I just bought a new stewart 9'4" longboard. Its so nice its like a boat in the water. I dont have a leash though for it yet and I was wondering what size leash would be good for this size board?
A 9' leash, with the leach plug a couple inches up on the deck, and cord attached, should give you just enough length to get toes over.
someone should invent a leash where the cord can slide from one point of your ankle to another. In other words, the attaching point from the cord to the ankle harness should be able to slide from the right part of your foot to the left without much resistance. I feel like this would help out with tangling. does this already exist?
I always liked the idea of a leash that worked like one of those dog leashes that automatically coils up or spools out depending on where your foot is.
what are we, dogs now? i think there's one of those on the books in ocnj as well, but no one enforces it. the core longboard guys never wear leashes around here. not that i'd count myself among them, but my log has never had a leash on it, either. i kind of agree w/ matt...leashes are the bane of modern surfing. a lot fewer people would try or stick w/ surfing if they had to swim after their board every time they wiped out. unless there are a lot of little kids playing on the inside, i don't start to wear one until the surf hits a little overhead. i will also admit to wearing one the majority of the time in the winter...swimming in a 5/4 sucks.
Right? I was surprised when a guard at a surfing beach said, "sorry... gotta have a leash now." What is this, Virginia Beach? It's the freakn' PIT dude! Personally... I prefer not to wear a leash on a longboard (pretty much always wear on one a shortboard) because I end up stepping on it or tripping over it. Those knee leashes are better, but still... Other than that, the leash, good or bad, is here to stay. On one hand, I don't think it should be regulated by ordinance... it should be a choice. On the other hand, think about how many times you, or your kid, could have risked serious injury by that kook who just dove off his board or wiped out right in front of you - hundreds if not thousands of times! So unless your a very experienced surfer who really never looses his board... please, don't try to be cool... WEAR A LEASH.
but that's just my point...people do stupid things like randomly bailing off their boards precisely b/c they know that it's tethered to their ankle by that stupid goon cord! if they knew they'd be swimming after it if they let go, i think people would be more inclined to try to hold onto their boards in all sort of situations. how many times has some kid bailed instead of duck-diving a bomb set & nearly clipped you w/ his board? it happens all the time...that wouldn't happen if not for the leash. the leash teaches bad etiquette & poor decision making for surfers of all ability levels. not to mention that it provides a false sense of security for surfers to paddle out in conditions that are beyond their ability level, even if that's waist high. i feel like the majority of surfers can barely swim these days... it's funny you say that, b/c i NEVER see kids surfing leashless any more...only older guys like myself. i think it's b/c there is rarely any footage of the hot pros surfing leashless anymore. w/ all the crazy airs those guys are trying now, they'd prob. spend more time swimming than surfing if they went leashless, & the kids see them surfing w/ a leash even in the smallest of surf, so that's what they do. when i was a grom growing up, you'd always see footage of pat o'connell, machado, slater, etc...surfing w/out a leash.
except in Hatteras,where at certain breaks sometimes people swim (wade) right where we surf and it's really dangerous.
the leash has saved my face soooo many times. about 4 times yesterday, this kid either bailed or ditched his board during a set, and the nose would end up 2 inches from my face. on the other hand, yeah if he didn't have a leash he would be holding onto that board for dear life every time he fell or got caught inside. even when i do wear a leash i find myself holding onto my board while i get rolled just because i'm used to it, and because i'm always concerned the board is going to fly up then hit me as i surface
I agree. I hardly wear a leash in summer even on my fish and shortboard. I surf before the guards are there or after they leave and they don't enforce it. When it comes to winter, I have the leash on in waist high lol because a 5/4 sucks balls.
yes, you should always hold onto the board. That's the problem with a lot of other people. They let their boards go and it hits other people/boards. Even when you duckdive and the waves are pumping, you should hold onto that board tight. People let it get ripped out of their hands on big waves. I just get pissed when I hold the board too tight and feel like I pressured the glass on the rails too much.
You're absolutely right about that... in fact, you're right about a lot of what you said. The issue I have is more about taking away the freedom of being able to choose to wear a leash or not. It's more about the principle, and less about leashes. You can argue the leash issue all day... but who wants to give up freedom? Nobody should be told they have to wear a leash... be they good or bad. But like I said, they're here to stay. The damage is done. I wear a leash on my shortboards because I don't ride a shortboard until the surf is good, and I don't want to feel like I missed even one wave 'cause I had to swim for my board. My time in the water is limited. (The other day I surfed for literally 20 minutes... it's all the time I had. Jump in, go like crazy, get a handful of waves, and run back up the beach) Fish and shortboard... no leash, small surf... don't care about my wave count as much. And I don't think anyone should tell me.... AT A SURFING BEACH, where NO SWIMMERS ARE ALLOWED IN THE WATER... that I have to wear a leash. That's just regulation for regulation's sake.
