I just received a used Montana IV 9.5 kite I purchased online. The kite, bar, and lines all appear to be in excellent condition as the seller had described. I did however find that the primary safety release that extends from the top hat through the bar labeled number 9 in the picture attached was missing. I contacted HQ to obtain a replacement but their response was “the part you are looking for is no longer available. This extension was made for some people coming from the kite surfing background. It did not work like we wanted it to work. So we took it from the market” My intention was that this would be where I would attach a leash so my question is to fellow Montana owners is: should I add this element back to the bar and attach a leash as planned or if the release extension truly doesn’t work properly where else should I attach a leash?

I have a hard time believing that it's no longer made. Plus that part should be a pretty standard top hat release, so I imagine you can use almost any as a replacment. I'm guessing of of the kite shop guys on here has some or know where to get them.

The TopHat release is there. Its the cord that extends the release through the handel ending in the red ball (#9 at bar in pic above) that is not there.

I'm sure others more familiar will chime in but if I recall correctly HQ did away with that cord and ball due to it causing the primary safety to trigger inadvertantly. Any extra pressure on that line which could come from simply pulling the bar in could accidentally trigger the safety. It's better to simply reach above the bar for the safety when you need it than have it below the bar on this particular setup and have it release while your in the air. It's probably best not to try and fit one. Just my 2 cents.

How about a leash attachment point? I could use a kite killer but attachment to one of the brake lines would limit my bar freedom.

Attach the leash to the brake / grab handle line. It could get fouled up a bit if you spin the kite and bar a lot but it will kill the kite if it somehow or another gets totally away from you.

I've done that when flying an Access. the leash slides around a bit on the handle but at least the kite won't be lost if something goes horribly wrong.

Thanks B-Roc, did you thread a line through the bar up to the brake handel which might be cleaner than having it dangle.

B-roc's right on. You can attatch the leash to the landing line. Of course perhaps we should note as well that the bar was designed to be leashless. If you need the safety reach up and pull the top hat, that releases the main lines. The kite will come down on the rear lines. If you need to remove yourself from the kite completly, pull the secondary safety (#15 on diagram) and that will open the chickenloop and release you completely from the kite. You probably already knew this but it's good to mention just in case:D. Of course if you ride unhooked a lot then putting a leash to the landing line works well.

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Originally posted by jeanjockey Thanks B-Roc, did you thread a line through the bar up to the brake handel which might be cleaner than having it dangle.

I didn't but the Accesses I've flown haven't been mine.

I just bought an access and do plan to rig a leash to it (either to flag it on one rear line or kill it on the landing line).

As far as running it through the bar, I'd only do that if it definately doesn't interfer with the safety or cramp the depower line (if the hole is too snug).

You'll find that running an additional line thru the bar will most likely be problematic unless you modify the bar. The hole is relatively small and fitting another line in there while maintaining the smooth operation of the bar simply isn't going to happen. I suppose it never hurts to try though,,,,,,,,,well I suppose sometimes it hurts Stay safe. Good winds

You obviously type faster than I do Brian

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Originally posted by B-Roc I've done that when flying an Access. the leash slides around a bit on the handle but at least the kite won't be lost if something goes horribly wrong.

Double check the brake strap on the Montana.

On the Ozone Turbo Bar and I am assuming on the newer Ozone Depower Bars, there is a red webbing cord sewn into the brake strap to connect a leash to.

Looking at the Montana IV & V manuals, it looks like they might have something like that too.

If so, there shouldn't be any sliding around from the leash.

On the Turbo Bar document the leash attachment point is just about the "4" label in the diagram. See if the Montana bar has something analogous.
ATB,
Sam

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Originally posted by kteguru You obviously type faster than I do Brian

Yes but I ride slower

That extension line was designed for riding unhooked. If you were riding unhooked and your arms were fully extended there would be no way to reach the top hat thus the extension would be right at your hands to easily deploy the top hat.
If you are not riding unhooked then it is not useful. The kite is designed to be used leashless. And I feel it really is not necessary to run a leash, but if you really want to use the leash than you will want to hook it on the loop in the center of the landing strap. Or if you want it to flag then you can hook it to one side of the landing strap.
Hope this helps

Thanks for everybodys feed back. The center of the brake webbing does have an attactment point. Just making sure I sort everything out before launching. My LEI's use a fifth line that I attach my leash to which work well and its disapointing that the TopHat extention which theoretically woulld work the same was problematic. An unantisipated deployment of the release does not appeal to me.

late to the party but all that thing did was cause premature release. First thing I told customers was to take it off and put it in the bag... forever.