Click or Miss: Want To Start A Vlog? It’s Gonna Cost You

If you don’t know Othmane Choufani, you should.

One of Morocco’s finest big wave surfers, Othmane has been featured in episodes of the Von Froth where he can be seen expertly placing Nic in the honey hole at one of his favorite cylinder centers. Othmane has started his vlog ‘Kayna Mouja’ just four weeks ago and has already posted six videos, a highly respectable rate of production by most surf vlog standards. Despite the consistent, quality nature of these videos, Othmane has learned quickly that Rome was not built in a day, which leads us to this: what does it cost to start a vlog?

First off, time. You need to have the time to chase quality waves with a quality filmer, as well as the time to edit them into watchable videos.

Second comes value, and I’m not just talking money. One needs to either be surfing enough where their B-clips are enough to carry a YT clip or (and it pains me to type this) sacrifice their A-clips for their vlog. There is no middle ground here. This of course doesn’t factor in the financial aspect of paying your production people’s way on the trips necessary to obtain such waves.

Lastly, commitment. Channels whose release schedules sound more like pitter patter than a Skrillex bassline are bound for failure. Even if your initial numbers are low like that of our friend Othmane’s, commitment is key. His latest video featuring his full journey from Morroco to Maverick’s for last year’s mega swell is the exact type of planning and execution that will make one’s numbers soar. A trip like this also takes the commitment to actually push under one of the waves that was breaking that day, which granted is a completely different conversation, but commitment nonetheless.

Good on Othmane for grinding that one out despite his ridiculous flight path from Casablanca –> San Francisco. My advice if you want to start a vlog? Don’t give up. Just like Rome, Jamie O’s current subscriber base wasn’t built in a day.

Click (or miss) below.

Click- How Is Nate Florence Not On Oakley
Channel Subs: 123
Video Views:  87,362 (14,560 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 2,744/37 or 74.1 likes per 1 dislike

South swell season is officially amongst us. This time of year marks a palpable uptick in the level of performance at Mexico’s standout breaks as well as the number of oversized baggage fees accrued by their national airlines. Billy Kemper, Luke Davis and Nate + Ivan Florence wasted no time getting themselves into some solid Mexican beachbreaks with the above first light session. While the waves are good, the real question is: How is Nate Florence not on Oakley? Previously sponsored by Spy, the ‘speedsters’ plug at 3:30 mark is high-quality organic marketing from what seems to be pair of product loyalists in Nate + Zoard. Food for thought…

Click- Still On The Fence About Soft Tops?
Channel Subs: 126k
Video Views:  46,258
Like/Dislike Ratio: 185/23 or 51.5 likes per 1 dislike

The “La Bomba” swell is one of recent souths being enjoyed by the aforementioned Florence Bros, but while they were enjoying empty tropical beach breaks, those in California were treated to a very different experience, with standout spots experiencing what some believe to be record-large crowds. The Wedge wasn’t perfect, but it did have plenty of the unmakeable, pulverizing A-frames people go there for. Chris Monroe of Beefs TV created what would be a fun and incredibly debilitating drinking game by keeping tabs on the amount of non-Catch Surf boards that broke during the session. If you ever needed convincing of their soft-top technology, look no further. Oh, and they work too.

Click- Othmane Choufani
Channel Subs: 344
Video Views:  1,370 (195 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 96/0

We talked about Othmane’s new channel above, but what we didn’t mention was Ramzi Boukhiam’s informative cameo. As two of Moroccan pro surfing’s most successful exports, these guys have done their fair share of international travel. A pro tip from Ramzi: no matter what, be the last person on the flight. Waiting until that final boarding call is stressful, but the payoff of scoping the last empty row and strolling in as if its your own can save your first couple sessions from a sore back/neck. Just make sure you have a sturdy carry-on to fend off any like minded foes.

Miss- Kanoa The Carnivore Shows You Around Narrabeen
Channel Subs: 11.7k
Video Views:  19,137 (2,126 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 452/5 or 90.4 likes per 1 dislike

As we affirmed during Stab Squared presented by Oakley, Kanoa is an incredibly watchable personality. Unfortunately not even he could turn this video around. Little to no waves, multiple meal prep recaps, a training session AND accompanying ice bath clips make this about as cliche a surf vlog as it gets. Swing, miss, and on to the next for Japan’s finest.

Click- Texas, Meet Wake Foil
Channel Subs: 73.3k
Video Views:  24,543 (2,045.25 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 644/6 or 107.3 likes per 1 dislike

What’s one to do when you use up all your sessions at Waco but still feel that burning itch to do strapped in backflips? Rent two boats and get your foil on of course. Ten years ago those two sentences would have made zero fucking sense, begging the question: where will we be 10 years from now? Will Kai Lenny be towing in to a 50,000 ft Mars tidal wave behind a NASA super shuttle? Will foil boards still even be a thing? Who knows, but one thing’s for sure: Kai Lenny is a maniac.