Per my note to BD:

Yesterday, I received a call from Chris at BD. Basically, BD arrived at the same conclusion that I suggested earlier in this thread. The metal tab was flipping up, causing the nylon to abrade. BD is reviewing some potential design enhancements. The reason that they do not use a direct attachment system as Stymingersfink suggested is because it does not allow for enough degrees of freedom to maintain maximum strength.

BD is sending me a couple prototypes to test out, as I'm headed up to Alberta in a week to fool around. Kudos to BD for the prompt action -- this is an example of what makes them a great climbing gear company.

So, I guess the moral of this story is: if you are climbing with the 2007 Cobra/Viper Android leash attachment on your tool, but going leashless -- keep a close eye on the leash for wear.

Cheers,
Avery

Hey Avery! Just got back from Alberta myself. Ran my Cobras leashless pretty much all the time I was following and also noted the beginings of the problem that you have encountered. Thanks for posting as I probably wouldn't have noticed it as early otherwise. Hopefully BD will come up with a fix as I really like leading with leashes and following without.

If you want some route recommendations or other info, drop me an e-mail (Mark has my e-mail address) or a PM.

Have fun!

I taped the whole shaft on my Cobras, including going over the top of the leash attachment on the shaft. I used my Cobras heavily the last two weeks both leashed and leashless and found that the tape was worn exactly where Avery's webbing is worn, but I have no damage to the webbing like Avery's pictures.

Perhaps a temporary fix is to tape around the stud attachment and area of webbing that is affected by this problem? Not a permanent solution for sure, but one that'll keep your expensive leashes from getting trashed!

The prototypes that BD sent me look pretty similar to the originals, but are made of stiffer webbing and sewn slightly differently. They seem to have done well for 5 days of climbing leashless, without any visible wear to the webbing.

I just received my leashes - from BD. They were on backorder for some time, which I suspect was due to the issues listed above. The new leashes have much thicker webbing on the "tool-attachment". The webbing is also stitched like a mini dogbone making it very ridged so there should be no way it can flap up during non leashed swings. This sounds a lot like the prototypes given to Avery to test. I believe this is the case and BD has resolved the leash issues. For those with the old leashes, a rubber band (zip tie or sting too) might work as a quick fix to stop the flapping.