Quick Release Leash on a Whitewater SUP

[VTStrider]

Hey All,

I found myself in a bind when I went to help an inexperienced kayaker that was swimming.  I was paddling a sexy red Stride Airlite HD whitewater board on rapids, for the second time in my life, on the Downriver Race for Tim Gavin on the Shenandoah in Harpers Ferry, WV.  I was decked out with sweet river gear, from my shiny new helmet, Lotus PFD, O'Neil super freak booties(What? im a surf kid), and XM Quick Release coil Stand-Up paddle leash.

Ok, so this story starts at the bottom of the upper stair case (for those of you that actually know where that is), about half way through the race.  This girl that I had been talking to earlier in the day got into trouble, rolled and had to pull her skirt.  I was behind her and watched as popped out of her boat, losing both her boat and paddle just before a drop.  I knew she was going over it, but the current was strong and she wasn't able to get to either piece of equipment.  So in my infinite knowledge of river rescue, which is NONE! I decided to paddle cross current and lend a helping hand.  BAD IDEA, I didn't paddle up stream enough and went right over the drop.

Now eating it over a drop, I've done that a few times before, but this time was different.  This time I went right into a large boulder right in the middle of the drop.  It wouldn't have been bad except my inflatable Airlite HD board went one way, and I went the other.  Now remember back to my sweet gear list, I'M WEARING A SURFING LEASH!!  I started over the falls like normal, but instead of flowing over and climbing back on my board; I felt a ton a tension to my ankle...then sucked right into a hole.  The board had got jammed on the other side of the rock and as I went over the falls, the stretch cord fully extended and sucked me down and held me there.  Now my background in all paddle and board sports is in the ocean or on nice calm bays, I am not used to rocks, holes, and water that won't let you go... And there I was, stuck under water.

As I was getting tossed around under water I thought of two things: 1. I need to get out of here 2. I can't believe I am actually going to test the quick release on this leash.  So within a couple of seconds I reached myself up through the water pressure of the falls and yanked on the yellow quick release tab.  The leash shot off my ankle and I popped right out of the hole, and there was my board floating down river.  I grabbed it, grabbed her boat and paddle and got over into the eddy.  So all in all it worked out well.  I helped her get her gear back, tested out quick release leash, and didn't die... I'm happy with that.
Hope you all enjoyed this post.  I mean it when I say this leash is really important when running whitewater on a stand up paddle board. You need a leash to keep the board with you if you swim, but you need to be able to get away from it in an emergency.  Thanks XM surf leashes for making a bad ass leash.

Never stop exploring, never stop paddling.

Jay 

[kwhilden]

Jay,
Very interesting story. I'm glad the quick-release worked  for you!

I think your experience should start a discussion on the need for a leash in SUP whitewater, and the best type of leash to use. I have 20+ years of whitewater kayaking and rescue experience, and the thought of using a leash on a typical whitewater river scares the crap out of me for exactly the situation you  describe. A leash is a built-in foot entrapment waiting to happen. I think you were lucky that the force of the water wasn't so strong to prevent you from reaching the quick-release on  your ankle. In most fatal entrapment situations, the force of the water is too strong for the victim to overcome.

I would love  for Dan Gavere or Corran to chime in on the  best practices for leash use in  whitewater SUP. In Dan's video,  it looks like he is using a leash connected to a quick-release on a rescue-style whitewater PFD.

I  also question  how important a leash is at all... no whitewater kayakers or rafters ever use  a leash, and instead learn how to self-rescue their equipment in the event  of a swim, and/or depend on buddies to rescue their gear.

Kevin

[Allan Cheateaux]

In Dan's video,  it looks like he is using a leash connected to a quick-release on a rescue-style whitewater PFD.

I  also question  how important a leash is at all... no whitewater kayakers or rafters ever use  a leash, and instead learn how to self-rescue their equipment in the event  of a swim, and/or depend on buddies to rescue their gear.

Kevin

That's what we use... I would like to mod the ankle cuff to be a less cumbersome attachment, but it works pretty solid for right now. Just reach for your chest and pull is  a lot easier in entrapment scenarios than bending into your ankle...

But it's nice and out of the way most of the time. Attached to middle back is nice, although a half coil leash would be a benefit and keep it totally out of the way...

[kwhilden]

Allan,
How useful is the leash, vs. just grabbing your board as you fall off with no leash?

[Allan Cheateaux]

I swim a lot.... I mean A LOT. Most of the times I drag fins I go over pretty good and there have multiple times I was glad to be hooked up slightly while swimming into an eddy. To me, it's one less thing to worry about, unless you have to worry about it, you know?

[VTStrider]

It is definitely a trade off between wearing a leash and not wearing one.  On the river the other day, I met an old school whitewater kayaker and he told be two rules of thumb when on the river: Never attach yourself to your gear and dont stand up.  Being a standup paddler on whitewater, thats exactly what we are doing.

I like the idea of a leash in certain whitewater but would also like to hear some other ideas on how to make them safer.  In slower moving current and lower cfs, i recommend using the XM quick release ankle leash because even in trouble, the water pressure shouldnt be too great to self rescue. 

I would like to hear what yall think, thanks for the response.

Jay

[Lobes]

I have seen pictures of people doing white water sup with footstraps, kind of like tow in boards.

Is this common and do you combine it with a leash or are you stuck in that stance?

[SUP Bali]

Very interesting post...
As I'm thinking about doing WWSUP commercially the Leash or not Leash question was the first one to come to my mind...

I think the best is not to be connected to the SUP..
I did few times White Water Rafting and they say not to stay attach tot he raft while in turbulence water... Just swim and wait for the water to slow down.

If you wear a leash it could get cough in trees branch or other obstacle in the river..

Thinking commercially!!!
The instructor/guide  before each white water explain the best course to take and goes first.. SO if someone fall of and loose the board he would be there to help.

Does it make sense to you?
Bye Jankie

[localpaddler]

I have been involved in the whitewater industry at few different levels and I would only recommend a leash to be used on a river by a highly competent "whitewater waterman" and that leash would have to be a quick release coil leash.  The coil keeps the leash on the board. 

I also don't recommend a leash in shallow water or rivers with rocks or trees.  I leash on a river is really for deep water.

The best place to have one is when surfing a wave on a river and where the river is deep.  The picture below shows using a quick release coil attached to the knee.

[kwhilden]

Hey Localpaddler,
Nice post. Thanks for the info.

[localpaddler]

No problem...glad I can help.  The leash I use also comes in a thick urethane cord but I prefer the thinner one so that if under extreme stress the cord will have a better chance of breaking.

[corran]

I use a leash.

its a 5mm leash, and with a good strong panicked tug, will break. Mostly ;-)

its a tough one. The advantages are huge. Fall off, jerk your leg, board comes back, scramble on. The less time I'm in the water, the better...

BUT... its rocks and so on that make the rapids. For the most part, these are not going to be an issue, but the possibility is there. I've thought hard about this and i've started to have a rope cutting hook on my PFD. If my leash snags and wont break, I cut it.

There is no doubt that the leash presents an inherant danger... it can snag. But not having one is also a danger. Which is worse? During the 20 times I fall off my board on a rapid run I think not having it is worse, but that one time it snags... I might well change my mind.

While I carry the cutter, most of the time a snag I believe will result in too much pressure to effectively be able to bend and reach your ankle to cut it (or pull a  quick release cord). I think that "safety" is going to be based on either the leash breaking (thin cord) or a new velcro system that gives after a certain amount of pressure is applied... unlike ocean there is seldom that wack-pull that ocean wipeouts have... so it could be engineered to open on its own at fairly low pressures...

hard call... be safe. Rivers are no joke

Corran

[Admin]

But not having one is also a danger. Which is worse? During the 20 times I fall off my board on a rapid run I think not having it is worse, but that one time it snags... I might well change my mind.

Do you think that a leash which auto-released under firm tension would be workable?  It seems like a lot of river falls may just be balance diggers that really don't put that hard strain on the leash, and would not cause it to release.  Only the hardest, or most prolonged tugs would do it.  Getting the release pressure right would be the trick, but a small breakaway at the cuff might be an idea to consider.

[Lobes]

Something like a modified ski binding could do the trick. But thinking about it the release point has to be near the rider or its another thing to get tangled

[nathan]

In rock climbing there exist certain types of slings (loops of nylon webbing) to which climbing gear is attached. When a climber falls and the gear catches them, the stitches in those slings tear deliberately to reduce the impact of the fall.

http://www.rockclimbing.com/Articles/Gear_and_Reviews/Review_The_Yates_Screamer_243.html

The stitches are designed to rip somewhere around 1-3 kn depending on the design of the sling, but the loop itself never actually breaks, the final stitches are capable of holding the entire fall force... something we would want to change.

A device made to hold a leash that just had the tear-able stitches, at an appropriate level of force, but completely opened if the stitches tore rather than remaining closed, could then release the leash. I think the stitches are more predictable than velcro as far as breaking strength, or climbers would use reusable velcro instead. The only steps needed are to figure out the appropriate strength of the loop, so it would hold the leash during a normal fall but tear open if a hold-down occurs, then figure out the thread/stitch that would open at that level of force. Then incorporate the loop into a leash attachment system.

I think the difficulty would be getting a light-enough rip force on the stitch... 1kn = about 225 lbs of force, so we'd want something a bit lighter than that I think. Just some random thoughts.