A beautiful morning in the ocean can lose some of its appeal pretty quickly when you get out with feet so cold you can barely feel them. You can pull on a jumper, wrap yourself in a towel and start warming up everywhere else, but cold, wet feet have a habit of hanging around until you finally make it home to a hot shower. A new Australian-designed recovery slide has been created specifically for that post-ocean problem, and instead of plugging them in or charging a battery, you simply click a reusable heat pack to warm them up. EirWaves has launched what it describes as the world's first Heated Recovery Slide, combining a closed-toe EVA slide with a reusable heat pack positioned directly above the toes. The idea came from founder Sarah Dawes, who was looking for a better way to warm up after winter ocean sessions without having to head straight home for a hot shower. “The idea really started with freezing feet,” says Dawes. “I'd get out of the ocean in winter absolutely frozen and think, surely there has to be a better way to get warm quickly without having to race straight home to a hot shower.” Turning that fairly relatable problem into a functioning shoe took considerably more work. Dawes partnered with Sydney industrial design studio Vert Design to develop the Heated Recovery Slide from scratch, with the product going through several years of research, prototyping, testing, tooling and manufacturing. The team initially explored electrical and hot-water heating systems before landing on a decidedly low-tech solution: a reusable saline-based hot pack that requires no electricity, batteries or charging. Flexing a small metal disc inside the pack triggers a crystallisation reaction, generating heat within seconds. According to EirWaves, the pack reaches approximately 54°C at peak activation and provides around 40 to 60 minutes of warmth. But perhaps the most interesting part of the design is where that heat goes. Rather than heating the bottom of the foot, EirWaves created a dedicated pocket in the upper of the slide that positions the pack above the toes. Research into thermal sensitivity across the foot helped inform the placement, while the closed-toe design helps keep warmth in and provides some protection from the elements. Once the heat pack has cooled, it can be reset by boiling it in water and reused for the next cold-water session. The slides themselves are made from durable EVA, with a contoured footbed, rugged tread and hoseable construction designed to handle wet and sandy environments. They're available in relaxed sizing from XS through to XL. And yes, we know spring has technically arrived, but someone might want to let Sydney's ocean temperatures know. Although born out of Dawes' experience surfing through winter, the potential use goes well beyond cold-weather surfing, from year-round ocean swimmers to anyone regularly getting out of cold water with numb toes. Because while we can't make the ocean any warmer, apparently we can now do something about the frozen feet afterwards.
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