I would love to listen to music while downwinding and winging on mellow days. I don't want to wear headphones (I want to be connected to my surroundings) and am hoping that I can use a very small mobile waterproof speaker on moderate volume. Ive used a JBL clip speaker for this purpose and when it works its great, but its slightly larger than would be ideal, and the major dealbreaker is that I need to restart the music every time it gets submerged (I guess it disconnects from bluetooth in these situations). I am currently using my apple watch to stream music to the player, but given the limitations of bluetooth, maybe a speaker that stores the music would be a better solution?
Anybody have a successful solution they can recommend?
I noticed Josh Ku has a setup like this in his downwinding videos, but I can't tell how he has it set up.
Before anyone scolds me for safety, I am listening at a low enough volume that I can definitely hear whats around me. I would never be using this in surf or nuking conditions - It just adds to my session on very mellow downwind days.
You could also consider bone conduction headphones - they do not block your hearing. I have been using Aftershokz Aeropex (now sold as Shokz OpenRun) for windsurfing and they work and hold up great. They are a bit pricey, but they last, while various cheaper "waterproof" bluetooth headphones I tried all died after a few sessions. The headphones reconnect automatically, although that might not even be an issue if your head is not submerged for too long in crashes.
www.sony.com/ug/electronics/walkman/nw-ws410-series
Been using these since 2017-18 for kiting, kitefoiling, winging, proning.
Built in storage, no need to bring your phone.
I use the Shokz OpenSwim. They do not block your hearing. Its an MP3 player with 4GB of space so you do not need a phone which you do with the Shokz OpenRun. I wear a helmet and that prevents them from accidently popping off during a crash. If not wearing the helmet I attach a small float with a string.
I also use the aftershox with internal storage. I have tied it with a rope to make sure I dont lose it during a crash. Its actually quite good and wear it quite a lot.
I looked into these and they aren't a bad option, but it appears you can't use any streaming services (even with premium accounts and ability to download). I have a premium Spotify account that allows me to download to my phone, watch, etc but it doesn't appear that it is compatible with shokz. Where do you get the music to upload to this device, or am I misunderstanding the product?
