Personally I am a big fan of them Scotty. Dug some history up for ya....sorry its so long but it needed to be


Credit for the invention of the surf leash is usually given to Santa Cruz's Pat O'Neill, son of wetsuit kingpin Jack O'Neill, who in 1970 fastened a length of surgical tubing to the nose of his board with a suction cup, and looped the other end to his wrist. Aside from the leash keeping the board nearby after a wipeout, it was initially thought that the surfer could use the new handheld product to leverage turns and cutbacks; by late 1971, however, the leash was much more sensibly connected to the ankle and the board's tail section (as the Frenchman Hennebutte had done years earlier), and was being sold???first by Control Products and Block Enterprises, both from Southern California, then by dozens of companies world- wide???simply as a board saver. Advertised as safe, the prototype rubber versions were in fact dangerous: Jack O'Neill permanently lost the sight in his left eye in 1971, after his leashed board snapped back and hit his face. Surfers by the thousands were meanwhile making their own leashes from lengths of marine surplus bungee cord.

"To Leash or Not to Leash, That is the Question" was the title of a 1972 Surfing magazine article, and for two or three years the question divided the surf world. Purists correctly noted that leashes encouraged less-skilled riders to try spots they would have otherwise avoided (board-damaging rocky breaks in particular), and that by removing the swim time from the surfing experience, lineups were more crowded than ever. Also, by relying on their leashes, surfers in general were becoming less water-savvy. "Leashes are for dogs" was the unofficial motto of the no-leash group. Leash advocates said it was more fun to surf than swim, and that leashes promoted a freer, more progressive brand of surfing. By 1975 the pro-leash group had won the debate (although it was a few more years before leashes would be used in large waves), and by 1980 it was rare to find a surfer not using a leash.

Leash construction and reliability improved steadily through the years, most significantly in 1975 with the introduction of the Control Products Power Cord, which threaded eight feet of nylon cord inside six feet of rubber tubing and thus limited the amount of tensile stretch; and in 1978, when urethane became the primary material.

Re this bit Ted: "Aside from the leash keeping the board nearby after a wipeout, it was initially thought that the surfer could use the new handheld product to leverage turns and cutbacks..."
One of the recent surf mags featuring Taj and Dorian in WA mentions a local surfer paddling out to join them who has a rope tied to his deck and used it like this when on the waves. (an ex rodeo rider maybe...)

Love my Creatures leggie and absolutely stoked with my new O'Neill RG8 & PyroTech wetties (they is the Ducks cods!!!) oh and like this thread too Ted

great thread Ted
i remember my first leg rope with the rubber tube braking...... you swear your leg was being pulled off
also remember the first urethane leg ropes, your board would flyback at you, thank god they only had one fin in those days

When I was a kid growing up in Cronulla, leashes or leg ropes were just starting to be used. This was around 1970. There were no commercially available products. So what does any enterprising group of young grooms do?
We made our own. No special products, no bungee chords, no not for these clever young guys.

We used nylon rope. It was about 3mm or 1/8" in diameter. We drilled a hole throughout the fins of our boards and fed the rope through and tied a double knot in it to stop it pulling through. This didn't always work so we experimented with different knots and ways of fixing it.
The other end was fixed to a 'dog collar' which we buckled around our ankles. The nylon rope was tied to the loop that you would clip the dogs lead to. There was no cushioning or flex and you would literally be dragged along by your board until it stopped. It did save a lot of swimming though.
We experimented with different chords and even trice occurs straps but these were very dangerous. I received a broken nose due to this experiment.

Whilst not of high engineering value this system worked and we could steal the rope from our old men and pinch the dog collars from friendly neighbourhood dogs.

It did us for quite a while until we had more cash and surf products started to come onto the market.
One downside is that I think my right leg is slightly longer than my left leg due to be pulled by big ole malibus .

Cheers.
ET.

No need for one if you ride a 666

Balin were the leg-rope innovators in Australia in the seventy's . They fabricated here in Victoria, and brought urethane into the market here.

before that it was shock cords and handkerchiefs around the ankles similar to ET dog collar set up.

Ted,
Out of respect, I always read your very,very long posts as you know it well exceeds my 50 word attention span limit.
A good read.
I just hope people are aware of the dangers in a crowded line up without a leg rope.

Thanks Scotty - I feel privileged that you break your 50 word limit

Wow some great stories here chaps...thanks for the insight. I recall my first leggie.....it was an orange cord with a rainbow coloured ankle grip but sadly no rail saver...did not realize the implications of such a rookie move until my 3rd surf when the leg rope almost cut my tail in 2!! Over the yrs I have sampled many with varying degrees of success. These days I am sold on O&E these days....love there nice little plastic attachment that makes threading the rope thru the plug so nice n easy. And most importantly it hardly ever gets caught in my toes.

mmm this might stir the pot but i actually think leg ropes are a nuisance. I totally agree in big surf they are essential but i find that in anything from 1-4/5ft surf especially around byron and lennox they are not required.

i totally agree that leg ropes allow inexperienced surfers to go out where they wouldnt normally go and i find this annoying and more dangerous than a stray board without a leg rope.

example you have the pass on a 4ft solid day and all the experienced surfers sit wide of the break, choose their wave and paddle into it. you have inexperienced surfers who sit right out the back right in the road of a braking wave, this causing more damnage as most of the time they will paddle into the wave ignoring the surfer inside or have 0% chance of making the wave so they get in the road and can cause some serious damage.

if you have a bunch of experienced surfers out without leg ropes i would image not one of them would get hit by a board because they know where to sit, know where to paddle back out, and dont sit in the road. if a board does come loose no one is in the road because no one should be sitting right in front of the braking wave.

i think surfing has become too easy with everything these days. You watch old videos of 60's with guys chargin 10ft waves on 40-50lbs boards. I have a 45lbs 12fter and the thought of paddling into something that big scares the **** outta me, those guys would do it all day long, lose their board, swim in get it, and paddle back out. Not to mention the heavy load on your arms paddling and CARRYING the board.

Look at this BS www.wavejet.com i mean these have started to pop up in byron and its soooooooooo annoying because its just the ultimate lazy surfing.

rant over, just my example of living in byron and i know everyone surfs different breaks, we have super easy surf and too many people so therefore i would welcome no legropes to hopefully lessen the tourist/inexperienced surfer crowding our breaks.

Timely post as I lost my board today due to the separate little bit of rope that threads through the plug having its knot unravel and the leg rope separating from the board as a result. Had a nice little 40metre swim in a steamer to retrieve it before the killer rocks gobbled it up.

Does anyone else use the extra bit of rope or just thread the rail saver straight into the plug?

Bigspaz,
You'd be farked on Twitter as you are limited to 140 words.
Royal Commisioners have handed down their final reports with less words.

yes yes yes yes but ........ just who the fark has right of way