sup guys
i got talked into buying a dakine board leash a couple of days ago it cost me $60 and the theory was that it was to short for the board to b able to build enough momentium to really do any damage.... what a load of bollox. although i imenselly appreciated screwing up a jump and my board was only 2 feet away apposeed to 50 metres up wind, the haematoma,a briuse the size of a golf ball, on my left arm and my near concussion makes me seroiusly weigh up my investment.

i guess the pros of having a board leash ...

your never going to say good bye to your $1000 flx

if your trying new stuff .. which i guess the majority of us are you are bound to come off, and some times .. specially if i have a lil bit of a kitemare and troubles relaunching or something, ive spent over 20 minutes on board recovery. though when i had the leash it would just bob along side me till i had the kite sorted and i could get back into it. out of the 7 hour session i did i proberly got an extra hour or so of good riding because of this fact.

but was it worth it?

the cons...


your board can become a sea anchor. basically if your in shallow enough water your board will go underneath u and stick into the mud nose first... then u have the power of ur kite trying to pull u down wind whilst your board does not want to move. this can put emeance pressure on your board whichi can imagineif there was enough ur board snapping like a twig.

tim, teh guy who sold it to me =, idea that the shorter leash gives it less propultion when it comes back at u. well like i said b4 my left arm has a haematoma the size of a golf ball ... and i had to stop kiting for about 30 min because my arm just basically refused to work. i was also hit in the back of the head, not hard luckily the board kinda skimmed over the top of me it was just the fin that gave a lil nudge but i can see that becoming a bit dangerous concussion in a base of water is never a good plan.

Im very interested on other peoples views

does anyone else wear them?

does anyone else have any ideas on another board recovery systems? i was thinking like a retractable leash ... kinda like the ones u put on ur dogs aout 10 metres in length so if there is any strain the board stays put, and i think 10 metres would b enough where it wont fly back at u with any force, then u just real it back and and away u go ..hmm noone steal my idea .. dragons den hear i come :)

ive heard wearing them in surf is even more of a danger because of something to do with the waves any ideas?

thanks guys

as of the 5th of decemeber keep your eyes out for a big yellow xbow the one doing the 20m plus jumps >:) peace

ben

get better straps or get some bindings - ditch the leash and youll never look back, why your loosing 50 + ground on a high depower kite is beyond me, if you stak it, drop the bar and you should be pretty close you your board anyway..

cheers
pete

There is a reel leash already on the market, oceanus reel leash http://www.oceanusleash.com/store/ I have been using it for a couple of years and although lots of people here don't like them and I can see there point I think they are pretty good. I have never had it come back at me with any force, I always wear a helmet and 90% of the time when I crash the board is sitting nicely beside me waiting for me to put it back on. I think the bow kites have helped with this as when you crash now you can depower and not go too far downwind actually this is also a pretty good argument to get rid of it altogether.
p.s I can body drag upwind.

I dont use a leash... but I know of a good idea for those who do want to. connect your leash to your board with some small cable ties.
Theory is they will snap under a big load, the sort of load which might turn your board into a missile. But otherwise your board is just going to be sitting next to you. Just chose the size of the cable ties as per the required breaking strain you want.
Just put about 4 of em on your board so if it does give way you just attach your leash to the next one.
I've done it a couple of times and it works.
Just an idea.

Havox,
Using a leash is a bad idea. If that board snaps back you are in real danger. Learn to body drag upwind. If you cant do it, just spend a day or two practicing till you get it, its really not that hard. One more tip, I carry a spare leash connected to my harness just in case something happens and I cant relaunch. I would then connect the spare to my board so I dont lose it out to sea. I have had to do this once and I am sure it saved my $1000 board.
If you disregard this and continue to use a leash at least where a helmet.
Bennie

i use a leash!! i have an ATB leash . it looks like a telephone handset chord.it is designed not to generate power and also it breaks away if there is to much pressure i have a handfull of cable ties in my bag and replace them when they pop.
i watched my mate spend 2 hours trying to recover his board and make it back up wind. he lost his board in the mangroves and ended up walking back.

Mate, I can't believe you have already been injured and still ask this question.

Have a look at your arm - There lies the answer.

Write off the lease and the kook who sold it to you, and learn the 90 second body drag, it's easy.

you reckon do you?? no it is just that some people have thought about it and decided it is best not to have a flying carving knife attached to them, and the whole wear a helmet thing is well and good for the person using the leash but what about everyone else?? anyway whatever the great leash debate will continue..........see you all in a few months when it comes up again....

No lessons! a good instructor wouldnt have given you the board until you can bodydrag upwind and downwind.
leave the board on the beach and practice this for an hour, oh you might want to also practice self rescue....

My take on this as a beginner is as follows:

I am just learning to get on the board at the moment and am doing downwinders of about 3ks so as to avoid multiple walks of shame. I have been using a reel leash during this time because I know that without it I will more than likely spend several hours upwind body dragging to get my board and 3kms is a big space to by drifting apart from my board.

I will continue to use a reel leash (wouldnt use any other sort) while I am learning to get on the board. Once I am up and riding in and out comfortably I will ditch it, because I know that the number of times that I lose my board will be considerably reduced. When I start learning to do jumps/tricks etc, then I would definately NOT use a leash.

For what its worth I also use a Gath helmet (seems to cover the back of the neck better than some other helmets I have seem) and wear an impact vest. I know these don't eliminate danger altogether but it is a start.

I think it is easy for experienced riders to tell people not to use leashes because they are dangerous, but whilst they are right, you also have to consider learners who maybe struggling during the first few months of kiting. I find that the leash gives me enormous confidence whilst I am at the water start learning stage and therefore take a calculated risk by using one.

Just my two penneth for what its worth.

Lemm

If you buy the NSI REEL LEASH $100au, There will be no problems at all, i suggest for beginners only, i NEVER! had the board come flying back at me, and you add some kite line with a low braking strenght for them bigger wipe outs. As i said i never had it come flying back, infact 70% of the time you have to pull it in! to get your board back.

why body drag when you can have your board on a leash. ??
why do you need a car when you can walk??
why do you need wheels on a golf buggy??
these are all conveniences!!

i like the convenience of having my board right there when i am trying new stuff and come unstuck
.

Use a leash, I do, or should I say have done in the past.
I don't anymore, not because I think it's dangerous, but because one of the more experienced guys gave me the challenge, that I don't actually need it. Now I body drag....it's not such a drag...only takes a minute if ya have a bad spill, even less if it's a smallie.
when I DID use a leash, I actually used the windy up thingy, I found it wasn't long enough...for the bad spills, so I made up an extra metre of nylon to extend it.
Seen a lot of bad cuts and bruises from boards on leashes though! Just lucky enough not to have had a bad experience....I've gotten out before the odds stacked up against me!! Is that wimpy?

quote:

---

Originally posted by baggsy

why body drag when you can have your board on a leash. ??
why do you need a car when you can walk??
why do you need wheels on a golf buggy??
these are all conveniences!!

i like the convenience of having my board right there when i am trying new stuff and come unstuck
.

---

because one day your leash will snap....

ear we go!
ear we go!
ear we go!

Macca is right the Oceanus reals are good too.

[size=3]2 Important notes though:[/size=3]

NEVER HAVE THE LEAD ATTACHED TO BOARD WHEN ON LAND!! (especially when walking back upwind)

Also make sure after a stack that the leash hasn't wrapped around the housing (so that it can't unwind) and all will be cool.

Thought so...
just had a look at the new Slingshot SRT Advertisment and sure enough... he's deeep in a well overhead wave, with a leash firmly strapped around his ankle

Ill now admit i wore a surfboard leash today when i took my new sufboard out in the waves