But I don ’ t . I ’ m infuriatingly picky with my gear . I baby it and do my best to keep it ‘ like new ’ for as long as I ’ ll need it . This is because I want my gear to function on day 100 exactly like it did on day one , whether I pay for it or not . I ’ m a genuine and lifelong believer that equipment does make a difference .
My wife ribs me that until very recently , I still had some 1990 ’ s bright yellow Cébe sunglasses that I still wore , in almost perfect condition . That ’ s because , after 20 years , they ’ re pretty much in the same condition they were when I got them . I have snowboards from my time as a sponsored athlete that sit in my garage collecting dust because the designs are outdated , but the boards themselves are in perfect condition still , despite many seasons of use . My three-year-old carbon 303 is in pristine condition – barely a scratch on it . And today , it performs exactly like it did the first day I got it .
OK , maybe I ’ m a little excessive with my ‘ protect your gear ’. When I met my wife , and I took her to the Lachines to surf for the first time , I told her
while walking up the slippery rocks , “ If you slip and fall , protect your board . Take the hit on your body ; you ’ ll heal , but if you land on the board , it ’ s ruined .” I instilled that mindset into her , and today , we both do it with our seven-year-old son .
EVERYTHING THEY OWN IS BROKEN But there is another group of people that I can ’ t even begin to understand . Most pay full price for their gear . And almost instantly , the gear starts to fall apart around them . It ’ s like as soon as they touch it , it just starts to decompose . Everything they own is broken , taped up , and ragged looking . The door handle on their car is busted off , the hip pads in their boat are ripped out and duct-taped into place , with the bottom deformed and warped . Their paddles are delaminating , and the snowboard bindings are held together with tie wraps and tape .
ThePADDLER 51