plus you'll feel good meeting your maker knowing that your board wasn't giving the middle finger to mother nature.