Surf Board Leash

Abstract

A board leash system for attachment to a recreational water board includes an ankle strap for securing the leash system to an ankle of a board user and a connection member for attaching the leash system to the recreational water board. The system also includes a cable interposed between the ankle strap and the connection member. A shock absorber is coupled to the cable.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 473,527 filed Apr. 8, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]None.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The present invention relates to a leash system for surfboards or other similar devices such as bodyboards, and more particularly relates to a low profile leash system including a shock absorbing portion.[0004]A number of difficulties can arrive when surfers become separated from their surfboards. For example, the board may travel some distance from the surfer, requiring the surfer to swim a considerable distance to retrieve the board. This can be inconvenient, or even dangerous if the surfer becomes fatigued too far from shore. Further, the board may become lost and the surfer unable to find it, resulting in the inconvenience and expense of a lost board in addition to the difficulty...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a leash for use with surfboards or similar equipment that improves the per

Problems solved by technology

A number of difficulties can arrive when surfers become separated from their surfboards.

For example, the board may travel some distance from the surfer, requiring the surfer to swim a considerable distance to retrieve the board.

This can be inconvenient, or even dangerous if the surfer becomes fatigued too far from shore.

Further, the board may become lost and the surfer unable to find it, resulting in the inconvenience and expense of a lost board in addition to the difficulty of having to swim back to shore without the board.

Further still, the loss of a surfboard in a group of other surfers can result in collisions between the uncontrolled board and other surfers and / or their boards.

This can cause injury to other surfers as well as damage to any surfboards involved in such collisions.

However, using surgical tubing along all or most of the length of the leash resulted in a leash that could be dangerous.

The surgical tubing could become too stretched, at which point the board could be sprung back, in a “rubber band” type effect, quite rapidly toward a surfer (who may be disoriented as a result of falling off of the board and not prepared for the rapid approach of the board), resulting in injury to the surfer.

Because of this danger, leashes constructed of surgical tubing were disfavored.

However, there is still some risk of urethane leashes also providing the above described rubber band effect.

Also, the urethane leashes tend to float and may become tangled with the surfer or otherwise coiled, or otherwise get in a surfer's way while a surfer is paddling to a surfing site, while surfing, or in the event of a wipeout.

However, the larger the diameter, the larger the drag provided by the leash will be.

This drag caused by the leash is also an inconvenience for the surfer.

Conversely, by using a thinner diameter leash, less drag results, but the thinner diameter urethane leashes are weaker and break more easily.

A broken leash can result in the difficulties mentioned above, including requiring a lengthy swim by the surfer, a lost board, injury to other surfers in the area, and / or damage to either the uncontrolled surfboard or the surfboards of others.

While selecting the diameter of a urethane leash may help balance the risk of breakage and the inconvenience of drag for a given situation, even the thicker urethane leashes are still at risk for breakage, and even the thinner urethane leashes still have the inconvenience of drag as well as the risk of coiling, tangling, and / or otherwise impeding the surfer.

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