Board leash?

So I got this board leash that looks like a tape measure attached to the side of the harness. Has anyone used them or do u know if they work well?
I got it so I wouldnt have excuses not to go out and practice in fear of not being able to kite back to my board. Also, do you guys find those wind meters any good?

Short answer, no.
Long answer, Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Reel leashes are dangerous, unnecessary, and a waste of money. Get rid off it on Fleabay immediately.
As for a wind meter - don't bother. You'll get an idea of if you can kite it or not after a couple of sessions with a particular kite. My old rule is if the sand is moving then it's >9m time, if it's just 'blowing' then it's 12m, and if it's light then it's 15m+ territory.

I think it is best to learn without one. The chances of being hit by your board
are higher when learning with a leash than when your a confident rider cause you fall off more. You should make sure you can body drag up wind before you make any big runs out deep cause then you will be confident enough to get back to your board. The leash will just make you lazy and then as you progress, forget about learning any tricks with it on.

The only time i can see board leashes being useful is in strong moving currents e.g rivers. As long as u only wanna cruise around i dont see a problem with them.

I'm militantly anti-leash, for all the regular reasons.

Yet why haven't any of the leash-users at my local spots lost teeth or had their scalps gouged yet? I think it must be that they ride so conservatively their feet rarely come out of their straps.

I guess I feel karmically ripped-off. Sure, there are plenty of pics and stories on the web, but I feel like one of the guys at my (semi) local must be next in line for a whooping. Maybe I'm a frustrated sadist, or maybe I need some regular carnage to continue feeling justified in all of my anti-leash tirades?

Or maybe, there are kiters for whom board leashes are safe, because they ride so slowly, with their kites so high, that even when they do stack they only land 50cm from their board and the leash never loads up.

Seriously, I saw a guy pump up with his helmet already on the other day. It was all of 17knots, I'd come in bored with being underpowered, and there he was, hadn't even laid out his lines let alone put his harness on but the helmet, you betcha! Needless to say when the harness appeared it was a seat, with - you guessed it - a reel leash hanging trustily by his side.

Perhaps the biggest risk from leashes is just ridicule and social leprosy ...

A leash is also an aiming device in that if there is enough speed involved, the leash will help the board find its way to you.
When learning, one of the important things is to keep your kite flying and dont crash the kite. You need to be free to fly the kite up in a hurry. With a board leash, that often just gets you and probably the board into a trajectory through the air, and when you hit the water the board is going to be right with you in a second.
With a board leash the board can do impact damage or with a fin, slice you open. To avoid that, you have to ride slow and sheet out when you crash - often crashing the kite too, which teaches you a lot of bad habits and slows progress.

The length of the reel leash is about 13' extended. That isn't enough to make any significant difference IMO - they used to use long ankle leashes in the early days and still got hit.