Surfing is the kind of activity that is so enduringly associated with a certain cool aesthetic that we often forget about the importance of safety measures.
One of the most basic safety measures in most kinds of water sport is life jackets—so do surfers wear them?
Surfers typically don’t wear life jackets. They aren’t usually required by law, and experienced surfers know their sport well enough not to need one. Adding extra weight can be detrimental to your ability to surf. If you can’t swim, you shouldn’t be there to begin with.
So, surfers don’t wear life jackets mostly because the assumption is that they are a strong enough swimmer not to need one.
Otherwise, they would not be there in the first place.
So, surfers don’t wear them because they have taken the necessary safety precautions elsewhere.
Let’s find out more.
What do big wave surfers wear?
Big wave surfing is one of the more extreme kinds of surfing, so you would think it gives you a good idea of surfing, in general, to see what they wear.
In fact, big wave surfers do often take extra safety precautions that you would not do in ordinary swimming.
One of those things is often an inflatable life vest.
However, it must be stressed that this is quite different from an ordinary life jacket.
Like the kind of thing you find on a plane in case of emergency, inflatable life vests go over the top of a regular wetsuit, and can be inflated when needed.
An ordinary lifejacket would still be cumbersome and reduce the ability to surf comfortably.
Other than that, big wave surfers generally don’t wear any more than an ordinary surfer wears.
And inflatable life jackets are not universal.
Some will still not wear them if they are confident enough in their swimming ability.
For ordinary surfing, life jackets are not needed.
As I said, it is really important that you are a strong enough swimmer without a life jacket if you want to go surfing.
You can’t really rely on floatation devices, as you still run the risk of getting swept out to sea if you don’t know what you are doing.
What about helmets?
Why do surfers not wear helmets?
This one is a bit more complex.
Broadly speaking, one of the reasons that a lot of safety gear is not used in surfing is purely aesthetic reasons.
Surfers don’t like how they look with life jackets and helmets on!
This is, of course, fair enough, and also not the only reason safety equipment is eschewed.
Helmets also fall into this category.
Unlike a life jacket, there’s nothing about wearing a helmet that implies you shouldn’t be surfing just yet in the first place.
Traditionally in the surfing scene, surfers would not wear helmets.
Thus, anyone who did wear a helmet would do so in fear of looking silly.
To a large extent, it really is that simple.
Surfers just don’t want to look silly.
That said, helmets are becoming more and more common in surfing culture.
There’s nothing you can do to eliminate the possibility of banging your head on a rock or something similar while surfing.
So, wearing a helmet would be an entirely sensible thing.
In the future, as more and more young surfers do wear helmets, perhaps it will catch on and become common practice.
However, there is a good argument that helmets are not needed in most cases.
You are almost always going to be swimming in open water far away from anything you could hurt yourself on.
But there’s always the chance of getting swept out.
Can you survive in the ocean without a life jacket?
That depends on the ocean itself, as well as the specific conditions of a given day.
Out in the open ocean, having been swept out, you’re unlikely to last very long without a life jacket.
However, there’s also only so long a life jacket can keep you safe in a situation like that.
In most cases, no, you can’t survive for long without a life jacket.
For casual surfing, though, you shouldn’t be in waters where you need a life jacket.
The more important thing is knowing how to avoid getting swept away.
If you have this knowledge, you shouldn’t need a life jacket.
Do you need to know how to swim for surfing?
Yes, you definitely, absolutely need to know how to swim for surfing.
There is no two ways about this.
If you don’t know how to swim, you should not be anywhere near the ocean or a surfing board.
You’ll be out in deep water, and without the ability to swim, you could very easily drown.
Though some water sports can be enjoyed by weaker swimmers with life jackets, surfing necessitates a certain amount of time in the water.
You will fall in—it’s part of the activity.
If you can’t swim, you’ll panic, and this can lead to all sorts of dangers in the water.
Swimming is more dangerous than most people realize.
Indeed, so much so, that the practices almost seem counter-intuitive on the face of it.
You don’t wear a life jacket because you should be confident enough in your swimming not to need one.
If you aren’t, then you shouldn’t be surfing just yet.
Strong swimming ability is an absolutely vital cornerstone of surfing, and you can’t swim strongly, you shouldn’t go anywhere near a surfboard.
