Bathing Bottoms, Holes And Airy Illumination

A Boardshort Guide in 2018? How adventurous!

In the Northern Hemisphere, we’re picking at Spring hors d’oeuvres, not-so-patiently awaiting an overdue summer feast.

So we enlisted the brands who keep the Stab gears turning, to send us their favorite trunks of the 2018 Spring and Summer lineups, grabbed legendary North Shore lensman Brian Bielmann, set up a North Shore studio on the sand at Keiki, and shot their top talent dripping wet, feet in the coarse pink sand.

Oh, and of course we had them fill out a cheeky questionnaire.

In the early 2000’s surfers were forced to endure whatever duds their sponsors delivered. Checkers, botanicals, stripes, paint splatters, graffiti scrawled across the top? You pay; I’ll wear. Two decades later, thankfully, brands are making boardies their rider will actually want to sport.

These have been carefully chosen, though we’ll bet these offend plenty, excite more than a few, and fly right over the heads of the rest of you…

It’s 2018. If you’re all-pleasing, you’re beige. The Divisive Age is upon us!

Meet Evan Geiselman’s “Peeler 20” Boardshort”

Freedom, stretch, and new tech is far from dead in 2018.  

Reef present their Holey line, a capsule with perforated fabric, thousands of tiny holes poked through the trunk’s fabric for air and water flow. (Which sounds like a gimmick, but we tried them on, and they feel like you’re wearing nothing: great for yoga, karate kicks, watching tv, and, uh, shredding!)

The office pick from this batch is the Swimmer 18” Boardshort.

The Volume also includes: 

More Aloha 18” Boardshort

Islands 19” Boardshort

Simple 2 20” Boardshort

For the season’s best boardshorts, head here.