Why is a leash cup important

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Allie Beucler is orginally from Kona, Big Island and, as an islander, her life has been in the water — ocean more precisely. She has been a sponsored competitive surfer, represented the NSSA College National Champions while surfing for San Diego State University, and today remains deeply connected to the watersports lifestyle.

Brown is both a shortboarder and a paddleboarder, loving to take out her inflatable SUP for a ride. With a journalism degree from San Diego State University and her passion for the water life, she brings an excellent combination of skill and passion to Supconnect.

It is the type most used by surfers to avoid the rebound effect where a coiled leash pulls the board toward you after a fall.

Typically surfers will choose a leash the same length as their board but the 'rules' are a little more flexible for SUP. With this type of leash, the cord is coiled think of an old-fashioned phone cord so that it stays short to prevent dragging in the water, but extends to its full length when stretched. The coil extends on separation and then rebounds pulling the board back towards you. This leash was popularized as the go-to SUP leash and is a style many are comfortable with.

This type of leash is coiled for half of its length and straight for the rest that we have developed specifically for multi-discipline SUP use. For example, a foot hybrid leash cord may have 5 feet of straight cord and the rest of the original cord length is coiled. The reduction in effective length due to the coiled section prevents the leash from dragging in the water, and the tangling and rebound potential are greatly reduced compared with a fully coiled leash.

Designed with our Lake - River - Coast philosophy it allows the same leash to be used from flat water to surf. Toggle navigation. The Imperfect History of the Surf Leash. Sam George. View Comments. Newsletter Only the best. We promise. Resin is poured into this hole and a leash plug is inserted into the resin-filled hole. After the leash plug has been correctly positioned, the board manufacturing operation must be temporarily halted while the resin sets.

Any interruption in the manufacturing process is costly because it forces the manufacturer to give up a portion of his manufacturing space to accommodate the partially manufactured board. Alternatively, the manufacturer may stow the partially manufactured board and retrieve it after the resin has set. Although this second option does not waste manufacturing space, it does require a place to stow the partially assembled boards and the additional labor to do so. Additionally, leash plugs installed according to this method have some vulnerability to being pulled out by a particularly strong wave.

The importance of avoiding the resultant loosing of a surfboard have been noted above. To lessen the likelihood that the leash plug will be pulled out, many large surfboards sport two leash plugs. This, of course, increases the cost of manufacturing the surfboard. Moreover, it is generally more convenient to the surfer to have the leash installed in a single place on the surfboard. In a first separate, the present invention is a surfboard, comprising a blank made of lightweight, semi-rigid material and having a top major surface and a layer of resin-impregnated cloth adhered to the top major surface.

In addition, a leash plug includes a cup portion and an extension and is set into the blank so that the extension is interposed between the blank and the layer of resin-impregnated cloth. In a second separate aspect, the present invention is a method of manufacturing a surfboard, that begins with providing a blank of lightweight semi-rigid material having a top major surface and then forming an indentation in the blank at the top major surface. Further, a leash plug is provided having a cup portion and an extension that extends outwardly from the cup portion.

Next, the cup portion is placed in the indentation so that the extension extends outwardly from the cup over a portion of the top major surface. A cloth is placed over the top major surface, so that the extension is interposed between the top major surface and the cloth. At some point the cloth is impregnated with resin and the resin is cured.

In a third separate aspect, the present invention is a leash plug having a top and a bottom and comprising a cup portion, traversed by a cross-bar. In addition, a rim extends outwardly from the cup portion and a retention wall extends downwardly, substantially at a right angle to the rim. The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment s , taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS.