This Week’s Vlogs Are Ready For Your Denigration

I don’t know what took so long, but this week I was finally turned on to Influencers In The Wild.

The page captures the world’s most exaggerated and dramatic versions of what you see below. The world’s population of WOATs if you will. Watching the lengths these people will go to get their almighty likes goes from entertaining to sad pretty fast. 

There’s a lot of cringe-worthy surf content out there, but at least no one’s doing this to boost their sub numbers. This week we have a whole new cast of selfie-loving surfers who are putting it out there for us. While there is never a good time to start watching vlogs, California’s announcement of another pseudo lockdown last night will provide ample downtime for you to consume the below (assuming you live in the great Golden State). 

Zeke Lau Can’t Wait To Start This Hawaiian Leg

Stats

Channel Subs: 5.77k

Video Views: 14,583 (2,083 views/day)

Like/Dislike Ratio: 421/5 or 84.2 likes for every 1 dislike 

Zeke is yet another addition to the long list of Hawaiian vloggers. He’s dropped 11 videos since his channel launched in early September. While most bend and weave to entertain their almighty subscriber base, Zeke tends to focus his on actual surfing. For those who enjoy competitive action from time to time, tuning into these vlogs can give you little advantages, like knowing Zeke’s favorite Sunset slayer will be on ice until the event. You were planning on putting your money on him already though, right?

Really Big Board, Really Tiny Waves 

Stats 

Channel Subs: 2.2k

Video Views: 1,280 (2,083 views/day)

Like/Dislike Ratio: 54/0 

The Gudauskas brothers ‘Vibe Up’ Channel is less vlog centered and more about capturing their myriad of weekly activities. This clip boasts Click or Miss’ first pure Like/Dislike ratio, and why not? Dane Gudauskas and South African shaper Donald Brink, whose functional designs at times resemble the product of a bad acid trip in the shaping bay, rebuild a 14-foot Tom Blake inspired Kookbox. Impressive work and a reminder that sometimes all you need to get amped to surf tiny waves is a really, really big board. 

Brett Barley Learns To Lasso With Torrey Meister

Stats 

Channel Subs: 41.7k

Video Views: 10,436(10,436 views/day)

Like/Dislike Ratio: 491/6 or 81.8 likes for every 1 dislike 

Brett Barley’s been doing this YT thing a long time. With 239 videos posted over the course of 14 years, his channel is a literal catalog of his development into one of pro surfing’s most successful content creators, and perhaps the only one who edits his own vlogs. Here, Brett heads to Hawaii for his annual Pipe pillage and gives us a behind-the-scenes look of the O’Neill house, where western mind Torry Meister is biding time until the next swell by practicing his lasso skills. Talk about a ‘you can’t script this’ moment.

The Smith Brothers Get Tipped Off, Find Their Way To The Ments

Stats 

Channel Subs: 63.2k

Video Views: 83,017(8,301 views/day)

Like/Dislike Ratio: 2,449/31 or 79 likes for every 1 dislike 

Bringing you yet another brother-run Youtube channel, this clip was technically released last week but the first 3 minutes were too good not to include. Alex Smith recounts his reading our article about Kolohe and co.’s boat trip to the Mentawais and booking a trip of his own as a result. Snowball effect! Or is that butterfly? I never was good at math.

Did We Start A Trend?

Stats 

Channel Subs: 109k

Video Views: 51,180 (12,854 views/day)

Like/Dislike Ratio: 1,386/31 or 106.6 likes for every 1 dislike

John tends to leave the ‘vlogging’ to his brother, as he’s often busy winning world titles or creating some of the best surf movies ever made. This short clip finds him and brother Nate flexing their quads on a 15-mile downwind foil, in which John is rocking a Dakine Camelbak. John’s people have yet to confirm whether or not he got his style inspo from our Intern, but imagine the marathon session he could log if he actually wore this out at Pipe?