Legropes

Dunno but if someone has a tip on the legrope that doesn't tangle I'd love to know. But the new FCS freedom leash isn't my favourite, it just feels weird and i'm not sure if it would hold up in bigger surf. I've snapped or fatally stretched three or four name brand and cheaper ones over the years. The longest serving one I've got is a heavy duty Creatures on but I've also got a Squid brand one (look online) which I've had for years and is still in great nick

I've never had any probs with O&E but have been having a good run the last few years with Dakine.

I've had a couple of FCS and they didn't last.

I like the O&E.

Just ordered a new O & E 7foot .

Never had one snap....ever.

Usually hang onto them for about 5 years till they start getting thin and then replace them.

yeah Dakine do good ones. Haven't bought one this year though.

Love O&E... leggies, grips, bags, rashies, all good. Wearing a pair of trackies from their discount bins right now.
I'd never had one snap either (though had a couple of them lose stitching around the velcro), until on Saturday morning I picked a particular board up for the first time in a month only to find that the ankle strap part of the leggie had just dropped off the cord. Clean break, right where the cord attaches to the starp. Never seen anything like it - I'll post a pic later. I'd have only put that leggie on the board around christmas time too, so maybe watch out in case they've had a random bad batch. Hopefully just bad luck on my part.

FWIW, I've snapped FCS, creatures and Dakine in the past - FCS and Creatures both in small surf, Dakine when I got myself caught inside at Sunset so not really a fair comparison there.

It wasn't as bad as you might think, once the pounding was over. Wasn't a huge day - maybe double OH, and I got washed over to the channel without too much drama. Swim against the current was a bastard though.
The board survived with only a couple of little dings too somehow - lucky that, since it was dad's.

I did two seasons surfing Sunset without leggies. We were using them in small waves at the time but they were too primitive for anything serious. You got to be a good swimmer pretty quickly. My only bad experience was when I was trying to sell one of my boards before coming home. The person wanted to try it so they paddled it out at Sunset, got smashed, lost it into the rip, swam in and shrugged their shouders like "not my problem". Not a huge day maybe 10-12ft, so I got another board and went after it. Caught it out behind Sunset Point and started back pushing it in front. I accidentally cut the corner on the inside and lost both boards. It was getting a bit late but I didn't want to lose both, so I swam after them and luckily caught one just outside the north peak and spotted the second one a bit further out. Twilight by this time, no-one else out but I got them both back to the beach.

Local Hawaiian ?

That’s some disrespectful shit.

Cromwell, reminds me of Bob McTavish's yarn in his book about losing his board out at big & building sunset and having to swim in at twilight/night. I wouldn't be able to do it justice, but worth reading.

Pops the only unusual thing was having to deal with two boards. Lots of stories about chasing boards out in that rip. I had a worse experience at home when I lost a board at this break way out in an estuary and just could not find it. The swim in was well over a kilometre, sharky as hell, big rip running on the outgoing tide. I was absolutely rooted.

Yeah, that sounds sketchy. Take it there was no-one else around either?

There were a couple of locals and one of them, knowing the spot much better then me, knew where the board would be and brought it in for me, which was much appreciated as I was still studying and boards were a major expense.

lucky!

my recently broken leggie, mentioned above... Anyone seen anything like this before?

I've never been able to say that one legrope brand performs better than another. Even in Hawaii, where lots of people swear by Da Kine, I've had equally good results with O&E big wave leggies, while on the flipside I recently had a Da Kine leggy snap at my home break and trash a good board on the rocks.

I think the most sensible position to take is to buy well and to treat them well. A few years back we ran an article on legrope plastic and, like all plastics, they last longer when they're kept out of the sun, and they avoid being nicked and cut, however small those blemishes may be. That means being careful about closing your leggy in your car door or tailgate, and try not to rub it across the trailing edge of your fins or any other sharp edge.

Keep in mind that it's plastic and will weaken over time. Read this article: Should legropes break?

Also, if you don't want the legrope to twist up then don't wrap it tight around your board after a session, especially if it's going to be a long time till your next session.

If you must wrap it around your board then do it loosely.

I bought an 8ft Creatures of Leisure "Outer Reef" leggie - seems rock solid so far, has seen some ugly tumblings on 6-8ft days.

Pops I've had that happen before. Felt my leggie ping after coming off a wave then come up to watch my board sail off in the distance. Found it up on the reef platform which is 30cm above sea level with some decent dings in it. Very annoying.

Bugger. Manage to get it fixed?

Weird thing with mine was that it didnt break while surfing (just as well). Picked the board up to put it in the car and the bloody thing had just dropped off!

Yeah got it fixed so all good.

Have you ruled out sabotage, Pops?

I actually just bought the new FCS freedom leash not that long ago which was semi recommend by someone at Kirra surf, for some reason I can't remember, the second I tapped my card he then told me not to take it out in anything over 3FT! lol .

also not sure what its meant to do but it certainly doesn't do anything any different from any other leashes

Don't reckon it'd be sabotage; the board's kept locked up...

Anyone got experience with the need essential leg ropes? Any breaks?

Thinking of getting a couple, still at a reasonable price compared to the bigger brands.

I’ve got one etarip...not the most comfortable leggie to wear but I use it on my stepup and it feels solid and no breaks so far...about 6 months old.

Thanks crg
That was my plan too - put them on my longer boards that I don’t use as much.

(Hate stuffing around changing leggies)

I have one of these. Pretty good and they sell parts so you don't have to throw the whole thing if one bit breaks:
http://www.smartleashco.com/category/complete-surf-leashes

Can't say much yet about longevity and I don't surf in bigger stuff.