Author Topic: To leash, or not to leash  (Read 3438 times)

PonoBill

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To leash, or not to leash
« on: June 12, 2017, 10:17:52 AM »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

robon

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2017, 11:38:37 AM »
I read this article on FB and once again, it comes down to education and knowing how to prepare for the body of water you will paddling on. If you are on a river, especially swift moving rivers with higher entanglement probability, the ankle is the worst possible place you can wear a leash. QR waist leashes are obviously much safer, and companies are also now making leashes that will release on their own once a tension threshold has been reached.

Beasho

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2017, 01:23:01 PM »
Waist Leash solves problem. 

I'm not sure why anyone is still wearing ankle leashes.  So 20th century. 

dns

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2017, 01:36:05 PM »
How about never wear a leash in a river?  ::) Pretty much common sense there.

PonoBill

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2017, 03:57:17 PM »
Chasing your board in a river sucks a bit, though generally, you're traveling about as fast so you can get to it. Still, a waist leash can give you the best of both worlds, just make sure you have a quick and positive release.

And common sense is pretty rare.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

dns

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2017, 07:08:59 PM »
LOL, yeah. Common sense, isn't.  :o But even a waist leash can kill you in a river. 15 years of class IV-V whitewater kayaking has definitely taught me to ditch the gear and walk out when things go sideways. NEVER tie yourself to anything in a river. Those damn snags can drag you down in even the slowest of currents. In the ocean there's nothing to snag and being separated from your board is a big risk. In the river it's completely different.

headmount

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2017, 07:45:49 PM »
And then there's the recent event where Ken Winner's wife lost her board on a Maliko run.  He walked up to the shuttle as we were stuck and stopped in the Paia traffic at the entrance of town.  "Uh hey, um, can you guys look out for my wife when you're paddling down?"  The lifeguards eventually found her.  But I know if I left Shirley out there, I'd be in big kim chee.  If i had been on my Bullet I would have been able to scan a big area but on my ski I was focused about 2 inches in front, so I woulda had to run over her to see her.

I have a waist leash on my ski and love it as it aligns the ski downwind when I fall out.  In big winds that's huge.  But the other day I fell out and somehow the leash did a hitch around my paddle when I rolled and I had to untangle it while my legs kicked around.  I glanced down and saw them kicking which didn't meet with my time frame expectations of being back in the boat.  Frazzled I remounted without aligning the ski first, was sideways, and promptly got rolled again.

So point is that whatever leash you use is going to have a drawback but it's sure a damn better choice than swimming... at least out here in the ocean.  You don't have critters in the Gorge but the water is freeze ass so you gotta be quick as well.

PonoBill

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2017, 09:33:22 PM »
LOL, yeah. Common sense, isn't.  :o But even a waist leash can kill you in a river. 15 years of class IV-V whitewater kayaking has definitely taught me to ditch the gear and walk out when things go sideways. NEVER tie yourself to anything in a river. Those damn snags can drag you down in even the slowest of currents. In the ocean there's nothing to snag and being separated from your board is a big risk. In the river it's completely different.

Yeah, I know, even with my very limited whitewater SUP experience I've had some spooky moments, and no, I didn't wear a leash. Anything can snag, even a foot. If I had a quick release on my ankle I might have pulled it. Fortunately, I got the foot loose without chopping.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

robon

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2017, 09:54:21 PM »
Corran Addison and Dan Gavere were two of the very best whitewater freestyle kayakers in the world for long stretches, and they both wear leashes quite often when white water paddling on their SUPs now. It would be interesting to be a fly on a wall during a conversation with someone questioning their "common sense" for wearing a leash on the river. There is definitely an argument for not wearing one, but many elite paddlers do wear QR leashes on the river and they do for a reason. I wouldn't want to lose my board on a solo downriver expedition, and it actually is very possible to lose your board in the river. Currents can be tricky and it can get very interesting trying to retrieve a board in whitewater once it gets away from you.

I have noticed Corran is using a leash with an additional break away option other than a manual QR these days, and Dan Gavere probably is too. I'm going to get one. To each their own.

dns

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #9 on: June 13, 2017, 08:14:07 AM »
^^ LOL There's a blast from the past. I hadn't heard those names in forever. Now they keep popping up. One of my first boats was Corran's Savage Fury, super innovative, but an evolutionary dead end, and my bro is buying one of Dan's used boards right now.

And now that you mention it, leashes probably do have a place on the river. In a kayak we never bail out of our boat except in an emergency, but on a SUP you probably spend half your time in the water. Just the fatigue of chasing your board down all the time would probably be a safety hazard.

I use a rescue vest that would work great to simply hook the leash on to the extraction strap.

robcasey

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #10 on: June 13, 2017, 12:00:54 PM »
Influenced by using a waist leash for rivers or where we teach in tidal rapids, we're now using waist leashes for flat water, dw, etc.  Just a coiled attached to the side vest pfd straps, or waist belt waist strap.  It keeps your feet free when walking on the board, you feet free mostly when falling off and of course your feet free when in kelp, lake milfoil, etc. 

Also if you happen to still be leashed up and walking or portaging while carrying your board, you won't trip over your leash if on your waist.  Less likely to show up on kook of the day. 

Big wave surfer and friend Wade Lawson wears a specialized double leash thingy on a waist strap when doing Maverick's etc. His reasoning as I remember - when you're being body dragged under water by the wave, much like a river, you're more likely to release vs being dragged leg first - good luck there. 

Like anything, it's a personal thing, regional trend or what you're used to.  In our neck of the woods in summer (now) we're again seeing the newbies on Costco boards without any leash or pfd (or skills) offshore in cold water. Silly season has started.
Rob Casey
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PonoBill

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2017, 12:24:08 PM »
I'm totally done with leg leashes. The only downside with a waist leash is that you can't streamline yourself to reduce load on the leash, so everything needs to be highgraded. But by every other measure they are superior.

Dan Gavere is still around of course, I talked with him in Hood River a couple of weeks ago.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

Biggreen

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #12 on: June 13, 2017, 05:16:32 PM »
^^
And now that you mention it, leashes probably do have a place on the river. In a kayak we never bail out of our boat except in an emergency, but on a SUP you probably spend half your time in the water. Just the fatigue of chasing your board down all the time would probably be a safety hazard.

A VERY good point. Just like getting worked on the inside, a long swim in whitewater is a very exhausting thing. Ask me how I know.  I actually thought I was going to get into SUP for WW. Siting in the eddy above Iron Ring on the Gauley I was about to drop in when I saw a sweeper coming along. "This I have to see", I thought. So I waited and let the guy paddle through. The poor guy got destroyed, and he wasn't wearing a leash, which was probably a good thing in that rapid. "Hmmm, maybe I should try it in the surf" was my new thought! I think the rescue vest and quick release option is a very good combo most probably.

And PB, it'd be interesting to hear your story about foot entrapment. Sadly I've been in a group where foot entrapment ended in tragedy. It was a drop I'd run numerous times without incident. Haven't run it since. Too much sadness surrounds it for me.

PonoBill

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Re: To leash, or not to leash
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2017, 07:31:06 AM »
Nothing much to tell, I was with Dan Gavere and Nikki Gregg on my first WW sup experience on the White Salmon. Or rather, IN the White Salmon for the most part. I was staggering around on the rocky bottom, trying to get back to my board when one foot went into a crevice. I fell, the foot twisted and locked, and I went under. The current was holding me nicely in place on the bottom, but I got my hands around the thigh of the trapped foot and sat up enough to get my head above the water. In that position, I could wiggle the foot and it eventually popped free. Probably a 30-second deal, but it felt like hours. The water was shallow--maybe waist deep, the current was moderate. I fully realized without those two factors I would have been helpless.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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