Surfing Waves

are booties for kooks? in cool-ish water? heck, even in warm water?

ive been venturing off my local beach break to more rocky areas. Ive been getting cuts all over my feet and then i cant skateboard. How do people do it all the time? Especially if they are battling decent sized waves to get to the line-up?

At a rocky, reefy or otherwise slicey break, booties are smart and sometimes a necessity....how do people do it? You should see my feet after surfing certain breaks more than once in a week....you get cuts plain and simple and carry on....I use black duct tape after the fact....I had them on the other day and glad I did because it was skating into low tide and the break when I exited had spots on the reef that I had to cross to get back to the beach that were exposed and other areas in inches of water....slow and steady without booties but almost guaranteed one slip and then it's a cut that needs TLC otherwise it's a pus oozing, never healing, month long infection.

.....but then again I use hand webs so don't take image advice from me....

Booties are an essential item of surf gear in some circumstances
Reef spots with sharp rocks or live coral . Risk of cuts and subsequent serious infection.
Sea urchin spots
Cold water where your feet would numbed with cold.
Warm water booties differ from cold water booties , dive boots don't work at all .

Some coral reef breaks you cannot walk out to unless you have booties.

jaffa1949 wrote:
Some coral reef breaks you cannot walk out to unless you have booties.

30 minutes crossing 250m of exposed coral flats in Nusa Dua at low tide below the temple is also known as learning the hard way....

I guess if my best choice was a shallow reef that I would have to walk on then I would wear booties. The only break that I used to surf that was like that was Pakalas in the days before board leashes which I walked on the reef with no booties however I went barefoot all the time and had heavy calluses on the bottoms of my feet and the reef was covered with a layer of algae and padded soft so I never got injured

I started using booties this year to be able to surf through the winter. They made quite a big difference and enabled me to stay in the water and actually somewhat enjoy a cold winter surf instead of just going blue loosing sensation after 20minutes.

They're a little weird at first but you get the hang of them after a couple of surfs, pays to get some decent ones that don't just flap around.

If I was doing reef surfing I would wear them a lot!

There is a 116 page long thread about the other kind of booties

The problem with booties is u loose feel of the board. My last surf was 4 days ago in a spot with hard entry and exit because of reef. I brought my booties, knew I should use them but was looking for ways out. The 4 surfers out were not using booties. I was talking to another surfer and he said: "I should use them, but I don't cos I don't want to lose feel of my board".

Also I had just put a foot pad on my board and was looking forward to the feel of it, to know my backfoot was in the right position. So I decided to leave the booties in the trunk of my car.

I had some of the best waves and takeoffs of my life, still remember vividly how my back foot landed right on the pad in the perfect spot on takeoff, how it let me turn my board to make the wave. The control I felt in overhead waves. It was great! But I got cut up on both feet and hands on the entry and exit. There was just not enough time between sets to get in and out in a controlled way.

Now, a couple of days later, the rain has started and the pollution of the surf is at peak values, so I must sit it out waiting for the wounds to heal.

Was it worth it? I don't know. The feeling of those takeoffs are grinded in my memory, and the wounds are healing good..

Would I still be cut on the hands when wearing the booties? Probably not, cos then u can just put ur weight on ur feet to create a stable stance. But if the wave drags u over the reef anything can happen

What you can do is get some reef shoes (like booties low cut around the ankle - sometimes called beach shoes), walk across the reef and then take off the shoes and shove them down the back of your wetsuit. Sure it looks like you have a few tumours and its a little bit uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as cut feet...or even just thongs if there isn't much water movement over the reef (they fall off much easier).

Assuming you are wearing a wetsuit, of course. It helps if you are out with a friend because it makes getting the things in and out of the wetsuit easier. And chest zips can be very annoying!

Hope the feet and hands are OK fella.. (Post pics next time!!) When I first started out I didnt use boots, but then in the winter the water temp dropped to about 5c so I caved.. At first I thought oh no the feeling of 'feeling' is gone!..but there was a very small transition and now I feel everything wearing boots constantly. No sense of loss anymore.

Just inner chuckles of shadenfreud as I watch other bareback surfers limp agonizingly up the cold wet stones of our beach. Ah yes it's also warmer which equals hours more fun...no going back now!!

Waxing is not as critical either!

This guy wore shoes http://www.surfermag.com/blogs/eos/jerry-bujakowski-of-india/#YdxPw1cokOsBgTS8.97

Theis a break on a reef south of Cronulla Point in Australia, that is called sand shoes for that very reason of sea urchins. Sand shoes were also worn during periodical shortages of wax during the early 60s. Dunlop volleys were the best and were also very popular with roofing specialists for the same reason

I knew a guy who walked 300km through the Dandenong ranges, solo, in a pair of volleys.

Well I hope he at least wore sunscreen as well!!