Leash Thong – Dynafit Speed Rad 2012/13 and Sportiva

Oh la la, DPS Wailer 99 Pure with a new set of Speed Radicals and some Sportiva Spitfires. Ski brakes would be blasphemy with this light of a system, so leashes it is. The Speeds come with Dynafit brand leashes, and they’re cable contraptions without any provision for breakaway. More, I couldn’t figure out any elegant way of making a temporary leash anchor on the Spitfires. So here is how it went down.

Completed rig. Only part from the stock Dynafit leash is the clip. Nylon cord is used to attach clip to binding, and to attach Maurelli breakaway tab to the Sportiva. Yes Virginia, I drilled a small hole in the Spitfire tongue for the cord (it's knotted behind.) I tried to just use a loop of cord under the Spitfire tongue, but the Sportiva fit and finish is too good, with no clearance for aftermarket stuff.

Maruelli makes these little tabs to break away at the right force (about 40 KG) to prevent heinous bodily injury.

Simple way I rigged the nice Dynafit clips.

For the leash fuse, see Maruelli’s website.

The Dynafit leash is called their “Guide Leash” and is available as an accessory. It has the best clips we’ve seen. Just clip off the steel cable — or use as a stock item. Beyond Dynafit, to obtain nicely sized clips you can sometimes find them at the hardware store, or buy a donor set of leashes such as these from 22 Designs. (If you purchase Dynafit Radical Speed, the clips/leashes come with them.)

For a previous ski leash blog posts, check here.

Bonus shot, these we did not burn. Looking good with the minimalist binding, eh?

Weight of Dynafit stock leash, 35 grams. Weight of homebrew system, about 16 grams depending on lengths of cord. Also note that the new Speed Radical has that bit of steel cable as a leash anchor, which adds a bit of weight but does work nicely (can easily be removed).