John John Florence On Big Wave Surfing And His Secret To Survival
While his focus over the last decade has been chasing world titles, and Olympic gold in the case of this year, John John Florence grew up in Hawaiian waters and has a deep affinity and connection to big-wave surfing. Winner of the 2016 Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, when the opportunity to charge presents itself it's still something Florence relishes.
From the evolution of the boards and fins being used in big waves to the safety equipment to help mitigate risk, Florence is a student of it all. Keen to contribute to the cause, over the last year he has been developing an impact suit to help protect surfers from hitting the bottom or their board, as well as provide them with extra flotation to get to the surface quicker when they're being held down.
Florence and his team as his brand, Florence Marine X, have basically taken a springsuit and added various panels of foam pads on the legs, back and chest. The pads are interchangeable so they can be customized for the conditions.
"With this new suit, it's just so fun to be able to change the pads out for what you're doing," Florence explains. "So we can throw in thicker pads if we're going into bigger waves, or if we're doing the Eddie or some big outer reef wave. And then for Pipe, I like to switch it out to just some thin leg pads and just the back pads. I take all the chest pads out, and just have these thinner pads, and you don't even feel it."
Easier said than done. Florence, along with his brothers and their friends, have spent their lives conditioning themselves, both mentally and physically, to be able to handle the heaviest conditions. He openly admits, just because you have an impact suit on doesn't mean you're going to be a big-wave hero.
"These suits definitely don't make anyone invincible in large surf, and I think that's a really key thing please listen to me on," Florence chuckles. "Only go out if you're comfortable. Your suit is not going to make you invincible. You're still going to hit the bottom. You're still going to get held down. You can still get a two-wave hold-down. I think that's really important for people to know."
For those that are ready and willing to push over the ledge, the 2mm Modular Impact Springsuit is available online to Florence Marine's premium members. Selling for $800, the suits are made to order and take six to eight weeks for delivery ... which is fine, you don't want to rush these things.
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With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.