i've used the same paddle leash for 8 years. A coiled one of the type widely available from surf shops. has a fairly wide double velcro closure which has never failed even in trashings in big surf. It's very secure and the velcro sticks fast - maybe its the 'marine' version someone mentioned. it can be done up tightly enough so that it doesn't slide on the shaft (once my paddle was snapped by a big wave and the half tethered stayed tethered for the short time before I got to it). it does the job well, although it does go 'clack'. just connect leash to boat, leave it there and always attach paddle and you never have a problem of paddle/boat separation at sea. also if the paddle is always leashed one can drop the paddle at any time to do things quickly. Simple. when it finally wears out I'll probably make one from shock cord and an olive cleat (to secure to shaft). such a leash , as has been pointed out, is cheap and can be made in minutes from bits and pieces. Olive cleats are one of the world's great marine inventions, We use them to secure stuff such as deck bags, spare paddles etc to our decks - we've never seen them fail. I do keep the leash on in the surf . I've never had, nor seen, a problem with entanglement but have been glad of a tethered paddle when I've had to exit or lost my grip on the paddle. Does anyone have experience of entanglement? re the tow rope discussion - some of the examples seem a bit complicated and unecessarily bitsy. Simple is good in this department I reckon nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Sep 14 1999 - 22:57:35 PDT
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