About 3 years ago you made me some vented surfplugs. They are the most amazing things ever. It means I can carry on surfing; without surfplugs, I could no longer surf. I am a musician for a living so need immaculate hearing - I couldn't risk my bone growing any further; I'm about 80% blocked in my right ear. The doctor says that there has been no further growth in the last three years even though I surf 4 times a week.
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Tassy Swallow, Cornish Surfer and Surfplugs teamrider can now add Olympic Torch bearer to her CV. Tassy received the 'Kiss' from British competetive sailor Ben Ainslee and proudly walked it from Lands End into Cornwall as torch bearer no.2. Its great that young surfers are getting this recognition in sporting achievements and helps to raise the profile of British surfing. When will we see Surfing as an Olympic sport?
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Surfplugs was recognised by Theo Paphitis as one of 6 Small Business Sunday award winners in November 2010. March 30th 2012 saw an amazing gathering of all the previous winners at Edgbaston Cricket ground in Birmingham and Rob Shaddick, founder of Surfplugs, was invited along to the event.
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Occasionally Mr.Surfplugs does get out of the workshop and scores a few waves. I don't pretend that I am the best surfer in the world, because I clearly am not, and I don't even pretend to be that good, although I should be after 25 years in the water. The truth is I am older, not as paddle fit as I used to be but occasionally I get a wave, and occasionally I might even try and do something with it, and very very occasionally a photographer (Zac Gibson) may have caught that brief moment!
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I always get a buzz when I see the Surfplugs logo somewhere. Usually it's on the back of a van, somebodys board or stuck on a road sign. But occasionally our logos turn up in magazines when a photographer has submitted a photo of some grom doing a massive air and our logo can just be seen in the photo. It's probably too small for the reader to recognise but I do and I think it's great. So... you can imagine how stoked I was to see this great underwater shot from Zac Gibson which proudly displays 'Surfplugs' across the nose. Yes, its the end of a wave, yes the surfer has buried his feet in the face of the wave and yes the photo was taken by accident ... but sometimes those brief moments of randomness produce the longest memories.
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Rob Shaddick lives and surfs in North Devon. When he’s not surfing he can be found in his shaping workshop surrounded by dust with a pungent smell of resin filling the air. He’s shaped for Reubyn Ash, Lyndon Wake, Beau Bromham, Karma Worthington, Ben Haworth, Alex Baker, Nick Lloyd and over 1000 other surfers worldwide so how has he remained so elusive?
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Well I suppose at some point you need to know who Mr. Surfplugs actually is? - this is me, Rob Shaddick, Devon boy, Surfer, Surfers Ear Sufferer, Previous NHS Audiologist & Surfplugs developer. The problems with developing a Surfplug for surfing & watersports is finding a product that stays in. There are many products out there in Surf Shops but most end up falling out of your ears, clogging up the oceans or spending eternity rotting in the bottom of your wetsuit bin. Off the shelf earplugs will fit if you have a 'standard' ear but what about when Surfers ear has started to progress, or you have that awkward shaped ear or you just want the ultimate fit on the market?
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Well you can't tell by just looking at someone, but as soon as you start looking into the ear canal the full horror of surfers ear starts to reveal itself. The slow growth of bone starts to close the ear canal - here's a picture of Tim Ellman-Brown's right ear, he's a surfer from Newquay (pictured above) but he's got some seriously messed up surfers ear! If you need to compare it with a normal ear then look at the inset photo which is the a normal open and clear ear canal.
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Many people ask me 'what actually causes surfers ear?' If we look at the most basic explanation it is growth of the bone within the ear canal caused by the cooling effect of the wind over the moist skin layers. Its a protective mechanism, the ears are trying to close and restrict water into the ear.
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At Surfplugs a percentage of our sales go to the Paddle4Relief charity. We thought we would let you know what they are doing with the money. Paddle4Relief, with the assistance of Surf Relief UK and Christian Surfers UK, have successfully shipped a consignment of surf boards and surf equipment to Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka and area devestated by the 2004 Tsunami.
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Surfplugs rider Ben Haworth wins first place at the Jesus Long Board Classic in Polzeath, Cornwall. He sealed the win with a progressive 'fins out' manoeuvre off the lip in the final in what was a perfect 2-3 foot clean conditions scoring 8.8 and a 9.2 in the last two waves of the final.
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