We’re all familiar with this scenario... You’ve just pulled off a wave but your board got caught in the lip. The board gets sucked over the falls and you feel that familiar tug on your ankle. Suddenly, it’s all slack and you know instantly you’re in for a long paddle to shore.
Go find your board check for dings, fins, tail pad... kiss the session goodbye.
Good hardware can make or break a trip.
There’s only really one way to test gear and that’s to get someone else to do it… Someone who does miles and miles on it. Someone who probably gets more waves in one session that you do in your busiest week.
Someone like Steph Gilmore for example...
Nobody surfs quite as much as the world’s best. Sometimes it’s surfing at home, sometimes it’s half the world away. Wherever those waves are being caught and ridden those extra miles add up and that extra usage defines the line between good hardware and great hardware.
We caught up with the guys from Creatures of Leisure to see where they and six-time (nearly seven) world champion, Steph Gilmore, draws that line.