Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there are as many leash choices out there as there are tools. The most popular are the clipper style leashes. These come with a cuff that unclips from the tool. This easily lets you disconnect a hand to place screws, match tools, etc.
Black Diamond makes the Android leash (clipper style) which will fit on any tool. Petzl and Grivel both make clippers that work well with their tools. When setting up your clip leashes, it is important to make sure that you can reach the head of your tool without having to unclip the leash. This will allow for easy transitions when mantling on ice or plunging in snow. Clipper leashes work well in the alpine, though there is the danger of dropping a tool because you will be completely unclipped from it at some point. To avoid this, you can either be careful, use an umbilical cord setup, or go with standard leashes. By far the most popular design for a standard leash is the lockdown. These glorified slip knots grab hold of your wrist nicely but can be easily loosened by hooking a special loop over the hammer. This style is a good and cheap alternative to clip leashes.
