stevep - 14-8-2006 at 06:51 PM
new 2 buggyin been flyin quad for 2 years bought abigfoot buggy 2.5,3.6 ,5.0 beemer with handles flew without buggy a couple times no problem fly
buggied first time sunday with 2.5 arms got real tired (not talkin about how soar next day) was wonderin what harness and how to connect to handles
want to b safe money is somewhat an issue but dont mind spending 4 safety nothing comes with good instructions in english my arms and lats would
appreciate any help asked one gut said to put rope from handle to handle hook in to hook on harness it seems he used makeshift stoff duck tape twist
ties and velcro would like something a little more reliable and safer
thanks steve
Pablo - 14-8-2006 at 08:57 PM
First option for normal, beginner use would be a basic strop. Go to the local climbing shop and get some decent climbing rope. Should be fairly wear
resistant. Most handles have lil pigtails comming off the rear of the handles in line with the main power lines, you want to tie a loop about 1 1/2
inches long on each end of a peice of the climbing rope and larks head it onto the pigtails comming off of each handle. The thought is that the rope
goes from one handle, around the hook on your harness then back to the other handle. You want to make the lenght long enough that you're comfortable
flying, when you turn, you should be ending up with one arm fully extended and the other close to your stomach. Too short and you lose turning, too
long and it's hard to use. There is no real measurements for this though, it comes down to what feels good for you.
Launch the kite unhooked then when it's overhead, pull your handles down and hook the strop on the hook on the harness, your good to go, start with
your smaller kite in lighter/normal winds and work your way up. It'll take some time to get used to the way you get pulled with the harness.
If your into buggying I'd go with a seat harness for sure, the ammount of time spent with the kite overhead ends up pulling a waist harness up to your
armpits, seat harnesses stay put and give you a little extra padding on your tailbone when you OBE..... And you will OBE......
There's other Captive systems, where you can't simply pull the strop off your hook to release, these are great for race and freestyle applications,
but ask when your familiar with the basic strop. You really don't want to be locking into a powered up kite while learning.
PS: Remember, when hooked on a strop, if you let go of the handles the kite's still under power unless you unhook the strop. All letting go does is
makes you lose control of the kite. You don't want to be hooking in at all until you have fairly good kite control and are competent in using the
brakes to stop/depower the kite.
DON321 - 15-8-2006 at 05:02 PM
PABLO your post explains it perfect...
if I may just add 1 little bit of info, eventually you will want to get some kind of pulley, as the line between handles will start to wear from
pulling back and fourth and the line will eventually snap, dont want to see you loose your kite into trees or power lines, just remember to create
some kind of quick release so if you get into trouble you can release the kite,
I got a 360 swivel w/quick relese latch and hooked it to the bar hook on the harness then hooked a rock climbing clip to that then the small pulley to
the clip, works great , and if theres a problem I can just release the 360 swivel and let the kite go....... costs about $50 for all the parts, (the
swivel I got from a windsurfing shop for $30 you might be able to find one cheaper, I was just paying for the qiuck release part of it)
hope this helps
coreykite - 16-8-2006 at 10:53 AM
RE: Quick Release
"Just let the kite go"
Really?
You're good with that?
A powered-up kite...
In the midst of something significant enough to make "separation" an option...
No distinction between land and water kites, between bars and handles...
No acknowledgement of the absurdity of the notion of "quick-release" when the s**t hits the fan.
Peter Lynn correctly stated that the only effective "quick-release" that is practical for kite-power is the "dead-man" - a most unfortunate nickname.
On land-based, fixed-bridle, quad-line foils, the point of using handles is the wider range of manueverability they offer, along with the control
choices they afford the pilot.
When things start going south, sometimes full-reverse on the handles, stopping the kites forward motion and killing most of the power, will suffice.
If more is needed, simply grab both handles at the bottom in one hand, while reaching up and yanking on the brake lines with your other hand.
This turns the kite up-side-down and back-wards.
It's falling cloth.
NOW letting go of the handles won't endanger anyone else.
One, Two, Three.
Stall, Invert, Release.
Three simple things to learn.
An alternative to the magical "just let the kite go"
Safen Up! Buggy On!
"Often wrong... Never in doubt"
the coreylama