Author Topic: SUP surfing safety considerations  (Read 7043 times)

Subber

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2018, 08:31:03 AM »
Balin make a Storm leash that is 10mm thick. It is a monster, and it feels like you’d lose a limb before it broke.

Practice getting your leash off with your eyes closed in water, in a hurry. Some leashes have such aggressive Velcro that it’s almost impossible to get them off single-handed whilst getting tumbled. But you’ve gotta be able to get it off to save your life, sometimes. They can get caught up, in some environments. I’ve nearly drowned four times because of my leash being caught up.

Waist leashes are generally a good idea. But for some reason they can get tangled between your legs more easily than a leg attachment, and you might lose a testicle. So, you just have to choose your risks. Sh1t happens if you surf often enough.

I've also gotten my leash caught and had lots of difficulty undoing the velcro closure.
Sooo, I now singe the edge of the velcro with a lighter to make the edge release easier.
I also make sure the tab across the velcro goes all the way to the edge of the velcro - I sew it to the edge
if it doesn't come that way.  If there is no tab, I add one - that hangs past the velcro for more
leverage and easier to grab and pull.

And, like you recommend, I practice by releasing my leash without looking when I remove it.
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eastbound

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2018, 09:17:10 AM »
leashlok waistleashes are great---and they include a plastic "ripcord"-style tab as well as a typical pull loop, for quick release from leash

much as i hear of and respect the importance of this, i have never needed to release my leash while in the water---saw a guy in NJ get completely snarled in a buoy line---not sure how he wouldve done on his own as two lifeguards were on him like a fly on shit-and he was in about as bad a spot shore-break-wise as one can imagine-yes, the buoy line marked the edge of the swimming area---thus the excellent lifeguards, who saw him and intervened well before he might have had trouble
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sflinux

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2018, 01:25:09 PM »
1) I use a FCS big wave leash.  It is 8 mm diameter, which I would recommend as a minimum for SUP in the surf.  It is coiled and gets tangled more than I would like.  I use a 8' (shortest I could find), may consider longer for DOH waves.  I have a waist leash but haven't used it all summer.
2)  I always wear a helmet when I SUP surf.  I grew up bodyboarding without a helmet.  I kitesurf so am used to wearing a helmet now in the water.  For kitesurfing and SUP surfing I wear a Pro Tec Ace Wake in the summer, and a Gath helmet in the winter.
3)  Yes.  For kitesurifng, I used to always wear a PFD in the surf.  I have since moved to a non coast guard approved vest for kitesurfing in the surf (Promotion).  A coast guard approved PFD feels weird to lie prone and paddle a SUP.  I have since moved to a non coast guard approved Oneil Gooru Wakeboarding Vest for SUP surfing.  Two months ago I took a 11' SUP to my ribs (hurt for a solid 6 weeks) after a wipeout.  It was a wake up call for how hazardous boards are in the surf (especially ones with large mass and large surface area), I am now conscious to the safety of others in the surf.  I now wear chest protection in addition to head protection.   I don't wear the vest for regular prone surfing, but instead wear a compression shirt with padding (for sports like basketball, etc).  I used to get sore ribs body boarding, and find I enjoy the padding while prone.   
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PonoBill

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #18 on: October 30, 2018, 01:55:39 PM »
I've had two leash entanglements, both serious. One was at Lanes at Ho'okipa, got pushed under a coral ledge and the leash got caught with my face two feet from the surface. In the current and wave action, there was no way I could reach the cuff to release the leash. I was screwed, done for, out of ideas, and the leash popped free of the coral ledge it was caught under.

The second time was in the Columbia a few years ago. The current was ripping, I fell in and was swimming for my board in 56 degree F, five-knot current when I went backward past the wrong side of a half-sunken net float. I was wearing a camelback with the leash attached. I wound up on my back with water streaming past me. I had to undo the camelback to stop flopping around, then transfer to my board, and then untangle everything from the fishing float. I don't think things would have worked as well with a calf or ankle leash.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 01:58:18 PM by PonoBill »
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eastbound

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #19 on: October 30, 2018, 02:29:12 PM »
another plus with the waistleash--it's closer to the hands if needs to be released
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supsean

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #20 on: October 31, 2018, 11:35:46 AM »
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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #21 on: October 31, 2018, 11:50:58 AM »
I had my ankle leash get wrapped around a jetty rock during a prone paddle out (I had bumped against it and used my right foot to push off the jetty). Very freaky to try and get the leash off the ankle in the current, especially next to a jetty.

In teaching my girls to surf, I make them all jump off the edge of the pool with a leash on and get it off underwater before they come up.

I have also asked them to practice in the whitewater, just flop under and get the leash off while getting tumbled. It is a good way to remind them to be calm in scary situations. They don't like it, but makes me feel a lot better. In cold water it is hard to get glove grip on the little tab that releases the cuff.

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toolate

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #22 on: October 31, 2018, 02:14:31 PM »

Badger

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #23 on: October 31, 2018, 03:09:43 PM »
anybody use a Dakine easy clip leash release pin?

https://www.dakine.com/en-us/sport/surf/leashes/easy-clip-leash-release-pin-17s/


I've never tried it but, I don't see how releasing the pin would be any easier or safer than releasing the velcro.
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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #24 on: October 31, 2018, 03:36:39 PM »
anybody use a Dakine easy clip leash release pin?

https://www.dakine.com/en-us/sport/surf/leashes/easy-clip-leash-release-pin-17s/


I've never tried it but, I don't see how releasing the pin would be any easier or safer than releasing the velcro.
Yeah, the problem is that under strain from the leash, the pin won’t come out easily at all. And even when the pin is out, the leash doesn’t pull out unless the direction of pull is in exactly the right direction. I used to use them. But now I think they give a false sense of security.

PonoBill

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #25 on: October 31, 2018, 04:19:29 PM »
The hard part, in either current or when you are being dragged around in big surf, is getting your hand anywhere near the cuff. I would never occur to me that I couldn't reach it unless I'd had the experience of trying to release and not be able to even reach my calf.
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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #26 on: October 31, 2018, 05:06:53 PM »
The hard part, in either current or when you are being dragged around in big surf, is getting your hand anywhere near the cuff. I would never occur to me that I couldn't reach it unless I'd had the experience of trying to release and not be able to even reach my calf.
Yes. I have been moments from death on two occasions from not being able to reach the leash cuff to undo it. You don’t forget that feeling in a hurry.

If you wear a waist leash, have the leash connection with the belt to the side of your hip (not in the middle of your back) if you want to avoid getting the leash tangled between your legs in a surfing wipe-out, potentially with life-altering and very painful consequences. Of course, if you are a woman, then this does not apply. Gathering up the slack in the leash and stuffing it under the waist belt like the big wave riders do will also work. If the leash is fixed in the small of your back and you fall backwards off your board, which then carries on forwards, you may get a nasty surprise. Don’t ask me how I know this...

PT Woody

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Re: SUP surfing safety considerations
« Reply #27 on: November 03, 2018, 08:31:21 PM »
Balin make a Storm leash that is 10mm thick. It is a monster, and it feels like you’d lose a limb before it broke.


+1 on the Balin 10mm. I put it to the test today when a rogue set came through. Felt like I was going to lose a foot as 5 monster waves landed on my head and held me down. Nearly copped a stray 14' race board to the head as well but that's a whole other story.

 


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