Webbed Gloves, Uncool Helmets and Functional Wetsuits; Surfing Fashion Feat Kelly Slater

Surfing legend Kelly Slater recently announced that he is going to retire from professional surfing. And while it has left his fan following saddened, all is not lost. The pro-surfing world might be saying goodbye to a great surfing phenomenon, but we are all still blessed. And the reason for that, is that we still have a lot of wisdom that Slater has left behind for us.

There’s no doubt that Kelly Slater is one smart man. So when it comes to surfing fashion, who better to ask for advice than the 11-time World Champion himself? In an interview with WIRED, Slater answered many burning questions that the public had about some surfing essentials. It was interesting to see what he had to say.

Kelly Slater explains the science behind wetsuits

Some might have a misconception that wetsuits actually protect the body by not letting it get wet at all. However, Slater broke the myth. He explained, “Basically, it just keeps the water between the wetsuit and your body warm. You can actually last a long time. The wetsuits are really good now. The materials are good.” Not only this, but Slater also elaborated on the utility of wetsuits in weather that is especially cold.

Read more: After Decades of Dominance, Waterman Kelly Slater Finally Decides When’s Surf’s Up

He said, “On the east coast people regularly surf in the wintertime in 30-something-degree water, almost freezing. So, I mean, you can surf right down to when it’s ice.” Slater added a humorous comment saying, “Or you can just pee in it and that makes you warm.” When it comes to surfing apparel, people were not only curious about wetsuits. They also enquired Slater about the reason why not a lot of surfers are seen wearing helmets while surfing.

While safety equipment has never been a priority while surfing, Slater explained why the trend was changing, and why more people were adopting helmets. “It was never sort of some kind of accepted cool thing I think, growing up. And because of that, there weren’t many helmets available and they didn’t modify them to be small enough and comfortable enough to be common use.”

Slater, however highlights, who the times are changing. “But they’re getting there now… A couple of my friends had bad head injuries in the last five years and they’ve started to wear them.”, added the surfing pro. But helmets are not the only thing considered to be uncool in the surfing community.

Slater’s take on webbed gloves

Kelly Slater was also quizzed about webbed gloves. Turns out, he actually thinks webbed gloves can be quite useful while surfing. Slater revealed, “As a kid, I tried them. Yeah, they were actually kind of in fashion for a while in the late 80s.” In fact, during the interview, Slater also modeled the webbed gloves on his own hands and showed how useful they could be, “So you can see… All this extra space is covered when you’re paddling. They look a little goofy… They might come back into fashion.”

Though, for him, one of the inspirations for wearing webbed gloves was a famous surfer. He recalled, “Peter Mel, one of the greatest all-time greatest big wave surfers from Santa Cruz… last year he got probably what is the greatest big wave ride in the history of the world at Mavericks. He’s been wearing webbed gloves when he surfs.” Well, if these gloves have Mel’s approval, they’re probably something every surfer should be looking at right now.

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Would you ever wear webbed gloves while surfing?