Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25059
Wetsuits in 50 words or less: They suck. Zippers tear and pop open. Seams rip. You freeze anyway. and if you don·t. they"re so thick that you move like Frankenstein. Besides. they·re a barrier between ··soul and ocean: Back in 1996. Billabong designed a zipperless wetsuit. their 2001 Series. It took an award from the Industrial Designers Society of America for its cool design-and nothing tears. pops. or rips. Recent advances in neoprene development allow for extra-stretchiriess. enabling you to tug the neck wide and step inside. Without a zipper. there·s no place for water to leak in. so once the initial flush rises toward body temperature. everything stays constant. In February. the ocean around San Francisco is frigid and more tepid swells don·t return until May. I"m always cold surfing there. Always. Was I cold in the zipper-less wetsuit? No. What about the new ultraflexible neck and shoulder design that allows for enhanced mobility? Off-the-lip-cutback ollie-tailgrab with a half-spin psycho-sick-trick nose-grind: not a problem. I mean. if I could actually do such a thi!]g. it would n·t be a ing rroblem in this suit. No more zombie walk a the beach. THE 2001 SERIES ZIPPERLESS WETSUIT. $279.95/ BILLABONG 71 4-548-9375 SAFE ON THE WAVES TEXT: ALEX SALKEVER The biggest danger surfers face out on the waves is ... themselves. Cuts and lacerations from sharp fins. the nose or the tail of a surfer's own board are the leading surf injuries. "Only a small pen:ent of surfers get hit by someone else's board: says Dr Robert Brumblay. the medical director of the emergency room at Wahiawa General Hospital which services Oahu's North Shore. Most serious are head injUries. "People are hit on the head [by their own board]. lose consciousness and drown: says Brumblay. Not surprisingly. recent surfing deaths have spurred surf safely product sales. Gath surf headgear sales skyro eted in 1994 after professional surfer Mark Foo drowned in big waves off Half Moon Bay. CaUfomia. "Everytime someone dies. sales in that area jump: says Stan Cowell of Murray·s. Gath·s North American distributor. ACcording to CowelL sales of surf Uds have increased 20- fold in the last five years. a period that induded several high-profile surfing deaths. Other reasons for the safely boom, aging surfers reaUze they're not immortal after alL and a growing number of pro surfers use helmets. Likewise. Brad Chang of Surf Co. Hawaii says sales of his company's nose guards and diamond tips (stick-on rubber appendages to dull a board's sharp nose) increased 35 to 40 pen:ent in the last few years. a period during which the number of pro surfers using these devices increased dramatically. As with other action sports such as skiing and snowboarding. the surf wortd is now SWimming in new safely products. Recent offerings indude soft-edged board fins. a quick release leash cord system that releases a board with the simple pull a pin when a snagged leash traps a surfer underwater or in the impact zone. and shatterproof protective surf goggles that have 100 percent UVA and UVB protection that can be ground to meet pre scriptions But go figure, Despite all this new gear. Brumblay says he has seen no decrease in the number of injUries. Either it·s a gremmie invasion or the boys of summer are just not using their heads. GATH PROSURF HEADGEAR. $99 AND UP: BARZ SURF OPTICS. $1 20 AND UPIWWW.MUR RAYS.COM. 805-684-8393 NOSE GUARDS. $12: PRO TECK RNS. $21 FOR A SET OFTHREEISURF CO HAWAII, 808-488- 5996 2 WAY QUICK-PIN LEASH SYSTEM. $24.50-$34.50 (DEPENDING ON SIZE AND LENGTH)I OCEANIC WORLD SURFTEK 888-626-7873