55 – Shiny New Things

Recorded on Tuesday 23rd January, 2018, with Harry Knight, Asher King, Ru Hill, and Tommy Potterton

INTRODUCTION:

We started the show by talking about our recent mention in Forbes Magazine before moving on to Asher’s trip back home to Florida and Ru’s trip to Park City in Utah.

Tommy stayed here in Costa Rica and attended the Tope with Jessie and Will and our new camera from Rylo.

We also mentioned Ru’s 40th birthday party and the intricate decorations from Steve at Climb Nosara, Harry mentioned the fact that the Nicoya area of Costa Rica is regarded as a Blue Zone.

Harry also gave us an update on Matt Warshaw’s campaign to save the Encyclopedia of Surfing, and we’re happy to say that he raised $60,000

As a quick correction to what Ru said when we recorded, Cyrus Sutton is not working with Brooke Borel on any future projects.

THE NEWS:

In the news this episode, John John Florence won his 2nd world title in Hawaii back in December and Jeremy Flores won his 2nd Pipe Masters. Ru mentioned Jeremy’s injury in Indonesia a few years ago.

Dusty Payne has been injured surfing at Pipeline and suffered a fractured skull, which led us to talk about safety equipment in the surf.

We then moved onto talking about the recent rescue of 2 swimmers in Australia using a Drone.

We finally followed up on the Beach Bum’s study that we spoke about last year. The results of the study have now been published. Harry also mentioned that human testing has now begun on a universal Flu vaccine.

MAIN FEATURE: Asher on the Quiksilver/Billabong Merger 

Earlier this month, news broke that Quiksilver’s parent company, BoardRiders INC would be purchasing Billabong, in a merger of the surf industries two most iconic brands.

Asher talked us through how the 2 companies got here, and what this merger will mean for them.

The reality is that both companies have been owned and operated by Oaktree Capital for several years, and that this is really just an internal restructuring.

MAIN FEATURE: Harry on Gear Recommendations from 2017 

Harry was inspired by a set of videos on Tested’s YouTube Channel and decided to create a list of the best items he’d acquired over 2017.

His first choice was a set of surfboards that he designed for the Surf Simply resort last year.

The rest of the guys were very keen on their twin fin surfboards. Tommy’s favorite board was his Firewire Go Fish, Asher’s was his Rich Pavel fish and Ru’s was his Christenson twin fin.

Harry’s second item was his 2 FCS II Longboard fins. He has both the Flow and Hatchet templates and enjoys changing them on a regular basis.

His third item was the Mountainsmith Tour Lumbar Pack, which everyone else found very funny.

Ru’s number 2 item was his Fitbit that he’s been using to track his sleeping and surfing, and Asher’s number 1 choice was his blackout curtains.

Harry’s fourth item was his Noise Cancelling Headphones by Lindy, and Ru and Asher joined in with their versions from Bose.

Ru recommended the Overcast Podcast App (not the Outcast app as he said on the show).

Ru’s last choice was his new bike from ACR Customs

Harry and Ru then spoke about how experiences are generally better investments than products, but that products that create or improve experiences are still good investments.

LISTENER EMAILS:

Tommy answered an email about deckpads on longboards.

Ru and Tommy suggested that having a deckpad on the tail would be useful as a tactile indicator of positioning on the board, and Asher spoke of the importance of knowing where your feet need to be for different maneuvers.

Tommy mentioned Taylor Jensen’s aggressive longboard surfing

and Asher mentioned this photo from Tommy Witt

Harry also mentioned that there were companies making alternatives to wax and deckpads that you could use for the same effect.

WHAT TO WATCH:

Asher chose this edit from Devon Howard:

Ru recommended the film “Food Evolution”

Tommy has been watching these edits from Asher Pacey and Caio Teixeira

Harry recommended this video of Slurpee Waves in Nantucket.

That’s all for this episode folks, email us at podcast@surfsimply.com