Tried and tested: ION Savety footstrap

Injuries to the ankle joints are one of the most common problems that wingsurfers have to contend with, mainly because the foil sometimes transfers large forces to the ankle joints. Most frequent cases: During a jump or manoeuvre, you slip out of the strap with one foot and get stuck with the other, or the board tips up and you fall against the direction of tipping.

The ION Savety Strap is supposed to release like a ski binding in such cases. Can it work?

The ION Savety foot strap - a ski binding for the water?

The loop itself is split in two in the centre and can slide apart under load. The two halves are held together with a Velcro fastener.

A neoprene cover located under the Velcro can be moved so that the Velcro connects the two halves with different degrees of strength - this results in the three setting options - "light", "medium" or "strong".

In practice, the principle works as intended. If you set the foot loop to "light", for example, very little tension is enough to allow the Velcro to slip through and release the foot. Set to "strong", on the other hand, very high forces are required to separate the halves - at least when the loop is new. But the system also has its downsides: The options for adjusting the size are limited, as the usual adjustment mechanism has, after all, been sacrificed for the basic idea of the Savety Strap. The strap has three holes on each side, through which the strap can be screwed to the board - this results in six size settings, which at least cover most shoe sizes. It could only be problematic for people with very large (> size 47 + shoes) or very small feet (< size 37, barefoot), depending on how you like to ride your foot straps. There is also the question of how well the Velcro holding them together can still do its job after some time in continuous use with sand and salt.

Conclusion:

Anyone who is afraid of foot injuries or has already had bad experiences with a damaged ankle when foiling could finally find a practical and thoroughly smart solution to their problems with the ION Savety foot strap. However, at 39.95 euros per strap, the ION Savety Strap is significantly more expensive than conventional straps.

Further information is available HERE