Fix ya leash in a flash with a Jiqs

G-land © Scotty Hammond

Would you want to be stuck on the beach with a broken leash whilst watching that fire off? Probably not. And Cape Town local Carey Lagoe didn't either!

No more need to worry about a snapped leash ruining an epic session. Thanks to Carey you now have a super quick and easy fix to get straight back into the water, instead of having to sit bummed on the beach watching your mates score. 

Say howzit to Jiqs, the world’s fastest leash fix solution. Carey talks us through his clever invention: 

So how’d the idea come about - Am guessing you came up it after your own snapped leash experience? 

Jip, that’s right. I was on holiday in Bali with my lovely wife when news of an amazing swell heading for G-land made rounds. I suggested we go check this out, I have never been to G-land, but as a goofy footer, I’ve been dreaming about that wave since a laaitjie. All the camps were maxed out for what was to be the best swell to hit in years. G-land didn’t disappoint…however the other 250 strong surfers in the line-up wasn’t very inviting. The morning of the swell peak, I decided to paddle out before sunrise to beat the crowd, that worked, but unfortunately my leash didn’t - It SNAPPED on a mediocre wave! 

I recovered my board and paddled in to shore, ran back to Bobby’s Camp for a spare leash and hurried back out through the key-hole. That whole turn-around took about 45 minutes, so guess what, when I got back to my position in the line-up there were 40 more faces staring back at me. That is where and when the idea was born, right there at the take-off of Money Trees, G-land, 9 years ago. 

Where great idea's are born

Once you had the idea of coming up with a solution for bust leashes was it something you dived into head first or did it sit on the back-burner for a while? 

Yes, exactly. You know you get back home after a surf trip and reality hits. Work, family and cold water distracted me for quite some time. It wasn’t until the beginning of 2016 that I made myself a promise to  follow through on the idea. 

Was there much else in the market that offered a similar solution? 

Currently No. Jiqs is the only surf gadget in the world that offer surfers a quick fix solution to snapped leashes.  

Where did you draw the conceptual inspiration from or was it one of those lightning bolt moments where it just kinda popped into your head, and you were like “Yip – that’s it!”? 

It started with some simple sketches and many hours of searching on Google for ideas. But it wasn’t until I a saw a camping tent gadget that the light bulb really came on.  

So did you get a coupla prototypes made up and take ‘em for some serious R&D testing at a few of the Cape’s heavier spots? Things work from the get-go or a few “back-to-the-drawing-board” experiences? 
 
Today it’s so easy with 3D printing, the first two prototypes I made worked in theory, but that was until I added a snapped leash. The moment I applied serious tension on the little gadgets, the cords kept slipping loose! I was really disappointed with myself at one stage, I seemed so close, yet it wasn’t holding. Until one day when I happened to come across a tent peg in a camping store.

Talk us through how it works, and what makes Jiqs unique.

Inventions should always be tested against the concept of ‘Keep it Simple’. The Jiqs gadget is basically made up of two cleats, each with its own locking nut – the one end of the snapped leash gets placed into the cleat and then the nut is tightened over to lock it in place and same goes for the other end. A Jiqs can fix any standard leash no matter where it snapped.

​Is it an “in-the-water” solution? Assuming your board hasn’t bounced its way to the beach, it is like literally grab the two sides of the bust leash, pop the Jigs on and “boom” back to riding waves without even having to set foot on the sand?

Yes exactly, that was part of the whole idea. Often when your leash snaps, the board pops up quite close to where you are, just paddle back to the safety of the channel or backline and apply your Jiqs. Simple as that really, you don’t have to mission to your car, shop or home and miss out on what might have been a cooking, uncrowded session!

Go from this....

....to this, in an instant!

Attach your Jiqs to your rail saver for immediate access to an in-water fix

​Say you’re on a feral Indo mission and gonna be stuck miles away from a surf shop for a while, would you be able to rely on the Jiqs holding up for a good few sessions, or is it really designed for short term use only?

I won’t recommend long term use, but hey if in the very unfortunate event that you snap all of your spare leashes, sure a Jiqs will solve the problem. A good friend of mine had to use his Jiqs awhile back, guess what he’s still just surfing with that same broken leash fixed with a Jiqs.

Like Mastercard - never leave home without it!

Why the name Jiqs?

I first thought of the name ‘Fixs’ but it was already taken, so then I came up with ‘Jixs’ but that was also taken and finally I settled on ‘Jiqs’. It rhymes nicely with fix – Jiqs Leash Fix.

Where can guys grab a Jiqs? And how much do the retail for?

Most of the surf shops in Cape Town stock them, a friend of mine has them at her shop in Scottburgh, Ginsy has them at Country Feeling in JBay and on-line you can get them from Pollywog.

​Jiqs retails for R100. 

Just domestic at this stage? Any plans for the international market?

Local is Lekker, but I’m busy connecting with all continents. My biggest order to date was from Europe.

Am guessing leash-fix inventor isn’t your full-time gig, so what do you do when you aren’t coming up with genius surf gear idea’s?

That’s right; my daytime job is project managing TV commercials.

Shot Carey! Always lekker to see a unique surf product originate from South Africa!

Wanna know more about Jigs and how it works, head over to the webpage http://jiqs.surf or follow Jiqs on Instagram @jiqs.surf