How Do Surfers Survive 40 foot Wipeouts?

Preparation, Training, Equipment & A Team

It's a question that any normal surfer asks themselves whilst navigating challenging surfing conditions - "how can someone survive wipeouts 10 times the size of this?".

An athlete's "do or die" mentality has a lot to do with paddling out into enormously powerful waves, but once out there it's all about the hours of preparation that have been put in before the day. 

There's a mixture of intense training and workouts that prepare big wave surfers to take on these wild beasts of nature, but there's also the equipment. To be extremely clear, the equipment alone is not enough to consider trying to take on big waves, but it gives these athletes a better chance of staying safe. 

Another critical component of safety is the team that's out there with the surfers, often behind the scenes there's a team of people co-ordinating all aspects of the session, from assisting with positioning to pick-ups with the jet ski after the wave. 

But let's hear from someone who's actually been there themselves - over to Grant "Twiggy" Baker who explains how the inflation vest he uses is a critical safety feature:

He praises the ISURUS wetsuit for being easily flexible enough to fit an inflation vest underneath it. 

Check out the collection of 4mm wetsuits here

Experiencing a Huge Wipeout

In this video Twiggy describes one of the worst wipeouts he ever experienced, but what came after the initial wipeout was even worse.... 

You can see the full video playlist of Twiggy over on our YouTube channel