I’ve broken 3 leashes in one year of foiling. When I surf I break maybe one per year and the waves are much bigger.
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Matt and crew, thank you for the invite and the questions about leash design. How cool is this foiling thing that we are doing.
We love feedback and have made many changes to our product line to stay in front of the curve. We promise to keep innovating to keep us all ripping.
Here are some of my thoughts. The way we ride, where we ride and what we ride has changed a ton in the past 2-3 years. There wasn’t as much stress on the leashes then. Now, we are riding faster, ripping it up, towing in and doing airs. 
(Prone foil, sup foil, down wind. wing foil, tow in, foil drive, etc.)
Prone riders experience these challenges much more than SUP, wing or downwind riders as our feet are already in place.
A couple of things happen when we prone foil (you already know these):
Standing up moves the leash to unpredictable positions - sometimes under your feet, in front of them or in the toes. White water take offs can push the leash forward and under your feet - kind of why floating leashes may or may not work. A leash with drag, at take off, may be better in this case. When we are waiting for a set, sometimes we forget to position the leash the right way and it gets out of position for the next take off.
Here are some solutions that Kaohi can address for the most part.
Calf cuffs may help - try them if you haven’t
Try a thicker leash for durability 7 or 8mm? Prone, Wing, SUP and Downwind
New 5.5 and 8mm tighter double coils tend to hold their coil better and longer and stay out of the way
4, 5 or 6’ x 5.5mm double coils work really well
Adjust how you position the cuff swivel so that it moves the cord out of the way - “on the side of your leg and a little forward”
Use a 4’ or 5’ straight ankle or calf cuff as an option
Maybe use a 6’ x 7mm straight with a calf cuff for bigger surf
Here are our key Kaohi leash design features:
(a mini commercial)
Key design features
Double coil - less tangling, less immediate rebound after a fall (safer than continuous coils) feels lighter than a continuous coil when riding
Grip handle rail saver - you can safely hold your board close when you need to, control of your board when entering or exiting the water, protects others around you, found on 7 and 8mm
Padded Black Belt waist belt - comfortable, light weight but strong, loops designed to attached wing and board leashes and other gear (Kalama has the best foil utility belt around)
Padded Black Belt waist belt/10’ x 8mm continuous leash combo - made to wing, sup surf and if you are like Kane, this works for prone. Although he has a custom double coil combo. Maybe Kane can comment here as well.
Feel free to reach out to us at anytime. We would love to help you find a custom solution.
Thank you also for your support.
boardmeetingusa@gmail.com
Aloha,
Roy
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Hey Roy, thanks for replying. Stoked to get some feedback to you from the community.
I’ve ordered a 5x7mm and excited to try it out, will drop some more feedback once I have had a few sessions.
For what it’s worth, I tried to revive the coil on an old random leash by wrapping it around a rod and pouring boiling water and I think it killed it.
The main problem I am having with all of the current leashes is that they are urethane of of some sort. In the passed 3 weeks, I have had 3 leashes break sup foil surfing waist to chest waves. One was an older leash so I am attributing age to that one. But the other 2 were brand new. All it takes is one little nick in these and then when it is pulled, that is all it takes for them to pop and you’re swimming. I have lost a lot of confidence in them. This why I am trying the Manera leash with the webbing around it. If some one could make the urethane with something like that webbing around it for protection, that would be great.
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3 in a row seems unlikely, or something peculiar with how you are doing something.
A reinforcement would be cool. Somehow that manera leash doesn’t look that appealing for surf but I’d be keen to hear feedback.
I have just got the 5’x7mm kaohi, will hopefully have some feedback soon
Yeah, I was not happy about that either. I have sent the company an email with questions about whether they changed their urethane formula or if they are buying from a different supplier. I am not looking to bash them either as I have not named them. But they have not replied after 3 weeks either. I am not doing anything different than I have been for years. The only difference was the 2 new leashes were .310" in diameter and the old one was .350 inches in diameter. I also wear these as waist leashes which keeps them further away from the foil.
After the first new one went, I paid a lot more attention while using the second one. I was diving away from some white water of a wave that broke right in front of me. The board caught the white water. It did not even pull that hard. And then I felt it release after about a second of pull. At the moment of release, I could see the leash was fully extended.
I test my leashes every couple of uses by attaching them to the tow hitch on my truck and pulling quite hard on them. I did it with the new leashes and was able to stretch them about 3 feet with out issue. The pull in the water was no where near the force I put on them on land.
I bought 2 of the manera leashes so I can weight test one of them to the breaking point. I am trying to set up a high enough point to add weight to it to see where it breaks. I also re-tied one of the broken leashes that I want to also hang weight from it to see where it breaks too.
I tried a kaohi 8mm double coil for winging with the calf cuff and did not like it. If it was rougher conditions where i fell more, the board always ended up in my face and I could not stand that. To me, a face smack sooner or later. I really wanted to like it. I will not use coiled leashes in the surf.
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Some feedback from various tests, which are progressing with mixed results.
Experiment 1: Kāohi Grip Leash - Double Coil - 5’ x 7 mm / 1.5" Ankle - This was what was available locally. It seems like it will work but needs a few prone tweaks. I probably shouldn’t have gone for the Grip version for prone.
- The rail-saver with the Grip handle ends up being too long for my prone 4’4 board, see pic below, it ends up with the swivel right under back foot.
- The 5’ length is just right, doesn’t skip in the water, barely notice the leash, surfing the board back in upside down any shorter would be an issue, and I have the leash on the calf. Maybe 5’ is minimum for surf.
- Using the 5’ on the waist is not viable, it ends up pulling tight due to the tight coils as you stand up, causing it to be perfectly positioned to catch under your feet. Worse than before.
- I wanted to change out the railsaver to a short comp-leash one that I have, but can’t change due to male/female reversing on the two leash brands. A very short railsaver section would be an improvement.
I stand just in front of the white tailblock.
Experiment 2: bottom rail mount with the old leash
I used a foil screw to attach a leash with a very small tailsaver secion to the foil tracks. Bit of a messy connection but it was to test the idea.
- This worked super well, zero tangles in a busy session with big and small waves, hollow, weak. The mounting being below the board or at least not directly behind the back foot meant I didn’t even notice the leash in the session.
- However, crazy drag, I couldn’t catch waves that I would usually easy float into. I can typically scratch into anything, with this setup I was missing lots of waves. Perhaps with a minimal string keeping the leash attachment just under the back tail I’ll lose less speed
Experiment 3: Kaohi without tailsaver!
This is great, low rate of tangles so far
- very short length, and very predictable, with the horn facing out and the leash on ankle
- two sessions one in big messy beach break shore runs and another in smaller surf, though ideally I’d have another swivel at the board side
- can’t upside down backwards surf the board in over reefs with the leash on
Thoughts so far on the whole thing:
- 5’ is short enough
- UltraShort tail saver for prone
- Thick leash means the coils stay tighter
- Having leash plug offset to toeside would almost certainly be effective in keeping the leash out the way.
- Waist generally not much good, nor direct foil mount.
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Yep… That grip is better suited for big boards
@beavis, any feedback on how you went on so far with the Manera leashes?
They look very interesting.
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I got called for work so I have not been able to test it yet. I should be able to in about 2 weeks.
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The Amundson coil leash works well for me!
Hello all:
2 sessions on the 4’ 5” Manera leash. Here is feedback:
Super light. Can’t feel any drag. Stepped on leash a few times and it does not bother you (as advertised). A few nits- leash constantly pulls on you (probably by design). Not a big deal but you have to get used to it. Feeling the pull makes you think it is caught or twisted so constantly checking it. Also, the leash is fraying quite a bit where the Velcro leash band is snagging it I guess. Not sure how it will look in 6 months. Will report back on that. I think I would like it even more with a calf leash so will look into that. Bottom line- if everything else is sub-par for you, the Manera is worth a try. Definitely different.
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In South Africa we don’t have alot of choice but we are fortunate to have a company that’s made surf gear for years and is always keen to help make gear up for other water sports. Island Style South Africa makes a unreal coil leash. Strong and durable. Will make any length and thickness you want.
I’ve found the 4ft coil that is 6mm thick suits me. It will stretch a bit but not alot. See Pic provide.
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where do you get these frrom ?im so tired of my leash getting stuck between my toes , drives me nuts
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I’ve got a clean new waist leash setup - haven’t used it yet but it has potential.
Double rail savers. Standard setup for the board connection. I replaced the cuff with a second rail saver then attached one of these clips:
Wichard Stainless Steel Webbing Snap Hook
Clip that to a waist belt. The rail saver has a swivel to avoid twists and you also avoid using cord that twists up.
Also, I’ve been using kaohi leashes forever and I generally like them, but I just got an XM leash and the quality is sick. They make a rail saver with a little pocket you can keep an Allen key in, which I think will come in handy.
Hey Clifford. We get them from Island Style in Dbn. Will call you during the week.
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Also interested in a custom, please let me know?
5’x7mm
Comp rail saver
Calf with long horn?
Built in m8 key 
That leash looks awesome.
I’m using almost the exact setup for winging and it’s great. I never have issues with my leash and it doesn’t drag in the water. I attached my clip with a tiny SS shackle and it easily clips to one of the rings on my RE Vinaka harness.
Agreed Leash plug on bottom makes biggest difference proning.
Tried them all, prefer the 4 or 4.5 straight leach with calf strap.
Kaohi leashes are way to go
No matter what you do you’ll cut your least on back of mast from time to time
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