Posture

I think you have pointed out a significant issue: there does not seem to be any easy way to determine how strong and/or durable a leash you purchase is. Type of materials and assembly all come into play and can just end up giving one a false sense of confidence since the leash could fail under minimal stress. Many commercial leashes I have seen are not made for the forces associated with the stresses on a surfski/person in the rough.

My own solution has been to make my own leashes where I can verify strength of individual components, ensure any metal is the right kind of stainless steel, any velcro type fasteners are top quality material, any cord/webbing used is of material less likely to suffer UV degradation, and then carefully put it all together. While there will always be some chance of failure (even perhaps at the attachment point of the boat), at least one will have a fairly good understanding of how strong and durable a self-made leash actually is.

Bill L

Bill L wrote: While there will always be some chance of failure (even perhaps at the attachment point of the boat),

Just a caution on attaching your leash to the footstrap of your ski. In two different ski's from two manufacturers both using the same aluminium sliding bracket with stainless screws holding the footstrap to the slide mechanism, the screws have pulled out of the aluminium, once when pulling hard back with my feet in a wave the other when I lifted the ski by the footstrap during a portage in a race. I found in both cases the screws could only be turned a few turns once the thread engaged so there is not a lot of thread holding them in place. Now I attached my leash to the carry handle of the ski and also loop it through the bungy cord beside it as well as a redundancy measure.

Perhaps manufacturers should be advising us which point of the ski is suitable when it's not obvious or we as a community should demand that a leg leash attachment point be a mandatory safety feature of skis. Even as I write this though I know that they would probably be thinking if they were to provide one and market it as such and a failure resulted in injury or death they may find themselves in legal trouble

At first, I was thinking about having the wife sew me a pair of paddle shorts made out of Velcro and lining the sitting area of the cockpit with the same. But for a variety of reasons, I decided against it...

Personally, I would like another attachment point behind me located a few inches back from the seat. I would then attach a leash via large carabineer to a stainless metal ring on the side of my PFD, or perhaps a waist harness.

For me personally, I'd prefer such a setup because it would keep the leash from tangling around the legs and at times, being in the way during remounts. It would also allow quick detachment if need be...