Denis from France

Hi there,

My name is Denis and I'm a mat enthusiast from France. I live in a seaside town named Les Sables d'Olonne which gets several mat friendly breaks around.

I currently practice both mat surfing and board surfing...but regarding mat surfing, I own a small quiver of two 4th Gear Flyers: a Standard, for punchier/bigger waves and also a Tracker RT for smaller days and/or it's allround feeling that never leaves me disappointed !

My mat surfing "experience" is now two years old, but, at 39 years of age, I've been surfing since the mid 80's with still the same stoke I had when i used to put neon Zinka on my nose...

Unlike our UK neighbors, the french mat scene is still small...I can honestly say that I'm the only one around here and I often avoid surfing overcrowded breaks, so I rarely get to talk about my surfmats with other people.

In fact, I never saw another person mat surfing live...just videos, movies, images !

But one thing is sure: mat surfing always make me smile...and I love it since the first ride

Welcome Denis. I empathise completely with you on the lone mat rider thing. Mat making makes you smile and sometimes it makes you laugh out loud!

Admin wrote:Welcome Denis. I empathise completely with you on the lone mat rider thing. Mat making makes you smile and sometimes it makes you laugh out loud!

Thanks Robin!

Lately, I've been thinking about adding an MT5 mat to my quiver. As I'm a "lightweight" rider (70kgs), I wonder how it will go comparing to the Tracker RT which is my allrounder?
I'm also curious about the valve system...
What do you think about it?

Cheers

Denis

Definitely! At your weight you will absolutely fly on it. It probably couldn't be any more opposite to the Tracker to be honest. Very square back corners, with a concave and some rocker and not a free breather. Whereas the Tracker will break free in a fairly controllable manner you will find the MT5 really sticks to the face and doesn't feel like it will ever break free. The valve is the best there is for accurately adjusting the amount of air in your mat while you are enjoying your session and the worst for getting large amounts of air in and out of it. The solution is to just leave it blown up rather than deflating completely and rolling up like you probably do with your Tracker. You would have a two mat quiver that covered any conditions so go for it.

Wow! Thanks Robin for your advice
Yesterday, I've watched a nice video where Mark shows all MT5 specs, including the valve system. It got me really amped about it...and the materials seem to be also very tough.
I'm planning to ride it in some powerful waves with steeper faces, so if it sticks to the face like no other mat, that's good news!

My surfboards are going to collect more and more dust...