Makia Clothing

Over 10 years ago, I was reading my Onboard mag when I first heard about Joni Malmi. There was just something different about this dude, just watch the Forum vid and you will know what I mean.

Anyway, my wife always complains that I wear surfer clothes that don't really fit my style (and age). And then we argue because as a guy , I don't really want to admit she is right. To my defense, clothes selection is pretty limited, lots of brands but they are all the same.

Where I am from in Europe, I am used to diversity, I feel clothes have more style. I am sorry but being 28 years old, I don't want to look like a clown with all those flashy colors or wearing pants that could fit Jabba the Hutt.

So I checked out last week, the winter collection of Makia Clothing, brand cofounded by Joni Malmi. Let me tell you that those clothes are so fashionable, now I don't have to choose between being classy and snowboard clothes.

Makia Clothings has provided the best of both side.

Flow signature serie

Two days ago , I was writting about the Salomon Sick Stick using eco-friendly materials. Today I'd like to introduce the Quantum, Scotty Lago's signature from Flow.
Scotty's goal was to raise awareness about the construction of the nuclear power where he is from and part of the profits will go to A.S.E.C(Action Sports Environmental Coalition).

“I’m from Seabrook, New Hampshire and the inspiration for my board graphic is from the nuclear power plants scumming up my backyard. I’m not exactly a tree-hugger, but I want to do my part for the environment and that’s why Flow and I are supporting ASEC (Action Sports Environmental Coalition) by donating a portion of this board’s profits to help promote global awareness and responsibility.” –Scotty Lago

No matter what, it is great to have companies supporting association, but I still would have like a board that is greener, getting along with the message.

Pow Gloves

Lots of people are passionate about snowboarding, but only a few decide to become entrepreneur and live their passion to the fullest. With that said, It is a difficult task to get recognized when you have less marketing power than the big players but I think it is important for snowboarders to give some credits to young brands.

Pow Gloves is located in Washington state and after looking at their website, I found couples of models that are stylin' with some amusing description like the Mustacheo:

"A nice stash comes in handy when tracking cougars, posing for photos and of course buying beer when you forgot your ID. Choose the best one for the job at hand, so to speak."

damn it, my Xmas list is getting longer days after days.

What a sick stick: Eco friendly snowboard

Sick Stick is the board from Salomon made out of Bamboo that is available in three size for this season 156, 160, 163.
Back in January 2008, Salomon team won the Volvo Sports Design Award at the ISPO 2008.

Here is more info I could find from the ispo website:
"In terms of design, the SickStick is based on an entirely re-usable bamboo core. The top sheet is made with significantly less acrylic, plastics, fiberglass and resin than conventional boards. Even the resin in the sidewalls could be entirely replaced with durable, waterproof bamboo rods. In each board, 400 grams of bamboo are used to replace 300 grams of plastic, 100 grams of resin and 200 grams of fiberglass.
The Sick Stick is packaged in a cotton-bamboo knit bag instead of a PVC sleeve, while the hangtags are printed on recycled paper instead of coated stickers. In terms of performance, the boards are about 10 percent more resilient at the same stability and flex as conventional boards."

How about that, now I am going to France for Xmas, I hope I go to the Alpes and try this board for a backcountry session.

Learn the right way

I always had so much fun windsurfing, particularly when it is nasty outside, wind guts at 40 knots, 12 feet swell, sand blasting. While some people may think it was crazy, I always found it to be fairly safe. So when I started to see kiteboarders being dragged on the sand or in the air and next second you see them flying toward the parking lot and finally crashing into a car like an insect on the windshield...I always thought this sport was quite dangerous.

Most of my friends who surf would like to start kitesurfing but there is a common belief that if something bad happen, you may not have time to use the safety release.
However equipments has dramatically improved, kite can fully depower, relaunch have never been easier.

With that said, don't expect miracle. Like any other sports the stronger the Elements, the greater are your chances to get hurt. It is certainly more spectacular to see a kiteboarder crossing A1A and crashing into a building during Tropical Strom Fay but consequences could be the same as someone drowning in Big surf.

If you are a beginner, you absolutely need to take kitesurf lesson and the instructor will recommend the equipment that is best for your level. If you are an intermediate kitesurfer, I would suggest to look online for accident stories, hopefully you could learn from mistakes made by others.

Be aware of your own limits, Practice safety techniques, and check your equipment before going out there are simple rules that can reduce the number of accidents.

Union Bindings

This morning I was checking out the Onboard website, my favorite European Snowboard mag. Searching on the web, I have found Union Bindings is making a limited edition for Onboard, not only they look dope but they have some other ltd edition like the Dany Kass.


I really dig what they did with those bindings, use of material/textile, color skims.
Here are some pics and for more info, go check out the Union site

Kiteboarding

Around 2000, Kitesurfing started to be big in France and at the time I did quite a bit of shaping at Raphael Selles Custom but never seriously invested in Kiteboarding as I had a big quiver for wave windsurfing. In addition I saw few serious and deadly kite accidents while windsurfing a La Grande Motte.

Then I moved to the States, put all my energy into surfing, but now I am back from San Diego, Ca, I have no interest in surfing knee high waves. Meanwhile guys and girls in Delray are having a blast kitesurfing.

So last night to learn more about Best Kiteboarding, I stopped by their facility to pick up a brochure. I ended up having a good chat with Troy and Brian, two passionate of Kiteboarding. We joked that while kitesurfers are having a blast, surfers are struggling for a 2 second wave :)

Troy told me that they have some used kite for sale so I am sure I will back soon after selling some of my 9 surfboards.

Your sport.Your music (H2O Audio)

H20 Audio is a company founded by three friends who met at San Diego State University.

With some background in engineering and a passion for surfing, they decided to build a clear, waterproof housing and headphone combination that would help surfers and watersport lovers get motivation from their favorite songs.

Being a passionate surfer, I always dreamt to listen to music while surfing. It has helped me land some tricks while snowboarding so I figure that it would certainly do the same when I surf my favorite South cal surf's spots such as Black's,Swami's or Trestles.

Laird (the God father of Big wave riding) is using H2O Audio. I am going to get the iN2 to listen to my playlist while surfing, even if I will still not have the balls to surf Jaws.

Warm wetsuit Rip Curl

The Hbomb heating elements made of carbon fiber (so that it can't rust) are placed along the spine to warm the core and consequently allows the heart to pump warm blood to the rest of the body. This means we can be warmer for longer.

I was fined with a 4/3 in San Diego but when I used to surf in Cornwall, England I would have loved the Hbomb, it seems the retail price is around $1000.

the lithium ion battery weight 120g and is located in the back in a spot that doesn't reduce flexibility. It takes 3 hours to recharge and can last for 2 hours.

Rip Curl R&D also asked assistance from the Natal shark Board to make sure it would not attracted the sharks, making the Hbomb wearer a nice warm bait.


for more info, the Rip Curl website:
http://www.ripcurl.com/index.php?hbomb

The Office

Most people seat for very long hours everyday, and like others it seems I cannot find a chair that actually I could enjoy sitting in. It doesn't help that many companies don't want to spend money for the comfort and health of their employees.

So for Xmas I am going to wish to have the latest Herman Miller chair that responds to involuntary human behavior (retail price around $1,500).

One major feature of the Embody chair is the spine-like flexing structure for the backrest.The back moves with 56 flexors to support the occupant, and the seat cushion is topped with 93 connected plastic discs, or pixels, to move as the sitter moves. It sounds a bit complicated but it makes sense, people sit differently and applied pressure at different places, so it is kind of like a Tempurpedic mattress.