Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Inflatable Wetsuit for Big Wave Surfing

By Chris Poty


Billabong V1 wetsuit is definitely the first inflatable wetsuit, which contains a built-in, inflatable air bladder. The thought of creating this survival wetsuit all began from Hawaiian big wave surfer, Shane Dorian after he experienced an almost deadly wipe out when he was surfing in the famous Maverick's break based south of San Francisco, California.

Dorian is well-known in terms of big wave surfing but at the same time, he is a father of two children, this urged him play it safe the next time. So he thought of integrating a flotation bladder right into a wetsuit and explained his plan to Hub Hubbard, Billabong Wetsuit product manager in USA. So the new wetsuit was invented.

The Making and Features of V1 Inflatable Wetsuit

Dorian's idea along with Billabong wetsuit product manager as well as the World's leading maritime safety product institution, Mustang Survival, invented the newest wetsuit with amazing survival functions which include flotation air bladder and CO2 cartridge, which could be activated by merely tugging the pull-cord.

The flotation bladder, inflator and Co2 cartridge are all secured in a huge zippered pocket at the back of the suit; specifically it would be found in between the shoulder blades the moment you wear the suit. The position of the additional zippered pocket will be advantageous for the surfer because he can still paddle his surfboard once he would reached the surface.

These amazing features would elevate the surfer up the surface after an intense wipe out, reducing his risks to drowning. That is why, Dorian regarded the suit a "game changer" in terms of big wave safety.

Just after the invention, Dorian himself used a few models of V1 wetsuit initially within calm waters, then in larger and much more strong breaking waves. He tried wearing the suit in Cortes Bank that is 100 miles away from Southern California coast as well as in Jaws, Maui Island in Hawaii where he dealt with immensely huge waves and actually tried the flotation mechanism of the V1 suit after being wiped out.

In these days, Billabong stands out as the solely wetsuit manufacturer which makes this ground breaking suit yet in a restricted number and offered this only for the surfers of the big wave riding elite.




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