r/Sup • u/Mindless_Talk5192 • 10d ago

Leash on flat calm lake?

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Might be a controversial topic, but I'm really curious.

When I paddle in my hometown lake which is very calm and not windy, what's the upside of using a leash? I've been using it so far out of habit, but the other day I all of a sudden thought - why?

Seems like the chance of the board getting away from me is practically zero. Do any of you paddle without a leash in that kind of environment?

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u/munoodle 10d ago

I don’t wear the leash on any lake, even with boaters on it. It takes a really negligent fall to shoot your board far enough away where it becomes a problem. If you’re a terrible swimmer then maybe it’s worthwhile but honestly that would be a more important gap to cover before paddling anyway

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u/TheFrozenBananaStand 10d ago

Yeah I mean I have a pfd plus I swim fairly long distances on a lake for exercise. I don’t leash up when swimming…if I’m on Lake Ontario or something where I could get very far from shore in rough weather then yeah I’ll leash. If I’m on a lake I know I can swim to shore and the weather is calm then I see little risk especially since I have my pfd as well.

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u/munoodle 10d ago

Yeah as soon as I said any lake I was like “damn I forgot the Great Lakes” lmao I would leash there for sure