anyone else tried it?
bought one on a whim, now i am a newbie, so i did spend quite a bit of time body dragging, mostly to retrieve the board. i actually enjoy it, but. this thing has let me spend less time chasing my board and more time on it.

so i would recommend it if you fall off alot, (going too fast for your skill level maybe or just plain getting it wrong) more like a retractable thin seatbelt than anything. no recoil or slingshot effect, but does add one more line/cord to the mix.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31402

I kinda thought a reel leash would come in handy at Gnaraloo and Mainbreak margy's.

Esp Gnaraloo when the wind can be dody on the inside where your board ends up if you lose it.

Anyone had any bad experiences with these.

They are still a leash and that absolutely do have the capacity to recoil the board back at you, wear a helmet and impact vest if you use one.

They are handy to keep the board close when learning to waterstart, definitely decreases the time spent chasing down your board.

Useful in areas where there are strong currents.

If subjected to extremely hard pulls, they can break and that is not covered by warranty.

Really well made product, Kitepower is the importer, but they are available from most kite shops.

They will make the board fling back at you, just like any leash can. The leash webbing is approx 2.5M long, when it is pulled tight, then the board can fling back at you.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

They are still a leash and that absolutely do have the capacity to recoil the board back at you, wear a helmet and impact vest if you use one.

They are handy to keep the board close when learning to waterstart, definitely decreases the time spent chasing down your board.


i stand corrected on the recoil, and i did check out the thread link, my search didnt go back far enough. if i wasnt on flat water i am not sure i would use it. 25kts the other day and it fully extended a few times, never recoiled, but bobbed around behind my head while i was getting sorted. but i do like it up to about 20kts. but i guess body dragging across a shallow reef in surf is something you would want to avoid doing alot of. and a loose board in surf could be a nasty surprise for someone else. i am some way from hitting the surf though.

that leg pic does make you think.

Definitely helmet & vest when using them, but the cord is not bungy so the board does not spring back at you. They are on ebay from $50.

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padi said...

Definitely helmet & vest when using them, but the cord is not bungy so the board does not spring back at you. They are on ebay from $50.

Sorry Padi, they do make a board spring back.
True the webbing is not elastic and will not store energy like a bungee leash, but they will still send a board back at you if they are loaded up enough.

Grow out of them asap, learn to body drag asap.

Some situations might warrant the use of one, like where there is a strong opposing current to the wind (board is taken upwind faster than you can bodydrag). Small surf with a sweep, but I would not recommend one in big surf anything over 1-1.5M forget it.

And stuff ebay, get them off an Oz retailer!
Saw an ebay purchased kite on the weekend idiot flyer had no idea and was crashing it on our local VERY (Oz Day WE) crowded beach. We let his LE down, told him to get lessons, could have been a lot worse!
Everybody please don't sell your unwanted kites on ebay.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Correction, I meant the cord has no elasticity in itself so does not spring back to you like a surf board bungy rope. The device does however have a recoil spring built in to retract the cord, but the force does not 'SPRING' board back at speed while it is in the water when you have water resistance. Our customers gain heaps of kiting time with the reel, but safety precautions (helmet, vest) must be put in place.

Yes, totally agree with Steve, stay away from the old 4 lines c-kites if you are just starting, and make sure you get lessons if you are just starting, regardless of what type of kites you are buying. It is not just your own life you endanger, but others too. Kiting is extremely dangerous if you do not know what you are doing.

Ebay is a great selling platform, we love it and have much business generated from it. I am sure millions love it too. It is just like telephone orders, or ordering on the net. We import many products to Australia including the reel, and buying on ebay from authorised distributors like ourselves gives you the same warranty/back up service as you would from mail/telephone order or direct with your local shop, plus a lot more savings in most cases. Of course there is the added fun and excitment on the bidding itself too! True there are things you would want/need your local shop for back up, but there are many others you dont. I say happy bidding!

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Kitepower Australia said...

padi said...

Definitely helmet & vest when using them, but the cord is not bungy so the board does not spring back at you. They are on ebay from $50.

Sorry Padi, they do make a board spring back.
True the webbing is not elastic and will not store energy like a bungee leash, but they will still send a board back at you if they are loaded up enough.

Grow out of them asap, learn to body drag asap.

Some situations might warrant the use of one, like where there is a strong opposing current to the wind (board is taken upwind faster than you can bodydrag). Small surf with a sweep, but I would not recommend one in big surf anything over 1-1.5M forget it.

And stuff ebay, get them off an Oz retailer!
Saw an ebay purchased kite on the weekend idiot flyer had no idea and was crashing it on our local VERY (Oz Day WE) crowded beach. We let his LE down, told him to get lessons, could have been a lot worse!
Everybody please don't sell your unwanted kites on ebay.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Everybody please don't sell your unwanted kites on ebay ???????

Why is selling on ebay any different to selling on seabreeze or in the trading post ?

If an idiot wants to but a kite, he's gonna buy one !!

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au_rick said...

Everybody please don't sell your unwanted kites on ebay ???????

Why is selling on ebay any different to selling on seabreeze or in the trading post ?

If an idiot wants to but a kite, he's gonna buy one !!

Ok everybody sell your kites on ebay, seabreeze wherever and don't give any advice.
How is that going to help our sport survive?

My advice was made with the best interests of the sport in mind. Idiots, as you put it, will be idiots I guess, no matter what, but that does not excuse us who know better from acting more responsibly and less selfishly, does it?

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

PS my angst about ebay came from watching a guy proceed to trash people at Dolls with a kite purchased from ebay last Monday, he had no lessons and even though some let down the kite and told him to leave the area, I reckon he will just do it again somehere else.

I use the reel leashes for lessons and find them very effective for beginners. They increase the time spent riding on the board instead of chasing the board. Once the rider is more competent with the kite body dragging back to the board is a simple thing to master. I have taught many lessons using these and have not seen the board snap back at the rider once except in an intermediate lesson while coaching jumps. We immediately detached the leash. Not recommended for jumping. Also not recommended for waves.

reel leashes are great for the progression of a new kite boarder,i still use one when i`m out by myself in light conditions and with strong river currents.try attaching the leash underneath your carry handle ,this forces the board to and dig into the water on it`s side leastenig the chance for it to spring back..wear a helmet and a vest and don`t jump with it at all.and smile your haveing fun.

A quick look in the lost/found section reveals 31 lost boards since 01 Jan 2008, and one lost girlfriend

This is a phenominal loss rate of about one board per day And these are only the boards reported lost on this forum. If each board is say worth an average of $1000 to replace new, thats $31,000 worth of kit been lost in a month.

Im still only a relative beginner to kiting, and one of those 31 boards was mine. I have read all the board leash threads on this and other forums, and seen the gruesome pictures too - but am not convinced that board leashes are all evil and wearing one will result in the inevitable hospitalisation as some seem to think.

Its all about risk management, and only taking on extra risk if the benefit of taking the risk outweighs the risk itself. In my workplace we constantly manage risk at meny different levels, and wearing a board leash can also be managed effectively. Just being out there kiting carries extra risk of injury than watching from the beach. The benefit is the enjoyment you get from kiting, so you have judged the risk as acceptable.

Wearing a board leash also carries a higher risk of injury than not wearing one at all, but then there is the risk of losing ones board. All we need to do is mitigate this risk by wearing an impact vest and helmet, and using a modern retractable leash. By doing this, you are effectively reducing the probability of an injury from occuring from say "probable" to "rare". Not jumping with a leash also reduces the risk injury. The risk of losing ones board vs being injured has now been mitigated - but not removed.

The benefit of wearing a leash is a massively reduced chance of losing your board should you become separated from it, and all the comments of 'learn to body drag' mean nothing when your in a strong current and the wind is the wrong way. In this case youve got no chance of dragging back to your board - as I found out the hard way. They didn't tell me this in my lessons

Finally, all risk is an individual choice. What is acceptable for one is not to another. All those who so strongly advocate against wearing a leash (especially when learning) are obvously risk averse, and I would hope they walk to the beach, because the risk of serious injury in a car accident is far greater than wearing a board leash with vest and helmet. Perhaps they all wear fame retardent racing suits, racing helmets and 5 point harnesses, and have their cars fitted with roll bars - as this is the only way to 'reduce' the risk of injury in a car.

There are plenty of freak accidents in all sports and even day to day life. Kiting is no different - leash or not. BUT, with 1 board a day getting lost - I can only wonder how many boards would have been saved in the last month if a leash had been worn ? I personally think the risk of beginners losing boards is much higher than injuries they will get from wearing a reel leash with the safety gear. Its just up to the individual as to whether or not they are willing to mitigate, and then accept this extra risk.

If you can body drag you dont need a leash.
If you cannot body drag you need more lessons or more practice.

Wear a leash at your own peril

All leashes surfboard style to reel leashes can and do spring back at you.

Imagine attempting to relaunch your kite, board behind you ( attached by a leash ) suddenly a gust picks you up teabag style ( or just drags you ) you end a few meters down wind and hello hello you board is enthusiastically coming to join you. By this stage you usually have just your head or chest/back exposed out of out of the water with the leash attachment point at your waist under the water so your board wants to get home to the attachment point.

I used a leash for approx a week when begining before witnessing the board fly past my head ( missed by an inch). Got rid of it the very next session and learnt to body drag properly. So yes leashes work well they keep your board close but are dangerous!!!

CHOADY, I am pretty sure no one has ever suffered a serious head injury because they lost their board.
If you are that worried pick up a board here on seabreeze for a coupla hundred and use that until you can body drag properly. Just practice body dragging it is so easy once you feel how to do it.

Good on you Harry Potter, you smashed it in one!

The only people who advocate leashes are kooks and beginners who are too impetuous to learn proper upwind body dragging technique. DO you ever see accomplished riders wearing and using leashes? Surely pros in comps would benefit from a leash in a comp so they dont have to UWBD and waste valuable heat time???

Teaching someone to waterstart with a leash because they can't UWBD properly means you are teaching too fast and have no concern for their safety. No one should be water starting on a board until they have mastered UWBD, it's just irresponsible and makes up for poor teaching ability.

A helmet and impact vest doesn't solve all issues either. A rider in Perth almost died when hit in the throat with his board in a crash.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Ditch the leash and learn proper UWBD for YOUR sake!

Good winds,



PS. Gees I gotta lay off the angry pills today

Using a leash cause its easier or quicker as a beginner only delays the process of becoming proficient at body dragging. As anyone who has refused to be tempted by the leash will say, after kiting for a while it is second nature to drag to the board in very little time, even over a large distance. Its not worth the risk of a board to the teeth.

Too true O, but for those that feel the need to use one or who are learning in an area where there can be strong currents that will steal your board, then fit a weak link to the end of the leash.

A weak link is a piece if light weight or low breaking strain line, we will gladly supply a piece for free to anyone who asks.

And still wear a helmet, impact vest, and remember the board is right at face level, just behind your head when you are in deep water - so its easy to bonk yourself in the face.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

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Kitepower Australia said...

au_rick said...

Everybody please don't sell your unwanted kites on ebay ???????

Why is selling on ebay any different to selling on seabreeze or in the trading post ?

If an idiot wants to but a kite, he's gonna buy one !!

Ok everybody sell your kites on ebay, seabreeze wherever and don't give any advice.
How is that going to help our sport survive?

My advice was made with the best interests of the sport in mind. Idiots, as you put it, will be idiots I guess, no matter what, but that does not excuse us who know better from acting more responsibly and less selfishly, does it?

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

PS my angst about ebay came from watching a guy proceed to trash people at Dolls with a kite purchased from ebay last Monday, he had no lessons and even though some let down the kite and told him to leave the area, I reckon he will just do it again somehere else.

So Steve,
do you check the kiting credentials of every purchaser buying kites from your online store ?? I think probably not ???

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its easy to bonk yourself in the face.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

You're a lot more supple and flexible than I gave you credit for Steve!

Seriously though, I started with a reel leash (with a weak link in the form of a cable tie, helmet and i-vest) and ended up using it for far too long. If you convince yourself that its safe then it is easy to start making excuses for not putting in the time to learn to body drag upwind (the winds too light, the waves will wash away my board, there might be some currents that stop my board coming in, its been so long since I've had such good conditions that I'm not going to waste today dragging myself through the water). Lets face it once you get to the stage when you can consistently stay upwind on a boad, it’s much more fun learning to go faster, (point further up wind, tack, ride toeside, jump, ride waves etc) than to spend your time bodydragging and swallowing lots of water.

While I never had an incident with a board coming at me, the cable tie did break a couple of times, and then you can find yourself much further out than comfortable, desperately trying to learn to BDUW in choppy seas. Of course if those situations are merely uncomfortable (as opposed to downright scary) then you just convince yoursel f that you are not ready to learn to BDUW and aggravate the problem.

Body-dragging upwind should be one of the first things you learn. It really doesn't take much to learn and you never forget once you've got the hang of it. An unexpected bonus is that knowing you can BDUW well boosts your confidence, and that improves your technique in kitesurfing just like it does in surfing, snowboarding, windsurfing or any other sport where you need to 'commit'.

CHOADY, your comments on stats ignore a couple of things. First of all the consequences of being injured badly by a leash are much worse than losing a board. Secondly its difficult to assess the probability of being injured by a leash. Sure there were probably far less than 31 leash injuries reported on Seabreeze last month, but the vast majority of kitesurfers dont wear them so you can't compare the absolute figures. Also people are much more likely to report a lost board (because there is a chance they'll get it back) than an injury that basically makes them look like a bit of a plonker.

So while I agree in principle on your comments on risk, it seems to me that there is too little information to make an informed assessment of the risk. BTW I still wear a helmet (I'm not vain, and for all I know it may already have saved my life), and I still believe that there is a good argument for owning a reel leash (e.g. for use in strong upwind currents/tides, or to temporarily attach your board in order free up a hand when rescuing someone etc).


Thats my 2c for what its worth...


KS

yawn