Meet: The Trunks Of Stab High

Last week, in cohorts with SurfStitch we dropped a few mins of unreleased footage shot the day before Stab High kicked off in Texas. 

Before they hit their first Waco wedge in front of a judging panel, a broadcast team and thousands of eyeballs across the world, invitees were given a 24 hour slot to feel it out.

While Stab staff and a mass assortment of contractors paced around the venue prepping for the main event, our surfers slipped into their shorts and got to work on their strategy for total pool domination the following day.

Expecting the appetisers to appeal as much as the mains, we stuck a few of our filmers around the perimeter to capture the motion (viewable below), and plonked revered lensman, Corey Wilson right under the Waco kicker to grab the stills from every test ride (hit the slider up top).

The whole event coincided with the southern hemisphere’s annual tilt back towards summer. Right now, down under, the water’s warming and at last the full suits are retiring to the depths of their summer hideouts, being the garage/wardrobe/boot of the car. 

While it was convenient, during warmup day SurfStitch took the opportunity to deck the Stab High talent in the latest from this season’s trunk range – it was after all the perfect catwalk to show them off.

Noa Deane, Mason Ho, Jay Davies, Creed McTaggart, Harry Bryant, Hector Santamaria and more were kitted out with a fresh bundle of colours and materials from the latest styles built to fill any voids left since your last warm water session.

Speaking of voids, now that your suit’s tucked away, is it time to reassess your current surf short selection?

Here’s a quick checklist for you.

Firstly, pull them out from wherever they’ve been hibernating.

The smell; is it bearable? Is the rear end wax-coated? Waistband blown? Stains? Zip a crusty heap of rust? Or has their fashionable status been revoked?

Slide down below for the shorts worn by the stars of Stab High and if you’re in need, visit the full fresh range here.

Worn by the winner of our very first wave pool aerial event, Volcom’s Garden Stoney short have a four way stretch, 19 inch outseam and just the right amount of colour to make them pop, without turning an unwanted number of heads. Shop them here.

Black is the most wearable colour, full stop. The shorts wrapped around Creed are called the Arched Out X and they’ve got modest 90s inspired logos and the optimum length. Shop them here.

Sometimes you don’t want your black trunks too black (especially if your rig hasn’t seen enough sunlight), in such cases the washed back look is the go. Haz Bryant wore the Rusty Jiggy Jig shorts with ‘Super Flex’ stretch fabric and won the award for “the surfer that had the most fun” – as he does pretty much every session he has. Shop the trunks here.

Before the event Jay Davies claimed his well-set frame might struggle to get the elevation he needed in the pool at its default size. After his display during warmups, he’d proved himself wrong. Jay wears the RVCA Christian Fletcher shorts that also have an easy wearing shade of black and plenty of elastane for stretch. Shop them here.

During his time in the Waco play pen Mason Ho proudly wore his very own signature set of Rip Curl trunks. They’re called the Mirage Mason Haze short and they suited the sprightly colour scheme he was running during his time in Texas – which made for excellent imagery by the way. Shop the shorts here.

While Rhythm didn’t have any team riders in the heat draw, there were a few unsponsored heads bobbing around the pool during the event who appreciated having a fresh set to slide into as required. These blue trunks are called the Havana and they’re decorated with a groovy pattern and a less hi-fi looking structure, to allow onlooker to focus on performance over eye-grabbing presentation. Shop the trunks here.

Want more? Slide this way to hit the full range.