Surfboard Leash

[Alton]

Last Thursday at 3rd Avenue when I fell off my surfboard, the tension in my leash (stiff spectra line) ripped out the pin from my leash plug.

Instead of replacing the leash plug, I drilled through the rear of the traction pad (1" thick) and ran 2 feet of elastic shock cord (bungee) to prevent tearing of the foam traction pad.

Mike - check out my new "quick release" surfboard leash. See full size picture here.

I hope to test it out Tuesday.

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[Richi]

I hope your wearing a helmet and have a dental plan Alton!

[Mike]

Mike - check out my new "quick release" surfboard leash.

I like the quick release option.

Aside from Richi's comment, you may find it a bit long and drag on the water. I found my old kite leash a bit long for this reason so tied a knot in it to make it shorter.

Testing and time will let you know and if the pad will hold or tear. Maybe reinforce?

[Alton]

I hope your wearing a helmet and have a dental plan Alton!

Yup. Got both ... but I've been using a leash for many many many years ... and have never experienced any recoil. Simply too much drag in the water. Usually when tension gets too extreme the leash will break. In the last instance the pin in the leash plug broke.

[Alton]

... you may find it a bit long and drag on the water. I found my old kite leash a bit long for this reason so tied a knot in it to make it shorter...

I too tied a few knots in my kite leash to shorten it (shown in picture).

I also daisy chained the rope so I can adjust it's length until I get it right.

[Mike]

I hope your wearing a helmet and have a dental plan Alton!

Yup. Got both ... but I've been using a leash for many many many years ... and have never experienced any recoil. Simply too much drag in the water. Usually when tension gets too extreme the leash will break. In the last instance the pin in the leash plug broke.

I wonder if the bungee cord will behave differently.

[Alton]

My first workaround for a broken leash plug failed. Breaking waves snapped my shock cord (bungee) which also tore through my surfboard's stomp pad (right side only). On the bright side, I didn't lose my surfboard on the epic SSE 30g40 Sunday.

My second attempt is to mount an unbreakable cooper extrusion at the stern of my surfboard using 3M 5200 marine adhesive (slow cure). This adhesive takes 7 days to cure so I'm not expecting any wind during that time. I was told the 3M 5200 slow cure can handle a lot of shear force.

This time I'll be using 1/4" shock cord ... double the diameter of the previous one.

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[Mike]

Although not pretty, that seems promising. I could not find what I mentioned locally but did find it:

https://www.salmonbaypaddle.com/product ... ctra-loop/

To my eye, what you're trying is similar. I'm no adhesive expert but it seems like 3M has some sticky products

[Alton]

Although not pretty, that seems promising. I could not find what I mentioned locally but did find it:

https://www.salmonbaypaddle.com/product ... ctra-loop/

To my eye, what you're trying is similar. I'm no adhesive expert but it seems like 3M has some sticky products

Thanks Mike. If my second attempt fails, I'll try this.

Another one I found on Amazon is this one https://www.amazon.com/Surfco-Hawaii-EZ ... B08W2YWF1P ... but I'm skeptical about its strength

Amazon-com-Surfco-Hawaii-EZ-Plug-Kit-Single-Pack-in-Black-Sports-Outdoors.png (120.36 KiB) Viewed 8132 times

[ShonanDB]

I used Ez-Plug on my Longboard when I was in Japan and it held well even in OH waves.