Power Kite Forum

Depower lei->foil bar swap possible???

Purely Luck - 17-12-2012 at 07:36 AM

Hey All,

I have some questions about kite bars.

I have a couple best lei depower bars and as well as an Apex 2 5m kite.

Is it possible to fly the Apex foils on the best bars and lines?
Will the lei releases work ok on a foil kite like the apex?

My wife and I are getting into snow kiting this year and would like to have the same emergency release systems on our foils as the lei setups we use in the summer for kiteboarding. (if possible)

Thanks!

RedSky - 17-12-2012 at 08:50 AM

I'm going to say no. It might be possible to make modifications but ideally you don't want any sheeting in and out movement in the bar.
Hell it might work without mods. I've never tried it. So in fact my answer doesn't mean anything. lol

Feyd - 17-12-2012 at 09:08 AM

The Apex will fly on any 4 line sheetable bar but the safety system will have to be tweaked a little bit and there may be some adjustment neede in leader lengths etc. The way the stock Apex safety works is essentially when you pop the hat the front lines become so long that the kite is unable to fly do to lack of frontline tension (or too much rear line). Your LEIs work on a flag out style safety (I'm guessing) and flag out on one line.

The Apex can be set up to work that way but sometimes if its really crazy windy it turns into a huge mess of tangles.

Does the Apex have the stock bar that came with it or is it just KO?

Purely Luck - 17-12-2012 at 10:10 AM

The Apex has the stock bar. My intention is to make the safety systems identical for both kites so my wife and I don't have to commit both styles to muscle memory.

I would hate to get in a jam and have to think about what kite I am flying and how that particular safety system works.

erratic winds - 17-12-2012 at 10:33 AM

I don't know about how well the different safety systems would swap, but if you are wanting to reduce the items you have to learn muscle memory for, a simple option would be to convert all bars to the same chickenloop?(ozone megatron is a great one!) that way discarding the kite is at least the same across both bars.....

joedy - 17-12-2012 at 02:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by erratic winds... a simple option would be to convert all bars to the same chickenloop?(ozone megatron is a great one!) that way discarding the kite is at least the same across both bars.....


Another idea is John's recent Flysufer mod for the older style bars. This is a push-away system and is well made. The North Ironheart is another option as well.

-joedy