Why don't big wave surfers and tow surfers ware life vests?

Question

Why don't big wave surfers and tow surfers ware life vests?

Answer 1

some times they do, it is 100% their choice

Answer 2

Life vests ARE used in tow-in surfing by people like Laird Hamilton and Derek Doerner.

Vests are critical in the waves they surf. The sheer force and power of the lip crashing can push them down at *least* 25 ft sometimes. Since there is no way a surfer can swim to the surface in time before the break of the next wave, the jacket helps propel them upwards.

Most professional surfers - namely those on the ASP and WQS World Tours - do NOT wear them. The jackets are not usually needed for tour stops since many of the waves break over very shallow reefs and breaks are 4-6 foot.

Besides, for pro-surfers, the *board and leash* are your life vest when you go down and need to come back up. The one exception to this would be the Van's Triple Crown series, where some of the most dangerous waves in the world, like Pipe, are surfed.

If you surf big waves without a vest, it's generally because you are good enough and read the waves well enough. Although pro surfer Malik Joyeaux died at Pipe, a life jacket wouldn't have necessarily saved his life. He was knocked unconscious during a wipeout and hit his head on the reef.

http://www.surfermag.com/features/online...

Also, a really good surfer will rarely require a rescue. So even by the time someone noticed Malik missing... too much time had passed. There were a lot of people there watching only because the final contest for the Triple Crown was coming up.

Answer 3

Because the surfboard is probably one of the best floating devices you can have & it's attached pretty securely to the surfer with a leash.

Answer 4

It doesn't look cool!

Plus if you surf those huge waves then you must have come to terms with death and think "what a way to go"

Those Bra Boys would look pretty stupid in life vests.

happy surfin'