in this day and age telling a beginner to surf w/out wearing a leash is like telling a new driver to not wear a seatbelt, because it'll make them more aware. actually with surfing it's worse they're more liablr to kill the other guy...
>>> in this day and age telling a beginner to surf w/out wearing a leash is > like telling a new driver to not wear a seatbelt, because it'll make them > more aware. actually with surfing it's worse they're more liablr to kill > the other guy... On the contrary: I feel going without a leash makes one more aware and selective.I have seen too many people wearing "daisy chains" take off on a wave that is really not worth it' only so they can bust a move, then let their board do as it may since they are wearing a leash, there is no real consequence for what they have done-and I have seen this happen in front of me and others when it is critical and detrimental, I guarantee none of thaat crap would happen if they weren't wearing a leash- one 150 yard swim in would take care of that.
i dont think you were referring to me... but, just in case... im actually and advanced calculus student with no calculator. math sucks. -steve>>> Novice surfer>>> with leash>>> much like young>>> math student>>> with calculator.
ditching the leash teaches you to not lose your board. you'll learn that after the first time you lose it, have to swim in, and find your board all dinged up. you wont ever lose your board after that. another thing surfing leash-free teaches you is wave selection. you figure out pretty quickly which waves you are going to lose your board on, and you dont want to do that (like i said above). better wave selection makes you a better surfer. and having 9 yards of ding string doesnt help anything. it does more bad that good. it gets tangled up and you're more likely to fall. you can still hit someone when you have a leash on. sure, it might save a swim once in a while, but you wont learn to surf clean and properly. but as far as the swim goes... most guys could use it.>>> On the contrary: I feel going without a leash makes one more aware and > selective.I have seen too many people wearing "daisy chains" > take off on a wave that is really not worth it' only so they can bust a > move, then let their board do as it may since they are wearing a leash, > there is no real consequence for what they have done-and I have seen this > happen in front of me and others when it is critical and detrimental, I > guarantee none of thaat crap would happen if they weren't wearing a leash- > one 150 yard swim in would take care of that.
>>> i dont think you were referring to me... but, just in case... im actually > and advanced calculus student with no calculator. math sucks. -steve Steve, No, nothing personal... mine was just a far too thinly stretched comparison... I actually tend to agree with you about the pros and cons of most leash use. Dale
>>> ditching the leash teaches you to not lose your board. you'll learn that > after the first time you lose it, have to swim in, and find your board all > dinged up. you wont ever lose your board after that. another thing surfing > leash-free teaches you is wave selection. you figure out pretty quickly > which waves you are going to lose your board on, and you dont want to do > that (like i said above). better wave selection makes you a better surfer. > and having 9 yards of ding string doesnt help anything. it does more bad > that good. it gets tangled up and you're more likely to fall. you can > still hit someone when you have a leash on. sure, it might save a swim > once in a while, but you wont learn to surf clean and properly. but as far > as the swim goes... most guys could use it. Steve: I agree!
>>> Steve: I agree! 50 years ago i would agree too. todays crowded lineups just don't leave room for this dangerous learning curve. yeah it sounds good on paper...problem is i don't see most leashless kooks actually learning the lesson. they just look like a fool swimming after their overpriced logs bouncing on the rocks...like said before, malibu, san o, tourmaline, maybe...otherwise its just a nightmare to witness.
>>> Just curious if you consistently surf with out a leash. If so, what do you > ride? Hey, Sid, I`m slowly healing after a severe leg/ankle break (9 screws and long steel plate)... prior to that, I used a leash probably about half the time, depending on where when and what I was surfing. My attitude when entering the water has always been to surf as though I`m not wearing one. I ride surfcraft that are generally, small, relatively light and often approaching neutral bouyancy. Some are hard, soft, flexible or stiff, thin or thick... either shallow-keeled or no fin(s) at all, with running edges so sharp they will easily cut. Many are high performance surfmats weighing an average of 18 ounces...imagine something like that breaking loose and rocketing sideways toward you in the whitewater! I have spent (no pun intended) most of my life as a designer, builder and test rider of conventional shortboards, kneeboards, surfmats, paipos, bodyboards, as well as infrequently bodysurfing and riding a surfski, etc. I do not use a longboard, but have a deep appreciation for them, and have spent many years surfing, closely observing and participating with people who prefer these craft in nearly all conditions. Seven thoughts: (1) We`re all guests. (2) It`s all surfing. (3) Everyone has to start somewhere. (4) Kooks, and whatever their means of surfing, come in all ages, shapes and sizes. (5) Ride gnarly enough waves, locations or times and you won`t have to worry much about other humans. (6) With or without a leash, skilled or not... over-crowding, in all of its manifestations, remains the greatest (internal) threat to surfing. (7) Treat others as you would like to be treated. Dale
i refuse to surf with a leash. sure, i have them.. for those rare death-rock situations. or the times im really sick and cant make the swim (but just have to get in the water anyway). aside from that. i dont use leashes. however most of the places i surf don't require them. san-o, churches, doheny, newport pier, etc. i still go up to 50-65 streets in newport and pull in on a longboard once in a while (leashless of course). but for the most part, when i surf the bigger, faster, hollower waves i tend to use a shorter board. another good thing about no leashes is: when the kooks find that they dont like to swim, they stop surfing... a weak form of crowd control, but a form of it nonetheless. when i say surfing without a leash though, i mainly refer to longboards. shortboards it doesnt matter all too much because you dont move around on the board. i just prefer the clean feeling with nothing on my leg getting in the way. and there are a few of us who can handle their longboards in all types of waves and dont lose them (hence, no leash needed). anyway, i think part of the question was what types of boards i ride.. well, here's my quiver: 9'6 Model T Surftech, 9'4 heavy Midget Smith, 9'2 Robbie Dick, 9'0 Robbie Dick performance board, 9'4 anonymous from the 60's, 9'3 Herbie Fletcher, 7'10 E.T. singlefin funboard, 7'2 South Coast singlefin minigun, 6'7 singlefin minigun, 6'4 surfside thruster, 5'11 Wisz thruster, 5'10 singlefin that i made, 9'1 singlefin that i made, 9'6 Vardeman, 4'2 thruster i made, a broken Yater Surftech, and a couple of boards to be or boards that i am fixing for friends -STEVE PAGE
in this day and age telling a beginner to surf w/out wearing a leash is like telling a new driver to not wear a seatbelt, because it'll make them more aware. actually with surfing it's worse they're more liablr to kill the other guy...
>>> in this day and age telling a beginner to surf w/out wearing a leash is > like telling a new driver to not wear a seatbelt, because it'll make them > more aware. actually with surfing it's worse they're more liablr to kill > the other guy... On the contrary: I feel going without a leash makes one more aware and selective.I have seen too many people wearing "daisy chains" take off on a wave that is really not worth it' only so they can bust a move, then let their board do as it may since they are wearing a leash, there is no real consequence for what they have done-and I have seen this happen in front of me and others when it is critical and detrimental, I guarantee none of thaat crap would happen if they weren't wearing a leash- one 150 yard swim in would take care of that.
i dont think you were referring to me... but, just in case... im actually and advanced calculus student with no calculator. math sucks. -steve>>> Novice surfer>>> with leash>>> much like young>>> math student>>> with calculator.
ditching the leash teaches you to not lose your board. you'll learn that after the first time you lose it, have to swim in, and find your board all dinged up. you wont ever lose your board after that. another thing surfing leash-free teaches you is wave selection. you figure out pretty quickly which waves you are going to lose your board on, and you dont want to do that (like i said above). better wave selection makes you a better surfer. and having 9 yards of ding string doesnt help anything. it does more bad that good. it gets tangled up and you're more likely to fall. you can still hit someone when you have a leash on. sure, it might save a swim once in a while, but you wont learn to surf clean and properly. but as far as the swim goes... most guys could use it.>>> On the contrary: I feel going without a leash makes one more aware and > selective.I have seen too many people wearing "daisy chains" > take off on a wave that is really not worth it' only so they can bust a > move, then let their board do as it may since they are wearing a leash, > there is no real consequence for what they have done-and I have seen this > happen in front of me and others when it is critical and detrimental, I > guarantee none of thaat crap would happen if they weren't wearing a leash- > one 150 yard swim in would take care of that.
>>> i dont think you were referring to me... but, just in case... im actually > and advanced calculus student with no calculator. math sucks. -steve Steve, No, nothing personal... mine was just a far too thinly stretched comparison... I actually tend to agree with you about the pros and cons of most leash use. Dale
>>> ditching the leash teaches you to not lose your board. you'll learn that > after the first time you lose it, have to swim in, and find your board all > dinged up. you wont ever lose your board after that. another thing surfing > leash-free teaches you is wave selection. you figure out pretty quickly > which waves you are going to lose your board on, and you dont want to do > that (like i said above). better wave selection makes you a better surfer. > and having 9 yards of ding string doesnt help anything. it does more bad > that good. it gets tangled up and you're more likely to fall. you can > still hit someone when you have a leash on. sure, it might save a swim > once in a while, but you wont learn to surf clean and properly. but as far > as the swim goes... most guys could use it. Steve: I agree!
Just curious if you consistently surf with out a leash. If so, what do you ride?
>>> Steve: I agree! 50 years ago i would agree too. todays crowded lineups just don't leave room for this dangerous learning curve. yeah it sounds good on paper...problem is i don't see most leashless kooks actually learning the lesson. they just look like a fool swimming after their overpriced logs bouncing on the rocks...like said before, malibu, san o, tourmaline, maybe...otherwise its just a nightmare to witness.
>>> Just curious if you consistently surf with out a leash. If so, what do you > ride? Hey, Sid, I`m slowly healing after a severe leg/ankle break (9 screws and long steel plate)... prior to that, I used a leash probably about half the time, depending on where when and what I was surfing. My attitude when entering the water has always been to surf as though I`m not wearing one. I ride surfcraft that are generally, small, relatively light and often approaching neutral bouyancy. Some are hard, soft, flexible or stiff, thin or thick... either shallow-keeled or no fin(s) at all, with running edges so sharp they will easily cut. Many are high performance surfmats weighing an average of 18 ounces...imagine something like that breaking loose and rocketing sideways toward you in the whitewater! I have spent (no pun intended) most of my life as a designer, builder and test rider of conventional shortboards, kneeboards, surfmats, paipos, bodyboards, as well as infrequently bodysurfing and riding a surfski, etc. I do not use a longboard, but have a deep appreciation for them, and have spent many years surfing, closely observing and participating with people who prefer these craft in nearly all conditions. Seven thoughts: (1) We`re all guests. (2) It`s all surfing. (3) Everyone has to start somewhere. (4) Kooks, and whatever their means of surfing, come in all ages, shapes and sizes. (5) Ride gnarly enough waves, locations or times and you won`t have to worry much about other humans. (6) With or without a leash, skilled or not... over-crowding, in all of its manifestations, remains the greatest (internal) threat to surfing. (7) Treat others as you would like to be treated. Dale
i refuse to surf with a leash. sure, i have them.. for those rare death-rock situations. or the times im really sick and cant make the swim (but just have to get in the water anyway). aside from that. i dont use leashes. however most of the places i surf don't require them. san-o, churches, doheny, newport pier, etc. i still go up to 50-65 streets in newport and pull in on a longboard once in a while (leashless of course). but for the most part, when i surf the bigger, faster, hollower waves i tend to use a shorter board. another good thing about no leashes is: when the kooks find that they dont like to swim, they stop surfing... a weak form of crowd control, but a form of it nonetheless. when i say surfing without a leash though, i mainly refer to longboards. shortboards it doesnt matter all too much because you dont move around on the board. i just prefer the clean feeling with nothing on my leg getting in the way. and there are a few of us who can handle their longboards in all types of waves and dont lose them (hence, no leash needed). anyway, i think part of the question was what types of boards i ride.. well, here's my quiver: 9'6 Model T Surftech, 9'4 heavy Midget Smith, 9'2 Robbie Dick, 9'0 Robbie Dick performance board, 9'4 anonymous from the 60's, 9'3 Herbie Fletcher, 7'10 E.T. singlefin funboard, 7'2 South Coast singlefin minigun, 6'7 singlefin minigun, 6'4 surfside thruster, 5'11 Wisz thruster, 5'10 singlefin that i made, 9'1 singlefin that i made, 9'6 Vardeman, 4'2 thruster i made, a broken Yater Surftech, and a couple of boards to be or boards that i am fixing for friends -STEVE PAGE
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