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As the sport has grown, foilers are tapping into the potential that foils unlock with offshore exploration thanks to new innovations that make getting on foil and staying on foil easier. This expansion of the comfort zone also lets us as riders push our boundaries – but what about safety and protection? Pushing our comfort zones tends to come with an increased awareness of the exposure we choose to take on, and personal protection is becoming ever more the priority and this is something that brands are starting to recognize as well.
Soöruz – a long-established brand when it comes to high quality and eco-friendly wetsuits – has tackled both the safety and protection front with their new Strato watervest. An impact vest stacked with little details to allow you to go offshore with everything you might need.
From a safety perspective, the most notable feature (after the distinct yellow coloring) is the collaboration with Restube. Whilst the Strato vest itself doesn't have significant buoyancy being an impact vest, the ability to integrate a Restube PFD (an inflatable 50N PFD) by passing the Restube strap through dedicated straps in the vest to function as the waist belt, gives you additional buoyancy should you need it. Where it is fastened (at the hip) makes it easy to deploy if required, but also means it doesn’t get in the way when riding thanks to its compact size. To complement the bright yellow colorway, the vest has a number of well-placed reflective straps all over it to aid in visibility in poor lighting.
Other notable features are mounting straps for items such as PLBs, EPIRBs or VHF radios. A built-in hydration bag pocket on the back ensures you won’t get dehydrated and two generous zip pockets on the front have enough space for snacks, a small tool and a phone in a waterproof case.
The vest is fastened shut with a robust central zip and there is also an adjustable waist strap at the bottom of the vest with enough room around the waist above this strap to either run the Restube or a harness strap with a hook without feeling cluttered. The vest itself has lightweight padding all around the body, but doesn’t restrict range of movement. In fact, you barely even notice it when you’re wearing it.
All in all, this vest is a really great solution for those wanting the protection of a solid impact vest with the buoyancy of a PFD for all disciplines of foiling, from winging and parawinging to downwind SUP foiling.
