Changing Robes

Dry Robes, I mean changing robes, have become an essential it seems. I have to admit I was a late adopter, and still don’t use them much, but they are good and whilst I am equipped with a layer of blubber, as I live on the North Sea, thus don’t get cold, friends who do, surf more because of them. 

We’re also not talking towel robes, just get a towel, we’re taking the heavy duty fuzzy lined things. We would say though that certain uses of them are on the borderline of being legal, like the school run or dog walking, but each to their own.

Cotty long time Dry Robe fan boy

1. Dry Robe - Now the guys in North Devon started these over sized furry sleeping bags for changing and watching sets between sessions. I have to declare they gave me five of these five years ago, I gave them away to a group of local surfers/groms to keep them in the water all winter. It worked, they now love the cold, and you know what, every robe is still fully operational. These things are tuff, functional, and based on the fact that these original five are as good as the day they were received, plus they are the originals, hence they have to be number one, plus they now use 100% recycled fibres, which just gives them another edge. 

 

The Northcore Beach Basha

2. The Northcore Beach Basha is a beauty. We’ve been testing these for two years, they are robust, they look cool, and basically do the job. Are they better or worse than the original Dry Robe, we don’t think there is much in it, and if the ones we’re using in the group last as long as the Dry Robes then they will match them. 

The Fellas at Wild Atlantic Have a Beauty

3. Wild Atlantic Surf Robe - Again like the Northcore version it is robust, and simply does the job. Designed in Ireland for the shitty weather our friends over there suffer (no worse than here I know but makes us feel dryer), they are perfect. Our testers have been in these for four months, so stay tuned, we’ll update on durability. 

With a fire that small you need a robe from Passenger

4. Passenger Escapism Sherpa Lined Robe - Our owners like this one, to quote “so soft, I could sleep in it” Passenger make nice stuff, this is no different. 

 

5. We’re not putting in a fifth, we like the top four, but we decided to ad a warning, amongst our owners we had a couple of folk on a budget one had a couple of lined robes from Decathlon, the French mega store, both fell apart, another had a very dubious but very cheap one direct from China -  we think it is a knockoff of a large surf brand so we won’t mention it, but the lining came detached. So simple rule, buy from good guys, local companies, yes they are an investment but if they help you surf more they are worth it, plus as has been proved by the aforementioned Dry Robes they last for ages.