Bully the Wetsuit Washer

Ideas are miraculous things. They are how everything begins, the iPhone, domestic electricity, lasagne, literally everything has to start as an idea. But how do you know that you have an original and half decent one?

In a world of fads, crazes and hipsters, nothing seems to be guaranteed, everything is kind of temporary. One instant you are more popular than a beard and the next you wind up in the virtual recycle bin on a (nonspecific deity's) desktop.

Unbelievable as it may sound my ramblings have a destination, in this case one guy who had an idea which turned into three guys with a product. The product in question has to be seen to be properly realised. Without further verbal inoculation I give you the Mas Bully.

I have seen mixed reactions to the video and the idea itself, but what I heard and saw when I met the three amigos that are Mas Bully was so much more than the product you have just seen. It’s one of those things in life that is just really hard to sum up in a short description. Like Velcro. Go on try it.

I met the guys for a coffee and a chat in a not-so-secret-spot in Peniche, the first thing I noticed were the cars…

Being as the Surf Bunker official vehicle is a Bedford Midi from the eighties with rust to match I suddenly felt a bit under-dressed… Who were these guys?

As it turns out these guys are amongst the most decent, driven and open individuals with who I have had the pleasure of attaining acquaintance. Each of the trio has their own strengths yet each profess to have no specific role. These guys are essentially teamwork personified… but let’s come back to that.

I want to talk about the idea, not the vídeo you have just seen but the ‘whole idea’. The one that struck a cord with me. The huge issue of saving water, a lot of water.

Hundreds of surf school wetsuits a day, just in Peniche alone, are washed. They are washed in a bucket. The bucket holds about 30 litres of fresh water and needs to be changed every 3 wetsuits. That’s 1000 litres of water to wash 100 wetsuits. Peniche has an average of 483 surfers in the water per day which is 4830 litres of wasted water every day. Just in Peniche.

Bully himself (the one with the original idea) has an awesome story of stepping off the plane from Tel Aviv and arriving in Peniche for a three week holiday and a couple of hundred euros in his pocket. That was three years ago. Once the holiday money ran out he had no idea of how he was going to survive, so offered his services to all the surf camps and schools, of which, as I've said,  there are many. He said he would wash all their suits out, so he spent his days bending down, washing stinky suits out and hanging them up. The light bulb winked on. Bully’s idea was born.

This is one of a gazillion stories that if you let them, the friendly trio will impart on you. To make another long story short they have, all three of them, ended up together and chasing a continually more realistic dream through strange twists of fate and coincidence. Karma is at the heart of their belief and they outwardly exude a sense of well-being to everyone.

There are some things that really impressed me about the guys’ product. Things that I was not expecting. There is the water saving feature and filter. Amazing. There is the way that the Bully has been designed to keep the wetsuit perfectly in shape, thus making sure your suit does not overstretch and lasts longer. Also by keeping the fabric separated, the Bully ensures a quicker and more thorough drying time.

If these things are not enough, I believe the boys are not just onto something bigger but something that could be a real game changer, something that could make a real difference.

I have been told that currently in design and first production phase is the jewel in the crown. An industrial solution for large surf schools, a huge water saving solution. That is all I will say on that apart from it seemed like there was an air of ‘wait till you see this!!’ excitement about it.

The Bully trio have just launched an Indiegogo campaign for the Bully and we reckon they are going to smash their target, so check them out and get yours before they all go here. And they will.