leash or safety strap ????

[Recon]

I have had several women in my life that tried (In vain) to keep me on a short Leash !!!!!!!!!!!!

When that did not work I resorted to a Helmet..

[lowrider]

though it was just a pain to use the leash but from what some have experienced i can see the day when you leash up in the parking lot and and don't unhook unless you are sitting on the jon.

[leanodeano]

Well I have had the unfortunate experience of having a blowout of both bindings during a cat skiing trip a few years back. The one thing I learned was to put the damn leash on because wading through a few hundred meters of waist deep snow is tiring and embarrassing. On hill I have never had any trouble with boards leaving me Bindings coming off still attached to the boot but a leash isn't going to save that. Just my 2 bits worth

[Petrol]

Personally, I like the old school long runaway straps on my carving boards, but not because of its intended purpose. I find them handy for carrying the board across the parking lot back to my car.

I clip the strap together across the two toe plates and then sling the board across my shoulder.........

I went looking for a long runaway strap in eight of the top snowboard shops in Vancouver yesterday - and came away skunked.

If any one finds a good one, please post up a link. I need to get a couple more.

[Gecko]

I have a nice leash that I made but I had the boot attachment point as a keyring on my toe ratchet; eventually it put too much stress on the mechanism and I had to replace the retchet. My plan is to rivot a D-ring to my boot and clip to that. I don't worry too much about my boot unclicking but if I ever get out and about I don't want anyone to have a reason to say I can't ride

[BadBrad]

So how do folks attach a leash to a TD2 binding? My Burton raceplates are designed to have a leash attach under the toe bail, and I use the short leash clipped to a key ring on the boot for these. I recently bought a used set of TD2 step-ins and I was wondering how best to attach a leash to them. Ideally I'd like to attach to a board insert, but they are all covered by the bindings.

[Corey]

I loop mine around the toe bail and slide it over to whichever side is closest to the ring.

[Cindy Kleh]

I haven't had a leash on my board for years. It seems that resorts out west don't stress on it.

That said, I have seen boards get away from beginners, but in most instances, the leash wouldn't have helped.

[PolyMathMan]

I use a strap for two reasons.

1. It's great to have carrying the board.

2. It makes me appear safety oriented, and doesn't give anyone a reason to yell at me.

I've never need one.

[pokkis]

Riding without leash is same as not to buckle up in car and sitting on back seat behind your kid, so if you want to take risk for OTHERS you can do it.

[Guest]

I haven't had a leash on my board for years. It seems that resorts out west don't stress on it.

That said, I have seen boards get away from beginners, but in most instances, the leash wouldn't have helped.

Yeah, I haven't had one in years, nor can I remember seeing one recently either.

[BlueB]

I often use the 3mm steel cable with crimped loops at either end, with clear plastic tubing slid over the straight part, with a quick clip on one end. Lengh is enough to connect binding to binding. It acts as a carrying strap / shoulder strap, leash and lock-on cable.

Looks quite wild on TD2s when attached to my boot. People keep on asking what was it...

[Fastskiguy]

Anybody have pictures of their cool leash setup? I'd like a little more style, mine is....let's say...functional but dorky.

[queequeg]

I haven't worn a leash since I was riding a then-new PJ 6. I think they're pretty pointless.

Think about it: Each skier has TWO skis, EACH of which is held in place by a SINGLE RELEASABLE binding. Compare that to snowboards. Each snowboarder represents ONE board, which is held in place by TWO NON-RELEASE bindings. The probability of a snowboard hurtling downhill or through the air detached from its rider is way, way, way smaller than the same thing happening to a ski.

I suppose they could come in handy if you somehow detached from your snowboard bindings on the lift ... but it seems like that can occur FAR more easily to skiers than it can to snowboarders. I have seen skiers unintentionally detach from their skis on a lift several times ... just accidentally step on the back (release tab) of your bindings and your ski is gone. Hurtling down towards the snow ... those little snow brakes do absolutely no good in that situation.

Most people who do ride with leashes have them attached to their bindings, which provides no protection if the binding rips out of the inserts (the only type of binding failure I have ever witnessed or experienced). So the design itself is flawed, since it only compensates for binding failure and not insert/hardware failure. I've ripped the inserts out of a board more than once, but never ripped out of a binding.

Otherwise - those little runaway brakes on skis are a joke. If you disconnect from the ski on a lift, they are not going to stop the ski from falling and splitting open somebody's mellon. If you wreck at high speed and your ski goes twirling through the air, they aren't going to have any effect there either. Pointless.

If we are required to wear leashes, so should skiers be ... because their bindings are designed to release (and do with great regularity), whereas ours are not. Those little ski-brakes that pop out of the binding will not slow a ski down quickly - particularly if it is flying through the air, either downhill after a yardsale, or down from a chairlift after an accidental binding release.

I've always seen leashes as a holdout from the early days of snowboarding, when ski areas only reluctantly began permitting snowboarders to ride after they realized that shunning snowboarders was seriously limiting their winter income.

[Cindy Kleh]

My coolest leash was a handmade hemp one with silver bells that jingled everytime I did air.

[Neil Gendzwill]

If we are required to wear leashes, so should skiers be ... because their bindings are designed to release (and do with great regularity), whereas ours are not. Those little ski-brakes that pop out of the binding will not slow a ski down quickly - particularly if it is flying through the air, either downhill after a yardsale, or down from a chairlift after an accidental binding release.

Not sure how old you are, but I am actually crusty enough to have skied with leashes. The brakes are a compromise between protecting the skier and protecting others around him. Falling and releasing with leashes was no joke - you just don't need a sharp-edged ski windmilling around your head during your yard sale. They were no guarantee either as they could break during a particular nasty fall, as I learned from personal experience.

As others have pointed out, a leash makes sense to protect others from inadvertent binding release or from a dropped board while hiking. It's much more likely to have a strap or bail pop loose than to have outright mechanical failure, so attaching the strap to the binding is not that dumb. Frankly I'd rather trust it attached to my toe bail, which is attached to the board indirectly through 4 screws, than attached by a single screw to a spare insert.

[Mark Brown]

Not sure how old you are, but I am actually crusty enough to have skied with leashes.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... Out skiing with my step-father and someone lost a ski. It took off at Mach 9, heading straight down hill. The old man, all 280 pounds of him, takes off from where we're standing, catches up with the ski and spears it somehow with his pole stopping it in it's tracks. Most amazing thing I ever saw - that big a man get going that fast and be able to stop the runaway.

More on topic: Yep, I use a long leash to help with the "sherpa" tasks and prevent disaster if I'm stupid... I loop it through the big hole at the end of the TD2 base plate, underneath the heel receiver. The leash will then run up the side of my boot/leg and I can loop it around my leg, it just below my knee. That way I can take of the board and still walk with it while the leash is attached.

[Recon]

Last yr , at a intersection of a cat-track & a trail

I watch a young lady struggling / Trying hard to ride a snowboard

Looked like she was trying to be self taught because she was alone

I was sitting on a observation point & watch her for a few moments

She was disgusted with this new sport... She took the board off & sat on the bank with her head in her hands(knowing she just had her A$$ kicked)--- soon after the board started sliding down the hill

It hit a steep part & took off like a Rocket.. Thank God no-one was on that run

This thing went 200 yards before hitting the woods! She most likely said: to Hell with it, because she made no attempt to retrieve the board/or even look in its direction/ just walked away, & never looked back !!!!!!!!!! In this case---- I would vote for a leash

I retrieved the board from the deep woods & turned in in to lost & Found

With a story!

[queequeg]

She was disgusted with this new sport... She took the board off & sat on the bank with her head in her hands(knowing she just had her A$$ kicked)--- soon after the board started sliding down the hill

If she took the board off, she probably took the leash off with it (or would have, had she been wearing one) ...

[SEJ]

I remember skiing with leashes also. My Buddy took 8 stitches in the forehead from a windmilling ski. I lost a ski once before brakes, SCARY, but no one was hurt, (except my ego.) I believe the LAW states that you MUST use some device to prevent run aways, and ski brakes comply with this, along with leashes.

With all that said, I doubt they hardly ever make a difference. But, it would only take one incident to possibly kill. How would you feel then?

[Recon]

queequeg I guess somehow I pictured her holding the leash like she had a dog on the end lol

or maybe tie it up like a horse:freak3:

[Randy T.]

So how do folks attach a leash to a TD2 binding? My Burton raceplates are designed to have a leash attach under the toe bail, and I use the short leash clipped to a key ring on the boot for these. I recently bought a used set of TD2 step-ins and I was wondering how best to attach a leash to them. Ideally I'd like to attach to a board insert, but they are all covered by the bindings.

I loop the Bomber leash through the slot in the top plate where there is a gap between the upper and lower plate. This side of the leash is on the inside edge of the binding and the other end is attached to a boot buckle on the outside edge so the leash crosses over the top of my boot taking out the slack so it's not dragging in the snow when the board is up on edge.

[Recon]

We are close

Td-2 I use the rear bolt hole just in front of the the step -in yoke on the inside side of the leg

However I use a Black wire -tie & pull it up tight instead of the loop

[PolyMathMan]

Most of the time when I've seen snowboards rocketing down the hill, it's usually from someone who wouldn't have used a leash if he had had one.