PFD for surfing

hi everybody!!

The other day i broke my leash in the surf and had to swim in rough wáter with a lot of current. Swiming crawl style, took my head out for a breath insted of air a wave came in (the entire wave)

so there i was, no air at all, in messy heavy seas. I couldn´t recover. Well end of the story, still alive, but reconsidering all the "solo sunset SUP session in heavy seas"

Wich PFD do you recomend??? 85 kg. just to have it arround if anything happens

i was thinking on the ones with CO2, flat when not in use, float on demand. I´m actually comfortably in the wáter, know how to keep calm, know about the current, but what happend the other day, showed me that althougth all the confidence, **** happens, and happens quick.

I dont want anything that bothers me when i paddle

I have an impact vest but what i really want is something that when everything goes wrong (broken leash + anabailable to reach the shore) i do not have to worry about floating.

If i cant swim to the shore, pull the cord, and start screaming like a baby

Use 2 legropes

I see a guy at Lennox do this on a big prone board on big days at the point

www.patagonia.com/product/mens-yulex-impact-wetsuit-vest/88472.html

This one is great. Super comfy even without a rash guard underneath, can prone surf fine with it, good amount of float. Most of the guys in Hawaii that I see with a vest use this one. I love it because it takes a lot of the jitters out of your bigger wave session. When I got mine last year I went out swimming with fins and this vest and purposely got mowed by a few sets. I was amazed at how easy I was popping up every time. Great confidence builder.

For mine I think the impact vest will work, but nothing replaces a couple of swim sessions a week (pool and open water) to give you the confidence that you can get back in. In a prior life I used to swim ocean marathons and haven't trained in probably 5 years but there have been occasions I was glad I knew how swim when leggies have broken, it seems to invariably happen when know one is around

If you are worried about leashes get a Creatures of Leisure outer reef. Best one I've ever had. Never broken one, although I have one that's stretched waaaaaaay longer than when I bought it and it's been retired. Being able to dive deep under the waves is an argument I get a lot. I don't see the point wasting all that energy when you could just take a breath, go down a little and get rolled, then pop up like a cork (with Patagonia vest). Very little energy expended and less likely to snap a leash or break a board. Of course like many have stated, the vests/strong leashes are just a supplement to solid swimming and ocean skills.

Water ski wet suits have inbuilt pfd3

Don't use an inflatable one in the impact zone as they are dangerous. Just for kicks one day and to see what would happen, one of our fellas jumped out of our rescue boat into the impact zone and activated an inflatable PFD 150 and it wasn't a good result... Got smashed by the waves, couldn't swim and it nearly choked him. We now have some PFD 50 impact vests to wear for inshore rescue.

For the leashes, I am impressed by the O&E "One". I don't go in big waves, but I tend to stress a lot my leashes by using ultra-thin "Comp" leashes to reduce drag. the O&E One "Comp" are impressive: minimal stretch (compared to other brands) and broke none yet, even in head-high conditions, which is clearly out of the range they are advised for, for a 125 liters SUP.

Nacho
I'd go a rip curl 'dawn patrol'. its their neoprene wakeboard vest but also rated as a pfd.
I use mine all the time in the surf and don't find it restricts me when paddling or swimming. In terms of mobility, I just put it on an forget about it. I reckon the dawn patrol is also less bulky than a lot of impact vests out there.
I'm 85kgs and about 6.3. I wear a medium (which is only rated as pfd 50 for someone of about 70kgs if I recall, so its a bit less boyant than it should be for me which is probably a plus). If you are buying one, get it tight as they stretch a bit.

I totally take everyone's point about not relying on the gear and being able to swim out of trouble, but I'm still working to bring my swimming up to standard. I also surf alone a lot early in the morning and, as a learner, take a lot of knocks (eg SUP in the chin the other day) so I like the security of a pfd.

As for diving under waves, I was worried about that issue - especially as my first time out in big surf (big for me, but probably head height max) I got caught on the inside and really struggled to get under the waves and tumbled multiple times, so started panicking a bit.
After that I spent some time messing around duck diving with the pfd on in calm water too see how much the float effects the ability to get under water. I found that you can still get that initial duck dive down with the pfd on, but you cant swim down further or stay down as the pfd pops you back up.
The lesson I took is that you just have to be very deliberate about duck diving with the pfd on, and its fine. For example this morning I got caught inside the break zone in chest high dumping surf and was fine diving under it all. The cavest is that I've never been out in anything above head height, so bigger waves might be different.
There may be a disadvantage when you get caught and tumbled that you are dragged further, but I'm not experienced enough to know.

In the meantime I'm sticking with the pfd until I know my swimming is bombproof.

All of that said, I think a bit less float might be an advantage, so an impact vest could be good too. The thing I struggled with is figuring out how much float you get out of the impact vests.

It would be great if someone who has access to the gear could do a comparison of float and duck diving with a pfd 50 vs an impact vest vs nothing.

I'm also interested to know how strong everybody is at swimming, so I know what standard to aim for. All you guys who surf without vests in big surf - how far can you swim? Say in a standard swimming pool (just to give a basis for comparison)?

Cheers

HB

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HBsups said..
I'm also interested to know how strong everybody is at swimming, so I know what standard to aim for. All you guys who surf without vests in big surf - how far can you swim? Say in a standard swimming pool (just to give a basis for comparison)?

Cheers

HB

I was a swimmer as a kid - did squad training and all.

I'm definately not swim fit anymore, but I could easily do 3+ laps of a pool if I absolutely had to.

Swimming in the ocean with the waves, currents and sharks is a whole different story though. A lot more fitness required.

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HBsups said..
Nacho

I'm also interested to know how strong everybody is at swimming, so I know what standard to aim for. All you guys who surf without vests in big surf - how far can you swim? Say in a standard swimming pool (just to give a basis for comparison)?

Cheers

HB

I am an ocean swimmer and have a very good coach, we practice all 4 strokes until exhaustion every time we swim, particularly butterfly which I am only average at.

So far this summer we have swam and body surfed 31 days in a row, my arms are so sore it feels like my knuckles are dragging on the ground. We swim all year round to keep up the match fitness but less frequently when its cooler and avoid swimming pools because they tend make us sick.

Every couple of swims we to a test, 1.5kms to a local landmark and then 1.5kms back, all in 10 to 20 feet of ocean water with waves/wind and we rotate through the 4 strokes like a medley, no stopping. At first I found this to be a very difficult test, the only break is treading water and that means I fall behind my coach and have to swim harder to catch up, I am better off slugging it out without stopping. As my endurance has increased the number of strokes between breaths has increased too which lessons the likelihood of scoring a mouthful of saltwater which makes it easier again.

The waves aren't big here, head height max and that's a rarity, we don't wear any buoyancy aids but we do have some very nice tinted goggles which make the glare bearable and stops the salty gulf water stinging the eyes.

My coach is relentless about executing all strokes correctly at all times and yells corrections with a German accent, i find I have built up the horsepower to be faster then her but it has taken many years to get to this point, of course she always swims gracefully and I look like floundering buffoon but I can horsepower my way past her.

I cant give you times for a 25meter pool swim but I used to be able to do it in one breath, try and get out to 20 strokes of flat out freestyle in one breath then do it again. Your endurance will come.

cheers and good swimming

If you need strong Go to Balin, there big wave leash would never let you down.

unles.... One leg wil be longer after a good day

I got some flippers and rounded the ends off just buy cutting them so they weren't as long.
I've tied them to the back of my windsurf harness once in big big surf at ******* just because of the offshore break and alone factor.
Also I put them around my waist with a belt just under my vest when I paddled out to ***** alone on my 9' surfboard.
Both are good ideas but can get in the way.
Nothing beats being fit and prepared when heading out in any sort of ocean sport.
Sometimes we are the only stupid ones around and having a back up plan helps the other half to not stress as much (or just don't tell her what you're up to) and does calm the nerves down a tad.
I almost didn't make it back to shore once because half my head was hanging off from a fin cut
Stay fit and safe