Note: This #RADGEAR was done with the help of our friends at COR Surf.
It’s kind of funny to think of all the silly little accessories that make surfing more convenient while also having no impact on your actual experience of riding waves. We need a surfboard, some kind of traction for that surfboard, and something to wear. Maybe that’s a wetsuit, maybe that’s a pair of trunks or a bikini.
Everything else is an accessory or a flat-out luxury.
If you’re anything like me, there’s an assortment of crap that lives in the back of your SUV because either spontaneous sessions or daily sessions make packing and unpacking your car a pain. X number of dry wetsuits at all times, back seats down with a board ready to go, a towel, maybe a mat and some wax, the list goes on…
That towel, though.
You know what sucks about most towels? A lot of things. 1. They’re not the most convenient tool for changing in and out of a wetsuit, requiring a whole new level of coordination and balance. 2. You (I) regularly forget to take them out of your (my) car. 3. They take forever to dry. 4. Then they end up smelling horrible. Oh gosh, do they ever smell.
So recently, a poncho showed up in the office, as many of these little surf accessories do when you’re an editor of a surf publication. It was a “quick-dry,” lightweight suede poncho, instead of the traditional cotton stuff. I wasn’t really sure what the significance of that was until this last little run of swell on the West Coast turned into several sessions over a handful of days.
Do I need a poncho before and after surfing? No. But now I have one and my car doesn’t smell. Bonus points because I also find myself driving home from the beach commando after those early morning sessions. Don’t judge me. It’s comfy.
