Patagonia’s Out the Back drops into Ventura
VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) Patagonia’s Out the Back tour kicked off two nights of free screenings and socializing with professional surfers in Ventura.
Surfers and their friends and family got the VIP treatment at the Patagonia headquarters.
Big-wave surfers including Greg Long, Paige Alms, Ramón Navarro, Annie Reickert, Ian Walsh, and Dave Rastovich are taking part in the tour stops.
Following Thursday’s premier screening of STAB and Patagonia’s “The Inflation Point,” athletes took questions and talked about ocean-safety and Patagonia’s new PSI Vest 2.0.
The screening followed a happy hour, screen printing, music, wetsuit repairs, board swaps, mini BWRAG workshops.
Guests also had a chance to enter a raffle for an FCD Surfboards and a Regulator Wetsuit and more.
Friday’s Sept. 18th line up in Ventura includes another happy hour the premiere of “Sensing Home,” featuring Dave Rastovich and Chris Miyashiro from 6:30- 8:30 p.m.
Coley Glascow of Glasgow Communication helped make guests feel at home and invited them to enjoy Patagonia Provisions including nonalcoholic beer.
A handout explains that the PSI Vest began more than a decade ago and was officially launched in 2017.
The latest PSI Vest 2.0 incorporates a slimmer design for better mobility and some smaller size options. Patagonia also redesigned Regulator wetsuits based on athlete feedback.
“We deploy this big wave inflation vest in big surf, so if you get held down you know on a 50 foot wave, when you’re down there and you can’t come up, you can actually pull the handle and it punctures CO2 that inflates the vest, almost like five U.S. Coast Guard life vests at once and it’s rocket you to the surface, “said Andrew Reinhart with Patagonia’s Research and Product Development.
“I think this is great, having a vest that allows us to have a much better chance to go home at the end of the day on these giant days is really important,” said big wave surfer Ian Walsh.
“So many of our friends and us included, have made it home to our families because we have access to this vest,” said big wave surfer Annie Reickert.
There is another chance to see “The Inflation Point” with a Gerry Lopez Q & A at Patagonia in Santa Monica from 7-9 p.m. on Friday night Oct. 9.
The tour will also head to New Jersey and other communities this Fall.
For more information about the Ventura and Santa Monica events visit,https://patagoniaouttheback.splashthat.com
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