The ankle and knee straps. Ankle straps are used for short boards. As we said, the longer the surfboard, the longer the strap. In a 1971 contest in Malibu, California, Jack was disqualified for wearing his leash, and other competitors coined the phrase “crazy rope”.
The use of these first straps often caused more injuries than ever, as the boards flew towards the surfer after falling on a wave. If you're ready to buy, skip to our list of the 10 best straps. If you're surfing small, weak waves, the tension exerted on the strap won't be as great as if you were surfing the 10-foot Pipeline. Therefore, consider the waves in which you normally ride when choosing your strap.
If you are surfing normal waves at head height, a standard thickness strap will be fine, these straps are 6 mm thick. For my part, I've been on the receiving end of a longboard, and once a 10-foot SUP flying towards my head in 6-foot waves, so there's definitely a strong argument in favor of mandatory carrying straps. Generally, a calf or knee strap is best for long-term surfers or stand up paddlers. Thanks to the higher attachment point, surfers can walk with their board with a minimum chance of tripping over the strap.
There are fewer tangles and less resistance in the water. However, they are less comfortable and it's not so easy to pull the board back. One end of the strap is connected to a plug (aptly called a strap plug) near the tail of the surfboard. The other end is attached to the surfer's back leg by a velcro strap (often called a cuff).
Depending on the type of strap, it will be placed just above the ankle or around the upper part of the calf. Notice how the handrail protector touches the edge of the surfboard and not the strap rope itself. The ideal would be to have made the cord on my strap a little shorter to avoid the problem mentioned in the image above, but I think that nothing will happen. BUT don't go more than 1 foot bigger than your board, as your fellow surfers might hate you when your board gets in their teeth.
Many versions of the surf strap have been tried, one of the best stories told by Mike Doyle (inventor of the first soft surfboard). During a surf trip to Tahiti in the 1960s, Doyle's friend, Joey Cabell, modified a “pig strap” to be used as a surf strap. When you see some surfers working out at your local spot, you'll notice that they hardly ever fall and rarely lose their board. The first thing you should do when you want to attach a strap to a surfboard is to tie the small rope or cord to the stopper of the surfboard strap.
It goes without saying that when you surf bigger or heavier waves, choose to go thicker so that you don't get drowned without your board. Beginners, you may prefer to ride with a slightly larger strap to be a little further away from the board when being beaten is more common than surfing. Thickness means resistance, so if you are going to surf waves or big boards, you should opt for a thicker strap that prevents the surfboard from shooting backwards if it breaks. The other piece of rope that you can see in the image below, above my hand, is sewn to the strap (something that many surf brands seem to do today).
It includes everything you need to know about the surfboard strap: how to attach a surfboard strap to the board, what size to buy and if you can actually surf without a surf strap. If you are a small-wave or competitive surfer, a thin strap (5-6 mm) will provide less resistance and will be easier to catch waves. .