Hello All,

 

Just thought I would share this anchor system I have been using for the summer for kayak fishing. I'm sure it would also work well with inflatables, canoes and smallish boats.

 

I didn't like having all that rope attached to my anchor and lying around the inside of my kayak, so I bought a heavy duty retractable dog leash.

 

Works great, and takes up minimal space. When I'm done for the day I leave it fully extended to dry. Probably wouldn't last long though if used in saltwater.

 

 

 

 

Harbor Freight has 24' leashes for $5.99.  I've got 2 on my canoe, one for the bow and one for the stern.  I've only had them on for a couple of months and am using them strictly freshwater so I don't know how long they'll last. 

 

But you're right, they work very well.

 

mikeg

They look like a good idea for light anchors if you don't use them much.  This review would worry me though:

 

I have a catahoula and I have bought and used up at least 20 of these particular leashes in the past 4 years. Usual mode of failure is the cord breaks after friction thins it down.

I used to have a lot of spring problems causing failure, but not in the last 18 months or so.

I was going through so many when the dog was younger that, as the cords broke, I would open and replace with 3/32 coated steel cable; now I just buy a new one (or three) when they go on sale.

I have also bought several more expensive and supposedly more rugged retracting leashes but they all fail fairly quickly. My dog has hip problems, so the leashes are not failing from being abused - just from normal use (1 1/2 to 3 hrs of mostly slow walking/day). It's the constant in-and-out is that kills these things. I view it as one (of the many) costs of dog ownership to have to buy a new retractable leash every couple of months.

 

I would hate losing a 20+ dollar anchor or having to dive to get it.  If I only anchored shallow though they would seem a good option.

I use mine with 5# dumbbells that I had in the basement so my potential loss isn't too great.  I also made sure that runs for them are as frictionless as possible to reduce wear on the cord.  So far so good!

_{Good thinking on the dumbells, I'll have to raid the girlfriends workout gear!}