One of surfing’s many contradictions is its storied history of inventors paired with a general, marked resistance to innovation. The benefits of the wetsuit in cold water conditions may be well understood now, but in their early days, they were deemed unnecessary and (more importantly) unmanly. Similarly, the leash was – and in some parts still is – called a kook cord. The point is, inventive minds in surf are at constant odds with the existing paradigm of what’s cool in surfing, until, of course, it becomes cool. Like Zinka in the 80s. Or front traction now.
Whether or not the retractable leash ultimately takes off, you have to admire Phil Jupin’s entrepreneurial spirit. He saw enough surfers taking the time to wrap their leashes around their boards – which takes virtually no time at all – to want to invent a device that does it for you.
The result is the Rippin’ Recoil – a clunky looking disk that goes on the back of any board, and at the press of a button coils your leash for storage. Useful? Mildly. Unnecessary? Most definitely.
According to the product’s Kickstarter page, the goal is to ultimately create a version of the product that can be routed into a board during the manufacturing process.
Since the Kickstarter launch, the product’s only managed to garner the support of 7 backers for a total of $605 of its $46,000 goal. With 17 days remaining, it’s unlikely Jupin will get the funding necessary to make the Rippin’ Recoil a reality. But hey, there’s still time.