NY Matmeet. Leblon crowdfunding. Protect your mat. Stuff for sale...

NEW FORMAT

There’s a lot going on in the mat world these days so we thought it might make life more straight forward if we went to a monthly (roughly) news post on the blog. This is the first edition.

We would love to hear from matsurfers around the globe if you have things going on.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com

MATMEET NEWYORK

The poster speaks for itself and if you’re in New York then cancel your Saturday plans because this is TODAY!

LEBLON CROWDFUNDING - More Sizes & Lower Price!

Leblon fins are getting a fair bit of airtime currently as a real option for mat surfing. To date though, the sizing has been a bit limited but that’s about to change. Leblon have just launched their crowdfunder for the new batch of fins at a significantly reduced price!

Get on that HERE

Here is some interesting feedback on Leblons from Ian Jermyn:

Feet and fins

Everyone's feet are different. The fins that are going to be best for you may not be the ones your mate is frothing about. It makes little sense to surf wearing fins that cause you discomfort. If you're experiencing muscle cramps in your feet or legs (both?), stressed joints, blisters (subsequent sea-ulcers) or fatigue your current fins could be to blame. While it's unlikely to be an option for most of us to try all the different types before we buy, we can make better choices by understanding which fins are a good fit for different shapes of feet.

My (big, wide) feet

My feet are 10cm wide and, in light of the fins I've tried over the past few years, I put myself into a 'wide foot' category. My shoe size is US 12 / UK 11.5 / EU 46.5 / AU 10.5. I don't go barefoot in any fins as doing so has too-often resulted in blisters and, subsequently, sea ulcers. I'm currently running with 4mm Alder Burn fin socks.

Leblon Fins - Flex and Original

I bought a pair of both Leblon's Flex and Original model fins in size Large. With my foot shape and size, and wearing 4mm fins socks, the fit of the size Large is perfect - for both 'models'. The fin blade of the Original are stiffer than the Flex. For both however, the foot pocket is made of the same soft rubber. The comfort of the foot pocket I felt was similar to that of DaFin; the rubber on the Leblon fins though seems thicker and the heel strap seems wider than the DaFins (I use 'seems' here as I owned DaFins several years ago but replaced them with Duck Feet). The overall size or shape between the two Leblon models is the same. The size of the foot pocket and heel straps are the same for both models; the same soft rubber is used for the heel strap and foot pocket for both models. As advertised the blades of the Original are stiffer than the Flex.

For the past few months I've been predominantly wearing the Flex model so my feet and legs can acclimatise to them after a few years wearing, almost exclusively, Voit's Duck Feet. To date I've only surfed twice using the Leblon Original model fins so I can't confirm that the Original have more power than the Flex - I've not used them (the Originals) enough to be confident in saying so one way or another. Both are comfortable and very powerful.

My verdict

I've been riding the Leblon Flex for several months and I'm confident in saying they are the best fins I've used for matting so far. The Leblon Flex (and with two trials of my Leblon Original fins) are certainly as powerful at Voit's Duck Feet; Prior to the Leblon fins, Duck Feet had been the most powerful fins I had used for matting. Prior to Leblons I thought DaFins were the most comfortable fins I had worn. Now, for me, these Leblon fins have been the most comfortable fins I have worn; for me this has been the wide foot pocket but also the rubber that feels thicker and the heel strap that seems wider compared to the DaFins.

They ride really well too. Powerful to get in early and get you up to a fast speed from take-off. Also, they give a terrific hold when the wave face gets steep and release easily if I get the fool idea to throw everything sideways.

My big-wide feet gives these 5-stars. They are worth the money.

Ian Jermyn

Leblon have really embraced the mat surfing world so let’s show some love back

HEAVY DUTY CARRY CASE

So often, life reflects art and this is one of those times. It was whilst watching an Episode of Better Call Saul that it became clear that document tubes make great heavy duty mat cases! After extensive searching (a good 10 minutes) we decided that we really liked THIS ONE HERE.

Not too pricy either!

STUFF FOR SALE

So to wrap up, we thought pointing readers in the UK and Europe to this might be fun as you can get some Voit Duckfeet virtually new at a decent price of £70 GBP when you take out the shipping. James A Grant is the man to contact via THIS POST IN THE MATSURFERS.COM FACEBOOK GROUP.

So there you have it. Please do let us know what you think of the new format using the comments section below and send us anything you want to share with the world.

MatSurfers.com