Life must have been tough for the early pioneering surfers. How did they get changed in warmth and comfort before the invention of the towel robe? Surely they got frostbite on their feet without the aid of a waterproof change mat? What gave their lives meaning if they didn’t know exactly how many waves they’d caught in their last session, or what top speed they reached, because there were no GPS watches around to tell them?
Fortunately such hardships are now behind us, thanks to the groundbreaking advances in the field of surfing accessories. Need to buy a christmas present for a surfer? Going through a mid-life crisis? Suffering from a profound sense of spiritual emptiness? Here are six inessential but awesome surfing accessories that will assuredly fill the void, and make your life so, so much easier.
Surfing Accessories: The Dryrobe
Change robes are such an evidently excellent idea that people have almost stopped taking the piss out of them. Often the most unpleasant thing about cold-water surfing isn’t the cold water itself, but getting into and out of your wetsuit in the carpark before and after your surf. The Dryrobe is designed to make this process as painless as possible.
Devised by a British surfer from North Devon, the Dryrobe is essentially a vastly superior version of the standard towel change robe, which take ages to dry and provide little shelter from the cold. Wear it to the beach or swap it for your coat before you get out the car, then pull up the hood and get changed inside it, shielded from the elements by the wind- and waterproof outer shell fabric. After you’ve surfed, simply reverse the process; the quick-drying internal fleece lining not only keeps you warm but draws the water away from your skin, leaving you dry in no time.
