Surfing Waves

I am in the market for a new leash and came across this article on Silver cord leashes that has an additional inner core surrounded by the usual standard material, they state that the outer-core will break first but the inner cord will remain in tact so you never lose your board.
Anyone have an opinion about this or maybe even tried one?
I was temped to buy one as no one likes to lose their board, what has put me off a little though is that this was released over a year ago now and I have not really heard much about them, I am wondering if that is because they don't work or just the marketing.
https://magicseaweed.com/news/silver-cord-the-end-of-losing-a-board-after-a-leash-break/9436/

We can also add to this post whats the most reliable leash you have owned?

The silver cord is interesting and possibly a good idea. However, very very few leashes break in the cord itself, unless people are using comp leashes that are quite thin. Almost all break either at the board (the string that connects the leash to the board breaks/wears out) or at a swivel (eg at the cuff). Or sometimes the cuff just becomes undone.

The silver cord doesnt seem to really strengthen those parts of the leash. So its solving a problem that doesnt really affect most people

If you are particularly worried then I offer the following tips

- get a big wave leash, which are thicker than normal leashes
- put an extra string between the leash and your board (so its connected by two strings). If you are particularly nervous, rather than using standard leash string buy some paracord, which is super strong. And learn to tie good knots (double fishermans's knot is ideal)
- check your leash every time you surf (from end to end)
- keep the swivels in good condition (spray with WD-40 or similar every now and then)
- replace your leash say every 100 or so sessions, even if it doesnt look like its wearing out (or 150 sessions or every 12 months or something like that)

Personally I like the O&E premium leashes. But I'm sure plenty of others are just as good

Cheers for those great tips DTC, some good ideas there which I will follow.
I know the rule is don't go out if you cant swim back in but its nice not having to.

dtc wrote:The silver cord is interesting and possibly a good idea. However, very very few leashes break in the cord itself, unless people are using comp leashes that are quite thin. Almost all break either at the board (the string that connects the leash to the board breaks/wears out) or at a swivel (eg at the cuff). Or sometimes the cuff just becomes undone.

The silver cord doesnt seem to really strengthen those parts of the leash. So its solving a problem that doesnt really affect most people

When I see a leash company marketing its cord and not saying a word about the leash's swivel or cuff or key pocket or safety release, then I just figure that the manufacturer probably hasn't spent much time thinking about their leash design. I've never seen a surf leash's cord break, but I've seen two of my own swivels break. Here's what I want to see in my leash advertisement. Two Ford 150s facing each other, revving their engines aggressively, with a surf leash connecting them. Both trucks back up and stretch the leash until it snaps. Upon inspection we find that the leash cord broke, but the Ronco leash swivel remained intact! Now that's a leash I'd think about buying.

dtc wrote:https://magicseaweed.com/news/tested-to-destruction-oe-worlds-strongest-leash/9966/

Hey, that's a good test I wonder how many of the leashes they tested broke at the swivel as opposed to the cord. By the way, I'm an OE fan myself.

After trying to buy one I find they have recalled them all...... guess they didn't work after all.

dtc wrote:https://magicseaweed.com/news/tested-to-destruction-oe-worlds-strongest-leash/9966/

Cool. Someone sold me that one. Not that I need that in the waves I ride, but good to know anyway.

Soooo many variables there! The test creates more questions than it answers! One thing is for sure, the 'strongest leash in the world' is definitely stretchy! Other than that, it's impossible to tell what kind of forces were actually applied, where they broke, whether it's stretch or force that causes the breaking, whether the core or the sheath broke first on each test, etc... This is why they have static and dynamic load measuring tools.

Ok, I'll get off my arborist soapbox now!

I suspect calling it the worlds ‘strongest’ leash created more debate than the actual test! Probably should have called it ‘the leash hardest to break’ (amongst the 4 leashes we tested in the way we tested and noting that 3 came from the same company...)

Stretch does not necessarily mean strength of course, but if something can stretch and thus not break, then that is just as good for a surfer. Indeed, stretch is probably much better than pure strength, as without stretch in the rope it will be your leg that has to stretch instead, or your board plug that has to take the impact.

Eeeeeexactly.

In over 30 years in the surf industry having been a surf buyer and sales rep for a various leash manufacturers ( and having to deal with returns / complaints / warranty claims ), I only ever seen 3 true leashes "snap". If the break happens within 1 foot of the rail saver, it is almost always a fin cut NOT a the leash snapping. There's a very easy way to determine if it's a Snap or a Cut.