With continued commitemnt to SUP North Coast Wetsuits have designed and created a quick release SUP belt, made with 75% recycled or repurposed materials. With SUP safety in mind, coupled with an environmentally conscious approach, these new SUP safety products are essentials for all paddlers.
With stand up paddle boarding rising in popularity it is important to understand the risks that come with the sport, how to keep safe and the kit that can help with your safety. A quick release belt helps if you have fallen into the water and need to release yourself from the board. This is much safer and easier to do with a QR belt than to try and remove the leash from your ankle. Your SUP leash (coiled) attaches to the QR belt which can be removed in the event of an emergency. We’ve shared the video below before but it’s a good one for highlighting how paddlers can get caught up with obstructions and the flow of water can then endanger lives.
In terms of how we’ve built them; the belt buckles are new, as they are the safety device of the belt, so we need to ensure the strength and durability of them! Half the handles at the rear of the belt (where you attach the SUP leash) are new and half are large till roll tubes. After we received the handles we found the tubes in our ‘box of things’ to repurpose, and they did the job perfectly! Don’t worry though, we shall find a new job for the other handles.
The belt strap, hi-vis strip, webbing, D-ring, release toggle and cord are all recycled and repurposed. The strap comes off packaging from heavy duty water park inflatables, so it is super strong and durable. https://www.giantslipandslide.co.uk/ donated their slide Velcro straps to us when he no longer needed them, so we removed the velcro and it turns out they were already a great belt length!
Hi-vis strips, webbing and D-rings are all parts of faulty bags. It’s great to find uses for things that couldn’t quite do what they were supposed to do. The release toggles and half the handles are plastic till roll tubes from St Minver post office! Large for the back, and smaller ones that fit perfectly into a hand at the front. We thought having a handle at the back of the belt, as well as where you attach the SUP leash is another great safety feature.
(Hit the link below to see how these were made).
The cord that we attach the buckle and pull together with, are kindly donated from Salty Paws Cornwall. Jess had lots of end bits not long enough to make anything with, but they are the perfect size for our belts! And they add some lovely colour! Check out @saltypaws_cornwall on Instagram or SALTYPAWScornwall on Etsy for your canine needs!
With your safety in mind, we thought it would be a great idea to give away a belt with every SUP board purchase. They are also available to buy for paddlers who already own SUP gear. See link below –
NCW upcycled quick release safety belt for stand up paddle board leashes – MADE IN CORNWALL
£16.99