I am surprised to still be seeing board leashes in use in 2013. This despite all the injuries, fatalities and near misses. Body dragging upwind is easy, takes little time to master and there is NO excuse for any kitesurfer not to be practiced at doing it. Kiting in side onshore winds, your board may often arrive at the beach before you do even if you don't drag upwind to collect it.
I used a board leash back in the day and longer than I should have, because ... I was lazy! This was in the late 1990's, still I would read on the old egroups ksurf list about "body dragging" upwind. They described how to do it, it was fairly easy to follow even without photos. Still, you had to practice a little bit. This was with two line kites with crappy performance characteristics when compared to todays high depower kites. Things are even easier today in short plus when you add in the how to videos, photos, etc.. Plus virtually all instructors worth a damn should teach it. Eventually I stopped using a leash, not because I had an accident myself but because of all the other accidents I had heard about even in the early days. There have been many more since including a number of fatalities such as
here and
here..
Helmets may make no difference at all in how a board impact accident works out. For one thing boards have cut through plastic helmet shelll materials like it is soft butter. Then there are all the gory accidents in which faces, throats, arms, torsos were impacted and cut. There have been fatalities involving kiters using a helmet with the board breaking the riders neck below the helmet.
Ocean Rodeos "GoJoe" is one option to a board leash for folks that can't rely upon body dragging alone for board recovery.
An example of one type of board leash propelled impact, there are others.
From Airush Brasil's FB page
Imagine the force that can be developed as the board dives underwater driven by the tremendous load a kite can generate. Once that board comes out of the water it can be traveling at very high speed and strike with substantial force right into the thing it is attached to, the kiter.
Some folks still use leashes in big surf. Good enough but you want to avoid having this happen through skill or otherwise.
WARNING - Some gory images of board leash injuries ...
Smashing in your teeth. Is it worth learning to body drag to try to avoid this from happening?
From:
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/K.../Oceanus-REEL/
[img]hhttp://fksa.org/gallery3/var/resizes/Florida/Admin-File/album346/album348/Misc.-Kiting-Images/board-leash-impacts/1667620.jpg?m=1385555506[/img]
More facial damage
From:
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/K...icide-leashes/
Legs and arms are ripe for laceration when using board leashes
From:
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/K...icide-leashes/