A SkunkWorks Leash - Tested

You're half a click out to sea, surfing a rather long, heavy reef break, the swell is on the up, the winds are ideal, there are barrels to be had. You're new to the spot but with a good friend who knows the spot well. Everything's perfect, this is why you save your hard earned bucks, to take trips to places like this.

...You paddle into what looks a perfect lefthander, ready to grab a rail and pull in. The drop is steep and the reef is close by, you make it and set your line, but this wave is fast and you're just that little bit too far back. Boom, and down you go. Nothing too serious, a pretty long hold down, you get rag dolled a bit, but no stress.

Then disaster... That familiar tug on your leg isn't there... your board is gone. Worse than that, the board isn't yours. It belongs to a surf shop. The airline decided to lose yours and you have been forced to take the only option available to you and hire one. It's an almost new Al Merrick and 500 bucks are the agreed price if it doesn't come back. Scheizen... the wife will not be pleased.

If you've surfed for any period of time, or have the kahunas to venture out when the surf has some oomph, you've probably had a leash give up on you. It happens.

The clever folks at Skunkworks in N. Ireland have built a product that might have reduced the chances of this happening. If you stay abreast of surfing news, Skunkworks might ring a bell in your noggin. They have devoted a great deal of time, resources and innovation into the development of a range of very durable and fun to surf soft boards. I have seen and tried these boards and they really are the bee's knees, detailed test article coming soon...

Having hit it out the of park with their range of boards, Skunkworks next turned their attention to the humble legrope. 'A leash is a leash', this may be a fair enough comment, there are many different flavours out there, but they are all pretty much the same.

To be honest...the Skuntwork'sl leash, at first glance, doesn't instantly shout 'I'M DIFFERENT'. Mine came in cool azure blue/black color scheme and does feel particularly well made, the ankle strap has a lovely soft neoprene and the usual key pocket. There are the usual swivels at either end of the cord, and the cord itself is 7mm . There are no uber hi-tech triple swivel, hex cord techno-babble thingymigigs, like some I have seen recently. The surf industry really does like to sell us the same mutton redressed as lamb.

Two things set this leash apart from the competition:

Firstly - The joint between the ankle strap and the swivel has been not just stitched on but cleverly bonded using a method unique to Skunkworks. We were given few details about the method used; only that it is patent pending and has been developed by a very clever aerospace engineer, who is also responsible for developing a material know as 'curled Kevlar'. If you don’t know what this is, the next time you see a policeman with a gun on his hip, you may notice that it has a cord attaching it to his belt. This cord is made from 'curled Kevlar' and is pretty much unbreakable. Clever stuff.

Check out the video below to see just how tough these leashes are...

Secondly - THE PRICE... no longer do you have to shell out thirty five quid for a half decent leggy. Pop over to the Skunkworks website and you can pick up one of these little beauties for twenty three. That’s pretty damn awesome... twenty three quid for a very well made, patent-pending product, which by the looks of it is very unlikely to break.

All in all, this is a premium grade product, at a more than generous price. Produced by a cracking bunch of guys and I will definitely be buying more.