
California Cool: How the Wetsuit Became the Surfer's Second Skin (2013) - Thevet
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-the-wetsuit-became-a-surfers-second-skin/
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russellbeattie
To non-Californians: The Pacific coastal waters are _freezing_ all the way
down to San Diego. Ever been swimming off the coast of Georgia or Florida and
thought, "Gosh, this isn't refreshing at all, it's like bath water." You won't
have that problem on the West Coast. I grew up in New England, swimming in
Maine, and it doesn't hold a candle to how frigid the waters in California can
be. And the wind off the water is biting, even in August. You know how
Florida's coast is developed pretty much along it's entire length on both
sides, and yet California and Oregon have hundreds of miles of relatively
untouched coastline? That's why. It's damn cold.

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8note
meh, the ocean in BC is peachy by comparison to Newfoundland

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abenedic
I have been in both, albeit in BC during fall two years past, and Newfoundland
in summer eight years ago. In Newfoundland, I was purple in minutes, but in BC
I was relatively okay for two hours for my lesson. So I do disagree humbly.

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jtms
Pro Tip I learned the hard way: Don't pee while submerged in a wetsuit. Its
not nearly as porous as one would hope in this situation.

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dvschramm
All I do is pee in my suit, just flush it!

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stronglikedan
I'm picturing you wearing your wetsuit to a movie theater so you don't miss
anything.

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BadassFractal
Was actually going to try surfing for the first time this week. What's been
people's experience with it, starting later in their life?

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lcc
I found the learning curve really steep (even coming from a
skateboard/snowboard background, and being a reasonably good swimmer). A lot
of it is learning how to read the waves, which is frustrating at first. I've
been at it for about a year now and am only just starting to feel things
click. But even when I wasn't catching any waves, I loved the feeling of being
in the water, feeling the power of the waves, and just enjoying the views of
sunsets and the coast.

Definitely get an instructor for your first few attempts. They'll be able to
push you and help you catch whitewater waves which will give you an idea if
you actually enjoy this thing. Then if you want to be able to actually surf, I
highly recommend spending at least 1, preferably 2 weeks at a surf camp with
_good_ instructors. A lot of surf camps just hire 18 year old Australian kids
or whatever who just want to travel and surf, and while they're great surfers
they aren't great instructors. I went to School of the World in Costa Rica and
the instructors there are permanent, this is their career, they care about it
and they're good at it. They had me catching my first green waves very
consistently with help, and progressing from a 9' board to a 6'7 board. After
a week and a half there, I was able to go back home and actually catch green
waves (inconsistently) on my own for the first time, and build my skills to
consistently catching those waves. Getting feedback and being in the water
every day helps you improve exponentially.

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dominotw
how good of a swimmer do you have to be. I learnt swimming lat in life so i am
not good.

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goodnews3879
A good rule of thumb is that you should not paddle where you cannot swim. So,
if you were to suddenly lose your board, you should be able to safely get to
shore. Depending on the conditions, you would want to be intermediate to
advanced swimmer. Knowledge of the ocean goes a long way too.

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MrEfficiency
I read a book about being mentally tough and started taking cold showers.
Years later, I dont take cold showers anymore, but getting into and staying in
cold water is easy.

>Get in the water, full body submerged, all at once

>Get out of the water

You only felt serious pain for about 1-2 seconds, when you are out of the
water, your no longer experiencing the pain at any significant levels.

>Go back in the water

Now that you have felt the extreme cold, the water wont feel as cold as
before.

Enjoy shocking your friends when you swim in 40 degree water.

Note: It still isnt comfy and your bits will go numb, but you can easily
survive 5-20 minutes in various cold water temps.

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aphextron
>Note: It still isnt comfy and your bits will go numb, but you can easily
survive 5-20 minutes in various cold water temps.

It really doesn't matter your mental toughness, your body has a physical
reaction to that kind of water temperature. It seizes up and you can go into
shock. People die all the time from falling or jumping into cold water that
would be bearable if you eased into it and had training.

I worked as a river guide for a few years on a high altitude stretch of
canyons where the water was coming directly off alpine snowpack at ~34
degrees, and people would die every year. Not from drowning in the rapids or
prolonged exposure, but just going into shock and having a heart attack
immediately after falling in.

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rimunroe
And that shock can happen much further away from freezing than most people
expect when they just hear the numbers out loud. 50 °F water is pretty much
the same as 32 °F water as far as shock is concerned.

