News

August 02, 2016

Beyond Bang Wranglers: Here Comes KLASH!

You might know us as The Bang Wrangler, but as hip hop mogul and avid scuba diver* Jay-Z once said: allow us to reintroduce ourselves.

*Um, that part about him being into scuba may or may not be true. But you don't know for sure that he ISN'T an avid diver, right? So we're going to assume he is. Just for funsies. Wait, what were we talking about again? Oh, yeah...

HI, WE'RE KLASH.

More than two years ago, we Kickstarted the Bang Wrangler.

Immediately, we discovered that there were boatloads (sometimes literally - teehee!) of women divers, kayakers, and general water lovers out there who had been looking for exactly this product. And there were even more who hadn't realized they needed it, but now can't live without it.

We are so pleased with the response to the Bang Wrangler...but we aren't stopping there.

It's become clear that there are tons of ways that we can continue to make water sports more enjoyable for women. The market has been male-dominated for years, and our options have been reduced down to ill-fitting men's products dyed pink or skimpy "fashion" gear built for flawless teenage bodies.

We know that women are in search of products that will make them comfortable in the water. They want apparel and accessories that combine performance, fit, and style -- gear that will make it just a little easier to dive in. And by golly, we're going to make that happen!

So meet KLASH. It's the brand name that will continue to bring you the Bang Wrangler, and we will soon introduce more products that water-loving women won't be able to live without.

We think you're going to love what we make, because we'll only make things that we absolutely love ourselves.

Stay tuned! Details and discounted pre-orders for our first apparel product will be available soon. For now, we'll hold you over with this sneak peak:

November 16, 2014

Ash Does a Triathlon

I've never been a fan of individual sports, even though I swam competitively for a good portion of my life. I really only did it for water polo training and perhaps maybe for the swim relays. Now that I'm working full time during the day and running The Bang Wrangler with D during the off hours, it has been difficult to keep a normal, consistent workout schedule. So... I thought signing up for a triathlon would motivate me to get my butt moving, not to mention give me a great opportunity to test out The Bang Wrangler in different conditions.

I signed up for the UCLA Health Playa Del Ray Sprint Triathlon just two months before the race day. My bike training consisted of my daily three mile commute to and from work and I was pretty good about getting out every day to do either a three mile run or swim workout, but it was pretty clear from the lackluster training regimen, that I wasn't going to be a top competitor. I set two goals for myself; 1) Finish without stopping and 2) finish in under two hours.

Race day was a bit intimidating. I thought there would be more novice participants like me, but everyone was decked-out and geared-up with all the top notch triathlon equipment. My 1960s 8-speed Raleigh bike was definitely showing its age and my surfing wetsuit was obviously more constricting than the thin, armless tri-suits. But I do have to say that I had the only headband around that could transition from water to land. I sported my Bangin' Red Bang Wrangler throughout the entire race and it stayed put like white on rice! Plus, I totally crushed my goals! I never stopped and finished in 1:39:11.

Now time for some pancakes.

Swim. Bike. Run. Bang Wrangle.

Triathlon completed!

October 17, 2014

Road Trippin'

The last few weeks, Ash and I have been spending our weekends traveling up and down the Southern California coast. We're telling people that it's for the important business of sharing The Bang Wrangler with dive and surf shops. And that's true - technically. We've now visited over 20 stores, and our headbands are for sale in 6 locations...with more to come! But growing the business isn't all we've been doing. We've had a LOT of fun along the way, and we wanted to share!

First I have to say that it's REALLY exciting for us that shop owners totally get why we created our product and want to share it with their customers. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and we're thrilled to have so much support. Even more, though, we've really just enjoyed meeting some fantastic people. The shop owners, managers, and employees we've met on our little adventures are people who devote their days to helping others enjoy the ocean - providing them with the training, gear, and advice they need to explore that amazing blue world we love so much yet know so little about. They are not only running a business, they're bringing joy to our lives.

It's a beautiful thing, what these people do, and so we wanted to give them some love. Here are a few of the wonderful folks we've met:

David is the manager at Santa Barbara Aquatics. He was very patient with us, despite me almost knocking over ALL of his mannequins, domino style.

Andy runs Blue Water Hunter, also in SB. He obviously has some super fun toys laying around the shop, which we love. He also has LONG HAIR, which was very exciting for us. I mean, he just, like, GETS us...ya know?

John at Ocean Gear Scuba in Huntington Beach is a great guy, but we were really bummed that he wouldn't take a photo with us after making a purchase. You're breaking tradition, John!! We'll trick you into a photo one day. In the meantime, here's a pic of the shop.

Like I mentioned, we also have just been having a lot of fun on our trips. From watching paddleboarders in Santa Barbara to snorkeling La Jolla Cove to In 'n Out in Ventura to watching football with a bunch of Bills fans in Pacific Beach (yeah, who knew there were that many Bills fans in general, much less in San Diego??)....it's all been a blast. We are so lucky to be doing what we're doing, and we really appreciate the support from all of The Bang Wrangler's fans who've allowed us to make this happen.

Here are a few shots of our road trip fun:

Ready to roll!! 6:30am Sunday wake-up call...woof.