clip on leash users beware.
i witnessed a nasty incident at kb cabarette yesterday.
a kiter was wallowing in the shallows separated from his board with his kite in the air.
at first i thought he was one of the kooks trying to waterstart at the waters edge,then i thought he had a broken leg, because after he landed his kite he was writhing in agony.
a stretcher was summoned from the kite school and it turned out this guy had impaled his heel with the clip of his board leash.
there were tons of theories advanced but at the end of the day manufacfturers are going to have to do further equipment safety checks and due dilligence on theit products to save users such unpleasant experiences.
i don't think this kiter was careless or reckless in any way and he paid the price with a doctor having to be summoned to cut the clip out of his heel.
this is not the first time,i heard of a case in new zeeland where the clip actually penetrated the booty.
if you have to use a leash consider the old surfboard velcro leashes and please no clips or sharp objects.

slingshot kite leashes are clip based. think what one of those clips could do if they detatched clipped on your finger with the kite powering up.a ghastly thought.

safe riding

barry

Hi Barry.
Talk about hard piece at the end of leashes.
I have almost lost a toe because the swivel at the board end of my leash whacked me after a huge kickout in big surf.
Lesson learnt:
Always precheck the state of your leash attachment, specially the board end.
Regards
Nico

Please explain. How can the leash clip touch your foot, unless you step on it? Did the clip break? (I've had that happen, in surf) Did it become detatched from the board by itself? (never had that happen except when the line between the clip & the leash plug broke).

I had the brass clip at the end of a NSI Reel leash break under load causing what was left of it to impact my lower leg at mach 3..
I got yanked off the board during a heavy gust and was in the air when this occured. Damn lucky the brass swivel didn't get me in the head or face. The wound on my leg should have been stitched instead I filled it with superglue...
Thinkin' about a new way to connect the reel leash to the board leash using a slip knot in order to eliminate any more metal projectiles..

I read a post from a guy (presumably this guy) who had a leash end stuck in his foot. Apparently he had a snap hook on the board end and it came adrift and flicked up and the end went through his booty. The end of the hook was embedded in his foot. Ouch. (

tough to get the exact details but from my view of the accident and an explanation from one of the instructors on the beach, the kiter had taken the clip on kite leash that slingshot uses[made of pretty bungy material]
and used it as a board leash attaching it to his harness.
pure conjecture but probaly under huge load,ie the kite in the power zone and the board submarining[most of cabarette is too deep for tombstoning]the clip must have released and shot into his heel.
this type of accident is troubling not only in terms of unfortunate consequences for someone that was trying to practice safe kiting but has wider implications.
a number of kiters are taking the slingshot kite leashes and attaching them to there harnesses. if this modification is done it should be done just with metal rings no clips. chicago kite surfing has an excellent diagram illustrating the modification on this forum.
to merely attach the clip to the harness is incorrect use of the leash and could have similar bad consequences if the clip on the kite releases under load,it could be a projectile aiming at any of your body parts.
safe kiting
barry

What about taking a 6'- 1ft long piece of pipe insulator (foam) and sliding it down over the clip? I havent tried it but it seems if it did dislodge under pressure you would get whacked with the foam instead of metal.

I'm surprised this happened with a REEL leash! (especially since the clip is on the RIDER side of the short bungie)



Maybe a lark's head, bent-pin-in-Velcro, bent-pin-in-tube, sliding pin, or even just plain double-Velcro (as used on surfboard leashes).