Haydenshapes Welcomes Nate Tyler To The Fam

Haydenshapes’ US team is small, but they’ve just added one noodled-haired man – who we’re quite fond of – one Nate Tyler. Nate’s a bit of a renaissance man who gets his kicks hitting central coast ramps at high speeds. In his spare time he welds metal sculptures and sells them for upwards of five grand a pop. And, when you’re a free surfer, having a side gig’s not a bad call. “I’ve just been working in my shop today,” Nate tells Stab when we called to congratulate him on his new board sponsor. “I’ve been doing a lot of lighting and stuff for friends and customers. Got a few things I’m working on for Joe (G), Chippa (Wilson) and Dion (Agius), along with some local restaurants.”  

“Business on that side’s good—it’s one of those things that I could probably promote more,” he says. “But I’m not the best at self-promotion, and the sculptures take a lot of time. It’s also hard to justify working on a piece for two weeks instead of travelling and surfing.”  

However, that’s not the subject of this conversation. The subject’s Nate x Hayden Cox, who, in our eyes, is one of the most innovative shapers of today. “The HS deal came about when I borrowed an HS from Warren Smith and it went so good,” says Nate. “He was talking to Hayden, I think trying to explain where he lost a board along the way. As a result, we started talking and it just worked out.” 

“I obviously don’t want to come off as rude to Channel Islands,”–of which he’s obviously just parted ways–he tells us. “But, I’m stoked to work one-on-one with Hayden. I don’t think many people know he has a full factory in El Segundo, and there aren’t many US riders other than Dylan (Graves) and Warren. I’m attracted to how small his team is and how tight he’s kept it. It seems like everybody that works with him has a good one-on-one relationship. It’s exciting to be able to have an idea and directly reflect it through Hayden.“ CI has a slew of high-profile surfers, like Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Conner Coffin, and Bobby Martinez to name a few. So in Nate’s case, the opportunity to have a tight-knit relationship with his board builder is fresh air sans the Channel Islands competitive coal mine.