Introducing The Leash Bar
Around twenty years ago the good folk at Ocean and Earth accesories did something astonishing simple - so simple it was hard to believe it hadn't been done before.
They sewed a legrope string into the rail-saver of a legrope.
"Never again," I thought, "would surfers get caught out with a board and a legrope but not the little bit of twine in between."
It didn't happen that way. Few other manufacturers followed O&E's lead and the string continued its role as surfing's most vexing necessity: you could go decades without thinking about it, then the day of day arrives and you don't have one.
This is what shaper Dylan Perese saw when he was in the Mentawai Islands twelve years ago. “I was sitting on a boat watching 4-6 foot HTs rifle across the reef while a mate just about tore his coffin apart, scrambling to find a string."
"I thought to myself, there’s gotta be a better way."
A dozen years later, DP, in conjunction with JS Industries, have released the leash bar - an invention also so simple it's hard to believe it hasn't been done before.
The leash bar is essentially a leash plug with a wider bar to accomodate the rail saver. No need to feed string through when the rail saver itself attaches to the board. This also greatly lessens the chance of rail/tail pull through. A problem when the string was too long or or deep swallow tails where the plug is always close to the tail.
Dyl patented the design, tested it at the Surf Flex Lab at Wollongong University - see bar strength testing image below - then took it to the market.
"The collaboration with JS came by way of a mutual connection in Adam Thomas," explains Dyl. "We met, they loved the concept and it felt like a great fit right from the start. JS’ manufacturing process and industry knowledge is second to none. Access to their team meant we could take on feedback from some of the world’s best surfers during the development process, and their production HQ being in Australia rather than shaping under licence here made a lot of sense."
Right now, the leash bar is exclusive to DP Surfboards and JS Industries, but that'll cease at the end of this year. Dyl's taking enquiries and pre-orders now.
It may be a simple invention but it's an almost perfect one: it's cheap, fits all modern leggies, and renders the old way obsolete.
Comments
Hmmm. Reinventing the wheel.
I don't mind it.
Simples.
"It may be a simple invention"
The best kind of invention because it was right under everyone's nose.
I think they are still placed near the tail...
And the strength testing was done with ....... a piece of string!
Rumour has it they wanted to do the strength testing the day before but they couldn't find a string anywhere in the lab.
lmao
Conditions for testing would’ve been way better the day before, too :)
It's come a long way since we started drilling a hole in the base of the fin and attaching a venetian blind cord to a dog collar.
Hahaha those old cords with rubber around them that didn’t last long were classic, no real stretch once the rubber had failed and a sudden at times painful tug on the leg .
Geez if they lasted 2 surfs you were lucky. The two legrope makers when I was young were OE and Balin down my way, both still around.
I went to the balin store a couple of times.
Drove past o & e on a Sunday it was closed.
Ha! back in the day that meant the surf was good somewhere you didn't know about, didn't matter which day of the week! Dead giveaway!
Those black rubber/string leashes sent your board fins first straight at your face when they recoiled. The rubber didn't last long that's for sure.
And I’m missing the front teeth to prove it.
While I don’t mind the idea I don’t think in my 20 odd years surfing I’ve ever had an issue with leggy strings. Always have put 2 on each board and leave them on there until the day the board dies
Any idea of the Dimensions?
Have always carried spare String in leggie Strap Key Holder along with Docked off Fin Key
A Guess on overall Size
44mm x 28 mm
No idea of Depth...assuming Standard Leggie Plug Depth
30 cent piece of dyneema or a $150 extra to your new stick.....for people with too much money I'd say.
Who said it will cost $150?
Smart.
Remember once using a shoelace in a pinch as a grom.
Always use O&E these days and haven't thought about string for years.
Have suffered the dreaded pull-through.
Once in an emergency, I found a plastic straw in a public rubbish bin. I doubled and flattened it and it worked alright in that session with 2-3 ft surf!
Classic!
Waves must have been good.
Have cut the string from my shorts!
Yeah same, plus cut some construction site barrier bunting string with a sharp rock recently at A Bay, still attached to my quad skate.
I remember before dog collars just tying the cord around my ankle, the knot would pull tight and cut off the circulation to my leg and I would hop up the beach in agony screaming for a pair of scissors. This was when legropes were still banned in contests and wearing one was seen as a sign of weakness.
If the bar was the full width of the tail could the railsaver slide from one side to the other to eliminate Tombstoning?
They Say it Does already Does.
Gotcha. A longer bar would need to be titanium i guess. Or you could use two plugs...connected..with.... a string..? Having said that i like what theyve done &yes it is pretty amazing it hasnt been manufactured already
Apparently not required at the Pass.
Haha! Was wondering if there's a hipster mal version
Brilliant and yet so simple when you think about it.
Amazing no one thought of this 30 years ago......probably too stoned .............any idea how much ?
Not a lot Bigger than a $3 Futures Plug and without a Stainless Pin - so only Worth $5 -6 ?.
$2 for my last 30mm plug from Sanded stumping up $6 is a stretch I think... hang on... haha
Got 20 leggy strings in the car, backpack, one in each leggy ready to go. Backpack zippers usually have strings attached also. at least five on some backpacks!!!
Fin keys are my kryptonite
...............can never find one or they strip.
Such a hassle, one board has had permanent fins this year.
Paging indo dreaming.......
Excellent. Have loved have leggie stringer sewn in ala O&E. But this is great. Wonder if most shapers have access?
That ad says 'no more tombstoning' - ya reckon? Doubt it.
I'd be very surprised it doesn't tombstone on point breaks like the Goldy where the sweep keeps your board underwater for what seems like forever.
Hope the slots accommodate worst case scenario rail saver thickness otherwise you might end up at at square one with the old "too thick" for the plug scenario like you do with string sometimes.
Agreed. Rail savers come in varying widths - the wider ones on leggies made for meatier surf. This looks like it might only accommodate the narrower ones, which will cause a lot of trouble for some legrope manufacturers... or perhaps that's by competitive design. Hmmm.
Strap Slot is 38mm wide i think. . .
And Zero Tolerance putting these Plugs in out of Wack -
.Webster.
Days of Double Plugging are Gone ?
This concept might work with the old leash bridge using rovings. Just make it wider with a gap big enough to take the rail saver.
Udo put this up the other day and straight away I thought that's farking brilliant.
I reckon this will become a board standard in no time.
Well done. Hope you make a motsa.
I'm gunna be a late adopter, got too much invested in leash strings stashed in every possible corner.
Smart.
The best ideas are the simplest ones.
Damn it.
sparky here ive used 3 x zip ties instead of string... it worked in a pinch.. be interesting to see if this takes off, reasonable plugs are like sub $2 each so if they gouge price it will be a disaster pretty quick.. would need to be well priced to be competitive otherwise I don't think it will catch on.. its really no that big of a deal is it?
I've got a few hundred metres of dyneema/spectra cord I've acquired over my boating life, with various lengths stashed in strategic places.
I don't remember the last time I got caught out.
I still reckon it's a good idea though. Kudos.
Nice.
Id be happy not live the rest of my life not spending 10 minutes trying to push a bit of string through a tiny hole, often trying to wiggle it through with a fin key.
Totally.
This will probably add virtually nothing to the cost of a new board but save a problem that has plagued surfers for years. Bravo.
So accurate! I've used car keys and sticks as well over the years, losing my mind when I just.... couldn't.... get it through....
...add cold hands (or gloves [or cold hands that have just removed gloves]) in our part of the world.. and a tide turning while you fumble. Good thing Dylan, and good company to champion the local research and development, before the patent pirates.
In despair I have managed to squeeze my rail saver into a leash plug. So well secured that is was impossible to take out , it is still attached to the board!
The Leash Bar will save alot of hassles.
boards use to be glassed alot stronger though....
In the beginning,..... there was the bowline knot. Dyi.
Some guns had two plugs you could combine for extra strength. eg.
Also managed to squeeze my rail saver into a leash plug...great waves, desperate moments.
Glad someone has come up with an easy attachment option, thanks Dyl
oh come on, reef knots are for surfing!
Non-exhaustive list of things I've used in place of leggy string in desperate times
Hay bale twine
butchers twine
Shoe lace
Hoody drawstring
part of a broken aux cable
"part of a broken aux cable" hahaha, classic!
can anyone explain no-more-tombstoning claim thing to me?
When you wipe out and your board is in the white water but you can't pull it back as it is upright and your leash is at full stretch so have to wait for it all to settle down and give it some slack.
That's called tombstoning
sure. but how would this stop that?
The closer the plug is to the back of the board the less is the tombstoning.
These are no Closer than a Standard Plug.
on sweepy pointbreaks ie. Kirra, Snapper i bet it will still tombstone. Even glassed on leash bridge right at the back of board tombstones. Not sure why they would claim such a thing. Happy to be proven wrong though.
Never had a problem not having a leggie string. Usually double loop and tie off some para cord with the flex taken out.
It’s smart, but I’ll not be retrofitting any boards, that’s for sure.
I couldn't imagine anyone retrofiting it but I can see it being incorporated into new boards in the future. Once a couple of the big makers in addition to JS make it a standard and I predict they will, then the copies, knock-offs, variations will come. For now, I'd be trying to lock this up as the original like FCS has done.
I'm impressed and amazed it hasn't been thought of before. This is a truly functional piece of kit, not a gimmick and I'm stoked for the inventor.
Next board I make if I could get my hands on one , I would definitely put it in .
https://patents.google.com/patent/AU2021200635A1/en?q=(Leash+bar+surfbo…
Bridge + string and a solid glass job with reinforced tail area.
Which means more $...
How much do they Charge for a Bridge anyone Know ?
V J
80% Nylon 20% Carbon for a 3D Print
It’s an astounding amount of thinking and design work that has gone into a problem that barely exists.
I have extra leggy strings in my glove box, the centre console, the boot, the spare tyre space, the wetsuit box, the toiletries bag, the board bags, my pockets. Have a heap of fin keys all over the place too.
How hard is that? And I hate those leggies that have them sewn into the rail saver. Presumably you throw the leggy out if the string breaks.
I live in a different world. Possibly a different species that just appears humanoid.
Dont most decent leg ropes come with the string as part of the leash? good idea as an option though
Ironic that us hodads watched Surfboards flying free outta yer TV as ice blocks landin' in yer lap.
Gromz : Fuck yeah! I'm gonna be whatever the fuck that is...outta my way!
#1 Strung Out Olympic Surf Photo is plah doh compared to wild 70's Sky-high Aerial surfing Antics.
Still lends a hint of that Wild West Free no holds barred Go For it Surfing era!
Little by little, inch by inch...Surfers are robbing themselves of engaging freely with the wave!
Becoming more restrained each day...now a bunch of uptight straights with less room to move & groove!
The very next day and this latest greatest very Lame Surfing action shot is now xX[Leash Barred ]Xx
Very last time ai Gromz will ever see anything remotely so Lame.
e commissioner xX[Leash Barred ]Xx {Taboo}
Impossible to even think of performing this well toned down very lame but ideal Olympic trick!
Tone down yer Surfing ~ Do it for yer Community...
Square yerself into the Mainframe...No more L/R...straighten out the curves with xX[ Leash Barred ]Xx
This would have to be #1 Leggie Ad that bankrupted xX [Leash Barred]Xx before it begun!
2020's Gromz harks back to us 70's Gromz : "I wanna do that!"
Surf Shop Expert : 'Don't we all Kid! Just just keep to the straight'n'narrow path! ONEOFUS!
Gabz could reinvent string and corner the Rebel Gromz Leggie Market.
Grom walks into local Vape Shop : "Ya got any that Gabz wild'n'wooly Ball Of String!"
Vape Owner : Get outta here you Little Punkz!
Copz : It's a raid...Hand over ya Ball of String ya Mobster!
News : Another craft shop goes up in flames!
Neat idea, good luck to them, but like plenty above I have heaps of strings stashed about. O&E also include a little cable tie like tool with their leggies to assist with threading the string. In my mind best invention ever.
That little thing!
I don't even know what it's called, but that little thing gave me a whelp of joy when I first saw it. Little things like that and stitching a string into the rail saver is what sets Ocean and Earth apart.
While most do Alibaba, O&E do legit R&D.
The plug buddy is why i buy O&E leggies!
Yep that thing makes a huge difference. It is the little things.
The leash bar renders that little thing obsolete.
Except...maybe some rail savers could be hard to feed through - the same way some strings are hard to feed through - so that little thing could be transferred onto the rail saver?
I don't think a rail saver would be anywhere near as difficult to thread through as a leggie string and if the board makers take up the leash lock then it would be the leggie manufacturers that would modify their rail savers to suit pretty quickly.
I know people keep dozens of strings here there and everywhere but they're a pain in the arse. The amount of McGuyvers above who have had to improvise in order to surf would never have to do it again if you can attach the rail saver straight to the board.
I still think it's one of the best ideas i've seen in years. I hope it takes off.
(I am in no way affiliated with the inventor or manufacturer)
I farking love you Zen, but we part ways here. Leggie strings are THE LEAST of my problems.
In my imaginary world, one day we would have about 17 beers together, and laugh like drains. I’m sure of that. In my mind, that has already happened. We live in hope.
I made my own leggies in the 60s with bungee cord threaded through holes punched in a rectangle of leather to save my right foot from amputation. Kook straps were frowned upon but as a young girl who was a flyweight and struggled to even get out the back I didn’t care. Now I have a collection lost strings from the intertidal zone and in surfers car parks.
Three of mankinds greatest inventions, the rail saver, urethane, and velcro.
Remember the first leggies to be sold in shops, a cord inside a rubber sheath.
You would come up after a wipeout to see your board sling shotting straight back at your head, so you had to stay under until the danger had passed or risk losing an eye. The rubber was easily cut by the fin and then slice through the tail like a hot knife through butter. Back then you never paid for something you could make yourself and we thought they would never catch on. The purists saw them as cheating. They certainly made the lineups more crowded as no more long swims to the beach, hell you didn't even need to be able to swim anymore to surf.
https://surfingdownsouth.com.au/2020/11/18/1975-1980-pipelines-legrope-…
Never been short of a leggie string.
Just for shits and gigs I emptied my tub of mystery and intrigue the other day and counted five of the waxy little buggers in the bottom.
Stu does Dyl Perese backup Jason S. it Stops the Tombstoning Claim ?
Not sure about that. Didn't ask.
Considering the contact point of the board is the same as a normal leggy plug, I'm sure we can all see that as classic marketing over-reach.
I agree. The plug still doesnt move,but has anyone ever tried to make one that does? I just cant be bothered,but it could be argued that duckdiving is more efficient when you pull up on one rail...
I once lent a favourite board to a lad who decided to tie his leggy on with a shoe lace.
Board was totaled on the rocks first wave.
I made two mistakes.
Never lend a board to a kook.
Never ever lend a favourite board ever ever.
Doh.
I don’t know if the Velcro will pull open easier with the force across a wider bar but I don’t think so.
As far as a leggie helper to get through the hole I’ve been using a twist tie for years.
Add an Extra Small Cable Tie to the Leggie String ...
love it. one less point of failure, and cost saving to leggy manufacturer
Are these Avail to Buy Yet . . . ?
Leashbar out on the Swallow...
Carn Udo, what's your thoughts?
Shouldn't be done?
I think its a Recipe for a Clean Break across the Swallow...and i reckon looks Nicer in the Stringer Position..
Ahh a Closer Look shows a Tail Patch.