Hi
What length board leash are ppl using, plus I've seen a few vids with a waist leash.
what's the popular choice? thanks.
Balin 8mm coiled sup waist leash - pretty readily available and stays out of the water whilst foiling
Select to expand quoteibid said..
Balin 8mm coiled sup waist leash - pretty readily available and stays out of the water whilst foiling
They are excellent leashes.. Balin make two waist coil leashes.. One has a straight section that is more suited to stand up paddling.. and one without the straight section that is more suited for foiling..
I like their buckle system much more than the more common Velcro that needs adjusting each time you put it on and off.
I also use their straight short board leashes on my wings.
Using the Board Meeting Kaohi Double-Coil Calf-Leashes. Very nice foil leash that I use all the time, the double coils make it so it doesn't tangle up as easily as a full coil. Always recommend getting one slightly longer than your board, so I use a 6'. They come in different thicknesses for different stretch characteristics as well. I love the calf leash, but they also have ankle and waist belt options now. Also their new wrist leash is awesome, double-coiled setup with 1-handed wrist cuff closure ala F-One/Airrush/Ensis style. --> boardmeetingusa.com/collections/new-patent-pending-double-coil-leashes/products/kaohi-grip-leashes%E2%84%A2-double-coil
Select to expand quotergmacca said..
Hi
What length board leash are ppl using, plus I've seen a few vids with a waist leash.
what's the popular choice? thanks.
Can depend on what you are doing, if you are prone foiling then normal surfboard leash is fine but if on a SUP than I find the waist leash 100 time better. The joy with the waist leash is it never drags the coil in the water and when stepping back it keeps it out of the way. This is what i use www.oneoceansportsaustralia.com/accessories/no-logo-waist-leash ( do own the company who makes these as a disclaimer) Half the price of most other waist leashes as well as we only sell direct. They are basic but work perfect plus if you ever break or stretch the coil which can happen in the surf then you can just but the coil part.
If prone just use a comp short board leggie and my tip for keeping it away from the foil when sitting waiting for waves is to tuck the leash part up the leg of your back leg on your wetsuit as this will keep it out of the way and also stop it dragging when up on the foil and if you crash it will just pull out of the wetsuit leg and work how it should.
I like a coiled waist leash for the board because it is out of the way and easy to turn around in the water before getting going again. Leg leashes can bang on the water and get hooked around the foil or hooked around your feet.
I tried a 10' leash to avoid the dreaded upside down foil next to the wing thing. I've had one brand new wing commit harakiri on the foil. The long leash made no difference. The board rarely ends up at the end of the leash and can be upwind of you after a fall. I settled on the 6' leash which is fine.
I have a coiled wrist leash to the wing. I used to have a straight dyneema leash. The dyneema would get furry and hook up on the velcro on the wrist cuff and wrap itself around my hand. The slack in the straight leash would drape over my neck mid-gybe. The coiled urethane leash has none of those problems.
People complain about the coils hooking on themselves or between the two leashes. I have not found that to be a problem. The leashes might look tangled but any tension pulls them apart easily.
I have had one go with the wing leash attached to the belt. It works fine just riding. It stops me easily turning the belt in the water. I need to practice that a bit more before I come to a conclusion. Certainly wrist and waist is not a problem at all.
I have this leash www.oneoceansportsaustralia.com/accessories/no-logo-waist-leash It's the cheapest leash and works just fine. I replaced the carabiner with the velcro end off an old Balin leash because it put a tiny scratch on my board. It's easy to swap leash parts around with a fin key.
The belt has velcro holding it closed. It's fine for just about everything. Quick and easy put on or take off. Occasionally I have worried about the possibility of the velcro letting go. Passing the velcro back through a protected loop would make it more secure and give an extra level of redundancy. The loop could be plastic covered in neoprene or a soft loop.
I'm not sure about plastic buckles. They're pretty reliable but if they fail they fail instantly. There's no partial fail state for them. They're also a risk of putting black marks on the board. I hate that.
Select to expand quoteGorgo said..
I'm not sure about plastic buckles. They're pretty reliable but if they fail they fail instantly. There's no partial fail state for them. They're also a risk of putting black marks on the board. I hate that.
The nice thing about the Balin leash is that the buckle is at your side when the leash attachment point is behind you, so you are unlikely to mark or damage the board when you are getting on.
I agree a waist leash works the best. However I keep getting twisted in it after transitions when switching stance and need to twist the waist attachment around after turning. Does anyone have some tips for how to avoid this?
Gybeski, an excessive beer gut tends to make the waist harness tighter and less prone to swivelling around the body. It does however increase the breeze needed to get up on the foil... 
Select to expand quoteJethrow said..
Gybeski, an excessive beer gut tends to make the waist harness tighter and less prone to swivelling around the body. It does however increase the breeze needed to get up on the foil...
Thanks I'll get working on it this weekend
Coiled ankle leash for the board (6' for 5'4" board). Waist leash for wing, good to paddle in with use of both hands, also keeps the impact vest down.
Had one failure with Ozone v1 waist leash. Buckle snapped at a gust, wing went flying. Lucky I was in line doing the walk, and the guy behind me was an old baseball player who fielded the wing off the first bounce. Ozone replaced it for free, but their leashes tend to stretch out over time and weaken.
