Watch: A Fistful Of Snapt5 Clips That Didn’t Make The Cut

“Holy shit. I’m the old guy now.”

The thought hit Parker Coffin — still shy of 30 — while chaperoning Taro Watanabe and Levi Slawson through a region of Indo that’s never graced a postcard.

When I try poking around for location details, Parker shuts it down quick. “I know you guys will probably want to tell that story, but I don’t want to blow the place out.”

Still, I manage to wring a little from him. “We had no idea what we were going to get, and we spent an absurd amount of time in the car. In the end, it was two weeks driving around while the rest of the Indonesia was getting barrelled. But we surfed alone — these days, that’s my priority.”

As Parker’s priorities shift, so does his role on trips. He’s used to being the young buck — burning hot and hungry, running on adrenaline. But eventually, time flips the script and you find yourself as the old bird — a perch everyone lands on sooner or later.

“I had this surreal moment realising I’m the one these younger guys are asking questions,” Parker admits. “It was a harsh one. I was like, ‘Fuck. These guys are fired up.’ I’m used to being the curious one grilling the older guys, and now it’s flipped”

The shift threw him at first, but Parker slid easily into the big brother boots. Now, living in the afterglow of competition (and not only riding for Monster, but beginning to help them on the brand side as well), he had a few lessons to pass on to Levi and Taro.

“I just told them to enjoy the road of surfing to its fullest. If competing’s fun and you’re into the process, go all in. Just don’t ever let competition taint the bigger picture — there are so many other cool parts to surfing. This is a lifelong thing. Don’t let surfing burn you out. It’s not worth it.”

Though still in his 20s, Parker’s earned the right to hand out advice. At various points in his life, he’s been a golden prospect for surf brands, a kid destined for the tour, a man grinding through the QS, and, at one point, a worn-out figure on the verge of walking away from surfing. What brought him back? Logan ‘Chucky’ Dulian welcoming him into the Snapt series.

“I was pretty much accepting the end of my surfing career,” reflects Parker. “I lost all my sponsors, I was burned out, and I felt completely beat up. Then Logan offered me a part in Snapt3. I was like, ‘Dude, why the hell do you want me in your movie? I’ve lost all my sponsors. Everyone’s kicking me to the curb. Nobody’s looking at me.’ And he said, ‘No, man. That’s exactly why I want you. I want to give you the chance to show people what you can do.’”

“It was a major momentum shift in my life. I got a part in the movie, picked up a sponsor, and suddenly, the ball started rolling again.”

Last year, Logan dropped the news that Snapt5 would be the beloved saga’s final stand. “This is really just one last go at it — for the love of surfing, the fans, and my passion for surf films.”

To honour Logan’s mark on surfing and repay him for pulling him back from the edge, Parker’s hell-bent on leaving it all out there for this film.

“He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. All Chucky wants is to give back to surfers. I really owe it to him to try my fucking best. My mentality for this one is to go all out, no holding back.”

Watch previous Snapts here: 1, 2, 3, 4