Safety foot strap

[jc_surfsail]

So 1962 called and wants its footstrap design back.
How many windsurfing friends do you know who have busted a foot or ankle when their foot got stuck in the strap?
Check this video of Kauli’s recent fun @ chopes, bet he wishes his strap released.

http://vimeo.com/109660700

Check this photo of Robby Swift’s foot, I think he has done this like 5 times.

Every aspect of windsurfing gear has evolved except the straps, it’s not rocket science!!
Anybody know someone at Dakine who can brainstorm one afternoon and come up with ANYTHING?

[MCDORO]

Had my own L ankle issues from windsurfing straps. Had it 'scoped last year..and just had Platelet Rich Plasma injected into it. It's been a long
road. Will know if the PRP works pretty quickly. Just wanted to get on here
to let all know there are different treatments for the strap-ankle blues.

[MalibuGuru]

I fractured my ankle in May. It still hurts, but I've been sailing since July 5th. I'm still afraid of waves over head. There was a break away footstrap in the 90's. Someone please bring it back!!!

[dllee]

Can't keep the breakaway strap from breaking away with shock or lighter pressures, so it's actually dangerous.
Imagine jumping, and having the rear strap breakaway.

[isobars]

Be careful, guys; several people here get extremely upset when told that instep injuries are possible, especially if we get launched while or even because our back foot was out of its strap. Many of them also insist that our feet should be deep into the straps, as those x-rays indicate, rather than just the toes ... which are designed to flex upward (dorsiflex).

In the absence of breakaway straps, which present their own set of problems, three things we can do to reduce the odds and severity of footstrap injuries are:
1. Spend less time with only our front foot in its strap.
2. Have only the toes showing in front of the strap.
3. Space our strap screws wider, so the sides of the strap don't trap our foot in a fall.

#1 is a no-brainer; it is self-evident.
#2 focuses the strap pressure on a part of the foot more tolerant of dorsiflexion and excess force, with fewer and less-risky parts (Google Lisfranc) threatened by trauma. i.e., it makes more sense to forcefully bend our feet at a natural hinge point and in the direction that hinge is intended to work.
#3 at least gives our feet another way out of their bear trap. In the lack of statistical evidence, logic and personal experience are valuable.

Kauli had his straps loose for full insertion and his back foot came out first when he fell, exposing his strapped front instep to dorsiflexion and crushing forces it could not withstand. i.e., that hinge got bent the wrong way.

[swchandler]

isobars, you might want to review the video again. When sailing port in the waves, the right foot is in the forward strap. When Kauli was getting out of the boat, it was clear that it was his left foot that was broken.

[Windnc]

Back in the late 90's after I suffered a serious tib/fib fracture just above the left ankle when my foot got caught in the strap after a blown jump, I searched around for releasable foot straps.

There was a guy back then making the "Foot Saver" straps which came in three differen't settings, light, medium, and hard if I recall. The light were the easist to release but I found for my 200 pounds that I had some false releases which I did not like. I settled on a couple sets of medium and hard release straps and used the hard for rough water, waves etc. and the medium for more flat water venues.

Although I remember them to be not quite as comfortable as today's straps I can vouch for the fact that several times they did release as advertised after hard falls. Afterwards I would just slide the teflon pin back into the release mechanism and sail on. I don't think I ever had the hard model accidently release and I sailed them pretty hard

I felt they could still be improved some but it is my understanding that Chinook Windsurfing bought out the rights to these designs and then never did any further marketing with them. I sure wish they would as I would like to have that option again.

I still have a couple sets of these and can post some photos of the strap and the release mechanism if anyone is interested.

Chuck

[isobars]

I suspect it would be simple to set up ordinary footstraps to release when necessary simply by engaging less velcro. Experiment with covering some of the overlapping velcro with something like masking tape ... anything that will block the hook'n'loop engagement as much as desired yet be removable without residue when you block too much of it. Maybe the best such block would be a strip of single-sided velcro hook or loop material you could cover one side with. Use a contrasting color so it's easy to spot and adjust when desired. I HATE all that black velcro anyway because it's just one big dark blob of sticky crap with undefined edges, especially when adjusting something out on the water.

Since you'd be blocking only (some of) the primary load-carrying webbing, the stretchy cover pad would serve as a lightweight and forgiving backup when the load-carrying velcro lets go. You'd have some foot retention remaining if you choose to use it.

Experimentation would be extremely easy, infinitely variable, dirt cheap, readily available, and completely reversible. You could even mark the blocking strip in centimeters (or millifathoms or centiyards ... use your imagination) so you don't lose track of your settings.

[JamesHardy]

[jc_surfsail]

Windnc - Yes please if you can take a photo of the Footsaver strap, that would be interesting to see.

Isobars - I like the velcro mod idea, would take a bit of trial and error but might be able to dial it in.

I was thinking about switching to the Dakine Contour straps and maybe experiment with modifying the anti-twist piece that gets screwed down to the board. Maybe thin it out so it snaps with too much force.