Surfboard leashes in big surf/challenging spots

There may well have been posts on this but nothing came up on a search of "surfboard leashes/legropes" so here goes.

We all know the dangers and unacceptable risks of leashes on twin tips and when freestyling so no need to go there. This question pertains to surfkiting only and primarily in bigger surf and/or tricky distant spots where losing your board is a very undesirable option.

Never worn a leash but now living in surf territory I'm looking to get out in some decent waves (btw, have surfed all my life before moving to flatter windier climes and taking up kiting) but I'm not sure which I like less: wearing a board leash or long drags to shore ,or worse, swimming in rocks and rips if the surf one day claims the kite.

Noticed in nearly all vids of decent wave kiting riders seem to be wearing board leashes. What are the whys, wherefores and considerations of them when wave kiting? Are there different types (less pingy perhaps) for kiting? Or does one just have to do one's absolute darnedest to not to get separated from board so much as to stretch the leg rope?

Secondly, Ben Wilson in his video on surviving big wave wipeouts with kites talks about not wearing a kite safety leash (i.e. harness to flag out line) as he had one badly wrapped around him once. Does anyone/everyone concur? Without a kite safety leash flag out the kite in the surf to (hopefully) stop the kite getting shredded is he advocating ditching the kite entirely or is the preferred method to hang on to flag out line manually in that situation?

Indeed. Watch and see what you make of Ben advocating ditching the leash (around 1:45 on vid). In most pics and vids however you can see him wearing a leash. Confusing.