The Inflatable Wetsuit – What an Awesome Idea That Needs to Come True [Video]

For people who spend a lot of time in the water the wetsuit is just like a second skin and helps protect them whether it just skin diving or surfing. The problem is that there are no real life saving features built in to them, which is understandable given how skin tight they need to be.

However, as surfer Shane Dorian found out the hard way after one really bad wipeout, maybe we need to rethink the idea and after getting together with Billabong’s wetsuit product manager Hub Hubbard he came up with a rather unique idea – a wetsuit with a built in life preserver.

Codenamed the V1 at this point the wetsuit has a pull cord much like a parachute that when pulled will cause the area behind your shoulder blade to inflate, like a life preserver.

Here’s a video with Shane explaining how the idea came about and showing how it works.

via DVICE