Postby jumptheshark » Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:16 pm
Lets see, when I think back to why I used to wear shorts over wetsuit these are the reasons I used to rationalize it.
Firstly likely fashion. Wetsuits were all black and boring
Second was seat protection for the suit, I rode a lot of boots back then and had to sit with the kite in the air more than I do now.
Third was the pocket with key elastic which I used consistently, but now that my keys are larger and electronic, I had to come up with a different solution.
Thats pretty much it.
Tastes change as do things like car keys and I no longer really sit with my kite in the air as I never ride boots anymore.
I also swim way more these days so I've gained a vest, but lost the shorts. Same with my shift from a drysuit to winter wetsuit. I swim enough to want the streamline, especially because I'm now in shoes which are pretty detrimental to good swim ability.
I still make choices based in fashion . I usually have a pair of light pants and a top I can throw on over the wetsuit at the margins of the season and take the wetsuit off at home. Super handy way to blend into society and not stand out like a freak in a wetsuit in say late November when you wanna gas up the car or pick up milk on the way home. I guess I'm still the freak, its just a bit more covert with the pants and top on!
I wear a neon green flotation/impact vest. At the cold margins, the green is exposed for safety reasons. Really its likely ineffective, but in the case someone is looking for me in the water, its a lot more visible than black! BUT, once it warms up, I generally wear a black water singlet over the vest that effectively hides the visible green. Fashion for sure. I absolutely prefer the aesthetic of the loose black singlet to the fake muscle look of the impact vest. My whole get up looks far less cosplay super hero with the singlet.
Our fashion choices are funny. I no longer hide my loins with shorts. but cover my armoured chest. Of course I personally feel my current set of kite clothes are better fashion than they have ever been, and I look back at my use of shorts phase and giggle a bit at myself in full understanding that I may giggle again looking back in another 10 years.
At first I could not at all enjoy the visual presentation of hydrofoiling. It all looked gangly and rather ugly compared to the aesthetic of a wake or surfboard. Foils don't even make sense to the unfamiliar and still raise eyebrows. I'm over that and have accepted that what I do doesn't look half as cool as what I was doing 10 or again 15 years ago under a kite. I mean people still ask: How high do you jump? and How fast do you go? Now I have to say, not very high at all and not really that fast either. But I kite for myself and myself only, so really I'm the only one who has to be content with what I'm doing and my fashion choices while doing it.
No I no longer wear shorts over a wetsuit, and truthfully it has streamlined my doing of this sport one more little bit. Has taken 20 years of constant evolution in gear and clothing to get to where I am now.
From windsurfing in full slick skin suits, to kiting in shorts over a wetsuit in boots, to strapless and now foiling. Pretty much all the gear is different now. Every piece has evolved, hard shell harness with no hook, Multiple wetsuits, the most comfortable helmet I've found (after a long and exhaustive search), weird little kites and the strangest looking board ever.
As whack as it all is, I'm much happier with my current kit and fashion. My feet are not cerated by zebra muscles, the top of my ears no longer look like beef jerky, and my fit and muscular loins are on full display for those who care to look.
I do know for sure that when I rock up at the beach, I am never, ever mistaken for a beginner. Every aspect of my movements speak of repetition, familiarity and calm calculated efficiency. I'm generally not there to pose and it's openly apparent.
