Impact Vests

Impact vests for kitesurfing, wakeboarding, wing foiling and surfing from ION, Mystic, Forward WIP and O'Neill, £119 to £179.

Impact vest or buoyancy aid?

Some vests do both. The Forward WIP Wing Neo (£119) and Wing Impact 50N (£179) are certified 50N and padded, which is why they turn up in both collections.

Riding at Whitemills?

Whitemills Wake & Aqua Park is on Ash Road in Sandwich, about twenty-five minutes from our shop on Beach Walk in Whitstable. If you're coming down from London on the A2 you go more or less past our door — worth stopping if you'd rather try a vest on than guess a size online.

They run a slow cable for beginners, Kids Club, Wake & Cake mornings and pay-and-play sessions. For cable riding the O'Neill Outlaw Comp Vest (£149) is the obvious pick: minimal, surf-cut, built for taking repeated falls at speed. The Mystic Block (£124) and ION Collision Vest Core (£124.95) both work well on the cable too.

We don't sell wakeboards. We do sell everything else you'll want with you: the vest, a helmet, a wetsuit and a changing robe for afterwards.

What we stock

ION Collision Vest Core, £124.95. Front zip, the standard choice for kitesurfing. Good rib and back coverage without stopping you reaching for the bar.

ION Vector Amp, £134.95. Front zip, more shaped, a step up in fit.

Mystic Block, £124. Kite, wake and wind. Side zip.

Mystic Foil Impact, £149. Built for foiling specifically — more coverage where a foil wing hits you.

Forward WIP Impact Vest 50N, £159 and Wing Impact 50N, £179. French-made, certified buoyancy plus padding.

O'Neill Outlaw Comp Vest, £149. Minimal, surf and wake cut, for anyone who wants protection without feeling wrapped up.

Fit

Tight. An impact vest that rides up on a fall isn't protecting anything. It should feel firm on land and normal in the water once the neoprene wets out.

If you're foiling, wear a helmet too — the foil is the part that hurts.

See also: buoyancy aids and lifejackets · wetsuits