Boozers & Thermalution Surf Shirt Review

After yesterday's failure to surf primarily because it was too cold (39° wind chill factored air temp and 54°water temp) I decided to face down my inner wimp and commit to a morning surf.....no matter what. For me, the only way this was going to happen was for me to leave the house and arrive at the beach in my wetsuit. 

Fortunately air temp was a few degrees warmer this morning and there were no high clouds obscuring what was going to be maximum solar gain. Regardless I looked at it as a chance to go with my full winter warmth wardrobe.

Photos may not be the exact rendering of the location surfed

Boozer's was the spot call. This place is a kind of beach break/sand point that sits on a long arc of coastline that runs for a couple miles in either direction. It's unusual in that the waves break in a fairly consistent place on the point although you'll get waves bouncing around from here to there as beach break waves do. The water was full of wildlife. At least a dozen seals were leaping and diving, revealing their long, sharp canines as they barked at each other. Great whites inhabit these environs too, but...what else is new, besides the surf shirt that is. 

Surf this morning was smaller and less consistent than yesterday, with steady offshore wind. Waits were fairly long which was a good test for the heated shirt. It's easy to get cold when you're not generating body heat paddling or surfing. I managed to grab seven waves in a little over an hour, three of which were very good. My third to last was the biggest wave of the morning and it was just what I like...a late drop with a very steep takeoff into a long fast wall all the way to the beach. Stoke! I thought I was in the perfect takeoff spot, a bit inside cuz the waves were pushing water and rolling some, but as I turned and stepped on the gas I saw the top two feet start to feather. I started my drop down the face and quickly accelerated, digging the feeling of free falling with speed and hanging by a fin in the steep face. I had a solid connection. A millisecond later that pitching wave top slapped me hard in the side of the face and threw me off my board for a tumbling beat down spin cycle in the froth. Arghhhh! Bitch slapped! But while I was bummed, I was stoked. It could have been an epic ride. You don't know until you go and it was a great opportunity to test the wetsuit ensemble and surf shirt. Also, every once in awhile we need to remember that OMO is in charge.

My Winter ensemble from head to toe: 2mil Excel Quick Dry Cap (not an integrated hood, they make my neck feel stiff and sore); 4/3 O'Neill's Mutant wetsuit; 0.5mil O'Neill Hyperfreak (that's me alright) neoprene/skins long sleeve top; Thermalution heated surf shirt; merino wool boxer style undergarment (surprisingly warm); O'Neill Heat 3mil split toe booties.

If you haven't noticed yet, up there under the blog title is a word that you, dear Reader, should note. Septuagenarian. Definition: A person who is from 70 to 79 years old. At 72 (73 in 11 days) I fit nicely into that category. And I might as well admit that I take great pride in that I'm still surfing fairly well into my seventh decade. In order to do that I really need to be warm. Thus the full winter regalia especially when the temps are in the 30's.

I've owned everything on that list for at least two or more years except for the Thermalution surf shirt which I added this season and it has made the difference between me surfing in the winter and having to give it up during the cold season. It's what keeps me in shape so when I return to Maui I can surf every day. But...it comes at a cost. They're retailing right now for $429 on the Thermalution website. Yeah, it's a hefty price to pay, but if it keeps me warm and surfing, it's worth it.





The Thermalution shirt (linked here is a lot more information which  I've found to be accurate, no hype) is essentially a short sleeve rash guard with built in heating elements that rundown your back from your neck to your lumbar spine. This full coverage allows the suit to heat your entire spinal column and the major muscles of your back needed for paddling and surfing. This alone can keep your back more relaxed and limber as well as keeping you warm and in the water longer. The heat source is two slim lithium batteries that fit snugly in two side shirt pockets. When pulled over your head (like pulling on a regular rash guard) the batteries are situated far enough under your armpits and above your hips and are practically unnoticeable. The shirt is very comfortable to wear and has been well designed and engineered.


The surf shirt has a pigtail cord that attaches at the back of the shirt, with a switch which supplies heat to the heating elements. The switch has three toggle positions starting with the coolest setting, the green indicator light; then orange; and finally red, the warmest setting. Heating is very efficient and I haven't yet had to move from the green setting to anything higher. But it's comforting to know that I've got a lot of heating to pour on if and when I need it. When buttoning up my wetsuit in preparation for a surf I pull the cord out over my shoulder so that it hangs in front of my chest. I tuck a section of the cord into the front of the wetsuit, leaving about 6" to a foot hanging out. I then pull the neck flap over my head (the Mutant is a front zip suit). Before zipping up, I place the cord and the switch between the body of the wetsuit and the flap so that when I zip up, the switch is sandwiched in between the neck flap and the body of the suit. It is then easily accessible and out of the way. I usually turn on the shirt when I'm ready to leave the car. The shirt heats up very quickly and I'm nice and warm when I hit the water.


Apres surf, I leave the batteries on to exhaust the charge. The shirt keeps you warm as long as you have your wetsuit on, or some other insulating clothing, like a jacket. You won't stay warm in just the shirt alone, you need that neoprene or outer garment. I peel off the shirt and drape it over the rails of my boards, stored on edge in my van. When I get home I place the shirt over the edge of a padded chair, unplug the battery connectors from the shirt's heating elements and plug them into the charger. Charging takes a couple hours. Then I put the whole thing back together and hang the shirt on a hanger, ready for use.

Caveats: The heating elements are quite noticeable and are subject to damage if treated roughly. You can't wad up this shirt and throw it in a bag, the back of your pickup or your trunk. If you break any of the connectors the shirt won't heat anymore so you have to be careful. Also, while I rinse all my equipment after every use, I only rinse out the shirt every three or four surfs. When you do wash it, be careful and gentle. The second caveat is the connectors on the battery, surf shirt and charger. They are surprisingly small and fragile. Always use caution when connecting and disconnecting the wires. Damage to the connectors will render the shirt unuseable for heat. The connectors come with caps so the moral of the story is to never leave the connectors uncapped. They should always be plugged in to the shirt wires or capped. If you take care of your equipment, it will take care of you. And WTF? You just paid over 400 bills for this thing!

Overall I give the Thermalution surf shirt a five star (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) rating. On a couple occasions the shirt has been so effective that I've actually had to turn it off. But when it's cold out, don't leave home without it.

Review: Quickblade V-Drive Paddle vs. Quickblade Trifecta Paddle

I did as much online research as I could about the Quickblade V-Drive and Trifecta paddles. Here are the two best videos I found that gave useful info about the paddles. They both feature Quickblade's Jim Terrell and are 99% free of hype and marketing. Video links: V-Drive and Trifecta. I think you'll get more out of this review is you watch the videos first.

These paddles are expensive and they are top of the line equipment therefore I couldn't afford to make an uninformed choice. In addition to the online research I hounded Keith, the shop manager of Covewater Paddle Surf Santa Cruz with a thousand questions which he was only too eager to answer. Finally, I was able to "try before you buy" because the shop has two adjustable shaft paddles in each model to demo. Personally, I would never buy a paddle this expensive, with as many variables, without taking each for an intensive test paddle.

Why did I need to buy a new paddle? I left my other two paddles on Maui where I SUP surf and open ocean paddle. I wanted my new mainland paddle to be a two-fer, that is, to paddle well when surfing my shorter SUP surfboards or flatwater paddling, downwinding or just touring around on my longer SUPs, a 12' Bark Competitor and a 14' Angulo Shaka.

A little about me. I am a smaller (145-150 lbs.), older (68) guy in excellent condition. I've been SUP surfing in Santa Cruz since 2007. I stay in good shape but I'm not a big guy, and I don't like big paddles. I was looking for efficiency in a smaller blade and I think both sizes that are available in the V-Drive (81 and 91 sq. in.) and Trifecta (86 and 96 sq. in.) can provide that. It's a matter of finding the right size for the paddler.

Covewater provided the V-Drive 91 and the Trifecta 96 for my use. I took out the Trifecta 96 first, mainly because I really like the shape of the blade and because the Trifecta was reputed to have a soft, smooth catch and efficient but forgiving pull with power that wasn't hard on the shoulders. I wasn't expecting much in the way of swell but a little south ramped up while I was out and I surfed for almost three hours in consistent, fast and reeling point surf.

Part of my agenda included distance paddling. Even though I wasn't on one of my bigger boards, I knew I could get the feel of the paddle from paddling the smaller, slower surfing SUPs. I deliberately launched a mile from where I wanted to surf, and paddled to the break. Little did I know I would be waylayed but multiple reefs that were going off. This was an excellent opportunity to put the paddle to work.

The Trifecta. The 96 should have been harder to pull through. But it wasn't. It was in fact forgiving while being extremely efficient. It felt like a much smaller blade. It was also buttery smooth and quiet at the catch. Keeping the blade underwater while pulling through to the release yielded a whisper quiet stroke where the only sound was the water slapping the nose of the board. It made a mediocre paddler like me, better. Equipment that makes you better? I'll drink to that.

That session lasted almost three hours and I surfed a ton of waves. I covered a lot of ocean paddling from the shore to the line-up and when I was done I paddled a mile back to where I launched. I was tired and sore, but I didn't hurt anywhere. I was anxious to try the V-Drive next and make a comparison.

The V-Drive. Two days later I paddle out into the line-up on the same board with the V-Drive 91. From the first stroke at launch I immediately felt the difference between the two blades. Even though the 91 V-Drive's blade was smaller than the 96 Trifecta's, it was harder to pull through. The catch was noisy and I felt resistance from the V-Drive immediately upon placing the blade into the water at the catch. I surfed for two hours, again I caught a lot of waves and I did a lot of paddling. At the end of the session I was tired and I knew which paddle I wanted to buy.

Decision. I knew I wanted the Trifecta. The V-Drive 91 was too much paddle and was not suited to my style, body type and condition, and surfing/paddling preferences. At the same time I thought the V-Drive 81 would be too small and it wouldn't have the soft, quiet efficiency of the Trifecta. This doesn't mean the V-Drive isn't a great paddle. My friends John, Kali'a and Keith (the Covewater shop manager) all have the V-Drive. But they are competitive distance paddlers (and surfers) and I am not. So the V-drive was not going to be useful for my preferences and everyday paddling needs. The Trifecta was just a smoother all around paddle, the catch, pull and release was "softer" and overall the paddle felt easier on my body. But there was a caveat.

The caveat. I still wasn't 100% sure that the 96 was the right size blade and this is where some guess work, along with intuition and research knowledge needed to be applied. The 96 Trifecta was easier to pull through than the 91 V-Drive. But I still felt like it put too much resistance and too much load on my muscles and joints. I felt like it would tire me out sooner and possibly lead to stress injuries. I just didn't think I would be getting the best bang for my buck, or the overall efficiency in a paddle that I was looking for. The Trifecta 86 was only 5 sq. in. smaller than the 91 V-Drive but I thought that the easy, soft feel of the Trifecta would translate better in the smaller 86 sq. in. blade than what I experienced with the V-Drive 91.

Leap of Faith. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Everything I had researched, learned and put into practical application was in my head. So, I let all that sit for 24 hours before making a decision. Like the Magic 8-Ball answer that comes floating up from the inky black, my mind provided the right answer. Trifecta 86. I ordered it. I waited. Was my decision the right one?

Shaft. While the Trifecta and V-Drive demo paddles did not have the EVA wrap and tapered oval shafts, there were several in the shop I could play with. The oval shape and tapered shaft, along with the EVA wrap felt really good to hold. The shaft is feather light, so light it makes you laugh. My decision making process on whether to spend the extra $60 was basically...if you're gonna spend five hundred bucks on a paddle why not spend an extra sixty and get exactly what you want? So, I did and I have not regretted one penny of that decision. The oval shaft is easy to grip and is not slippery. The EVA wrap handle fits nicely in my hand and gives me a sure, fast and reliable grip upon contact. Rarely do I lose the handle on side changes or in turbulent conditions.

Regarding stiffness this was a variable that I felt I didn't have a lot of control over. My choice was to select the oval tapered shaft which has it's own stiffness index (see above videos) depending upon length of shaft. I felt confident that the materials used, technology and the integrity of the company would provide a shaft with acceptable stiffness for my needs.

Something new with these two QB paddles is that the blade is glued to the shaft once it's been cut to the desired length. No longer is the handle glued to the shaft after proper sizing as it comes already installed on the shaft. The blade inserts into a diagonal cut on the paddle shaft, and is then glued. I like my paddles a wee bit long and the length I used on the adjustable demo paddles was perfect. So, Keith and I cut it that long and affixed the blade to the shaft. The bond from shaft to blade is so secure and snug that I electrical taped the blade to the shaft just in case I wanted to change it later. No problem and I doubt that I'll glue it at all in future.

I picked up my new QB Trifecta 86 a week after I ordered it at the shop and was stoked. I got the orange logo with white border. Olivier, the new owner of Covewater comped me with a very nice paddle bag and the rest is history.

Postscript: I've used my new Trifecta 86 for a couple months now and love it more each time I use it. It has in fact met all my expectations and I did get what I was looking for, a two-fer. This paddle is two paddles in one and works well in the surf or for distance paddling. The new technology and design of the paddle leaves my old Infinity otter tail and QB Kanaha 90 in the dust. Now my biggest problem will be talking myself out of getting one for Maui.