Ive been thinking about a few issues for the last few weeks and thought it a good idea to complain a bit on the forum

Since i'm a science teacher I have plenty of free time in the summer, so maybe this is boredom talking but.....

Quest for the perfect harness-
The last year and a half ive been looking for the best harness for landboarding. As a lot of you know i'm wicked skinny so the traditional waist harness always ends up in my arm pits. Last year I switched to the peter lynn radical harness in which i am very happy with. However, while i was in thailand I tried on a mystic warrior harness at a surf shop and found it to be very comfortable. I was able to hang in it and it didn't ride up like the other waist harnesses in the past.

when i got back to america I ordered a warrior II harness. while hanging in the harness on a rope in my back yard I realized that this won't work for me. Unfortunatly i've had a hernia for a while and the harness put to much stress on it......... dangit. So if anyone is interested i'll sell you a new with tags Small mystic warrior II in gold color

Summer thermals--
Having all of this time off work has allowed me tons of time to ride. the summer sucks for winds in the midwest unless you catch the edge of a storm. Every day we've had fools wind. anybody whos been to Ivanpahh knows what i'm talking about.

You walk out side and the trees are moving. the 15m hq matrixx has allowed me to ride many more sessions in low wind. what i have found is that the wind may only be at 4mph but will gust up to 18mph. Its those gusts that have pulled me time and time again out to the field. I have been able to mow the grass and caught the occasional gust to pop a few small airs. so here i sit watching the trees blow, but knowing that if I head to the field i'll only be able to ride back and forth on the dead spots of the field. I dunno about the rest of you, but i'm ready for the big fall and winter breezes

A little OCD--
I have noticed and my wife will tell you the same that i am very OCD about my kites. After a session when i get home i re-open my kite and make sure to knock out all of the dead grass because i'm scared that some non-existant bug will chew a hole in my kite. Now I teach earth science and I know that there are no such "kite eating" bugs. I can even tell myself that, but I do it after every session. Anybody else have kite OCD?

HQ matrixx--
I've spent about two months riding this kite so far and I am continually amazed with it. super fast set up time, and I can usually launch with with almost to air inside of it.

Its a powerful kite so riding in 10mph even down to 7 or 8mph is possible depending on the ground surface. When the wind is a bit more jumps are easy and theres a lot of hangtime. A curios thing that I have found is that it is very easy to loop while jumping. the kite has good float even when the kite is low in the wind window. Also, gotta love the reverse relaunch if you crash it. its like the best of both words: handling of a FB and power/lift of a depower kite.

so that is my rambling...anybody else think like this?

I agree. The worse part of the summer for me is that unless I can drive to the lake quickly after work, I don't have any spot to kite in town anymore. Half the time that I've gone to the lake in the evening, the wind stopped by the time I got there. Winter is where it's at for me. Two minutes out to any snow filled field around the area and I can usually grab a session when It's windy.

Just snagged a Dakine Vega...
Think it would fit your needs perfect...
http://www.dakine.com/p/kite/harnesses/vega

I love mine...

Steve

...maybe move to coast where winds are regular and more consistent? That's commitment to the sport! But who is THAT committed?...( but also, you have to consider wife's job situation)


Uhhmm.. why aren't you fixing your hernia? This may be a problem w/ any harness...

From one skinny guy to another...

this was my first contract year with the school, and i had a waiting period in there for surgical procedures.

Hernias suck. And they don't heal themselves. Just saying'.

I had one. Never really earned it through lifting or anything. Surgery was 100% successful.

+1 for the hernia surgery. Had one 7 years ago and was in constant pain while waiting to get in for surgery. Worst part about it was forcing myself to do nothing for 4weeks while it healed afterward. Have you flown a speed3??? Just curious what your thoughts are when comparing a large matrixx and large speed 3???

Hey Adam over here they are on the lookout for good science and physics teachers

You would fit the bill perfectly.

Harnesses... some kind of hybrid would be good. Have you tried Ocean Rodeo Session II or North Transformer etc?

Back pain... yeah... stretching, acupuncture, chiropracture etc don't do #@%$#! if it's a properly herniated disc. Get to the doctor and get it sussed out before you get permanent nerve damage!

OCD - yes. But coupled with laziness, I eventually reach a nice balance :D ants will eat your kites though, especially bladders.

Biggers kites in the thermals and learn how to handle gusts. Easier when you're on water :o

Quote:

Originally posted by shaggs2riches Have you flown a speed3??? Just curious what your thoughts are when comparing a large matrixx and large speed 3???

Shaggs,

There's been some good discussion recently concerning the performance of the Matrixx compared to the Speed III on the Extreme Kites forum.

Here's the direct link:

(And if the hyperlink doesn't work)

http://www.extremekites.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&...

It turns out that the projected area for the Matrixx 15m is very close to the projected area of the Speed III 12m. The aspect ratios are different (Matrixx is a 5.0 and the Speed is 6.0) which explains why the turning rates are very different.

One thing seems rather consistent: I haven't encountered or heard of any Matrixx owners who have regretted their purchases.

-joedy

First off....US is only civilized, major, 'industrial' nation that does not automatically provide health care for it's citizens.
Politicians w/lobbyist padding their pockets want us to think we will have poor choices in our healthcare if every citizen is provided 'free' health care. Baloney.

Secondly...a teacher has to wait to get an operation? Nice to be valued! Nice health plan! Should provide care right away for new hires. I know this is a minority that do have such a immediate unrestricted wait period. but No one in your condition(hernnias can be painful) should have to wait.

Luckily in Massachusetts(only state?) heath care is given to those who can't afford by income(fully or 'sliding scale') or who's employer provides none. Most jobs I get have 90 day wait before they provide and partially pay health care....but I'm covered in MA. Thankful!

Adam, What size waist are you by the way?


(BTW in relation to health care and those who can afford to pay in our US system... The majority of people are not MIDDLE CLASS... but 'working class'(poor) in the US by many definitions of our class structure relating to INCOME. Yet All the presidential candidates usually mention are fixing the middle class and I never hear them addressing the POOR/working class. Nice when you ignore the majority or the citizens! The '50+ percenters!(majority) of this country are screwed!)

I might be rambling also....:wee::wee:

I hate to help hijack this thread into some kind of political discussion, but I can't help but throw in my 2 cents.

I am an American who lives in England. I am constantly amazed at the posts on here where people can't get treated because they don't have health insurance. I'm thinking of this one, and another one where the guy hit his head and didn't get it looked at. Even though that post above comes across as a loony rant, he's dead on right as far as my experience with the British health care system.

I've had all my families' medical needs take care of to a high standard for the last 12 years, including 2 babies and chest pains without even a single thought given about payment. If I sprain my finger kiting, I can most likely get in to see my doctor the next day.

Don't believe a word of that BS about the NHS being low quality, it's great and everyone here appreciates it. The same goes for France and most of the other countries in Europe. The rest of the world looks at the American system in complete awe of how sucky it is.

Don't get me started on vacation time....

Anyway, to bring it back to kiting, I'm going camping at Camber sands for 3 days of sun and buggying!

hahaha, yeah i wanted this thread to be peoples rants!

having a hernia definatly sucks, but i am in no pain which is nice. still gotta get it taken care of though.

i'm very happy with my peter lynn radical harness. i'm going to keep using it. its very comfortable. the only reason i was looking at waist harnesses was the fact that your legs are free of any straps. it may not be a big deal to most people, but the leg straps make board off tricks very difficult. i was just looking at a waist harness that'll help me with those style tricks

i have a 32 inch waist. and i'm just over six feet tall, if that gives you the idea of how skinny i am.

shaggs, I have had a chance to fly the speed3 before, the only problem was that it was so long ago. the only thing i remember was that it was slower turning but it was a powerhouse

I just ordered a Mystic Blazer waist/seat harness. They are now discontinued but there are some shops that still have some inventory to get rid of. They list a Small as fitting a 30-32 inch waist. May want to check it out. I've read they do well with landboard, buggy, and of course snowkiting for which they were originally designed. Kinda looks like my climbing harness. Also this harness comes with the spreader bar.

[/url]http://www.live2kite.com/mystic-blazer-waist-seat-harness-p-384.html

Harness-I can't say enough good things about the ozone access, but I can understand that if you are trying board-off stuff the reduction in freedom of movement in the legs(mainly due to being a lift point now, not otherwise restricted) to be enough to push you towards a waist harness.

Wind- ahahaha I'm to be a nocoast kiter living next to the mountains. My forum name is true! Combine that with some closed fields due to drought and it's rare to have good wind for ATB for me. The one weekend that would have been perfect this month, there was an Irish festival on the land! Loads of good times and people, but alas, no flying.
I feel I'm well on my way to landing all my spins, but it's hard to improve without practice! Temps have been too high to make for afternoon thermal draws like hoped, and all storms have been fast-moving and electrically-heavy, so no times outriding stormfronts either this summer. BEST KITING this summer? Landing 360's tied with hanging out and chatting with TODD while he was stuck without a load to keep him on the road.

Injury-I tore part of my rectus abdominus kiting in april, 6 weeks off was no fun, I would say I'm improved to 90%, but not 100% despite my best efforts and that is frustrating. I am lucky there was no herniation and that I did not require surgery to repair it. Health insurance is insane in the USA. So glad I have it, but even with it, costs are still crazy. FLY-I am glad to hear you are in no pain and hope you get that surgery soon.