i was watching a kite vid on utube today and in the comments somebody said the guy flying was holding the handles wrong......he said you should have your index fingers draped over the power lines....why is this?

I fly that way. Less likely to give false brake input. I mostly fly with my top 2 fingers. I brake with my bottom 2.
That said with bigger foils I must drop down in order to have enough leverage to back it down.

I fly my Nasa with with all fingers below because it likes a lot of brake.

Thats the way i fly my fixed-bridle kites. Wear some leather gloves to keep the lines from digging into your fingers. Otherwise, its a great way to fly.

im trying it tomorrow--seems like a good idea....thanks!!:

If you have handles where the line just goes through them with any sort of extended jacket that sticks out a few inches and the lines dig into your fingers then you can take a piece of rubber hose (like surgical tubing) and slide it over the power lines that attach to the handles and secure it by tying some line around the hose to secure it to the line. Tape or glue would probably work just fine too. It will give your fingers some cushion and the line also won't be able to make a sharp angle across your finger. That more or less looks like what the cushioned flexifol handles have, just more ghetto

I'm also looking for a good set of gloves that has some cushion on the finger backs. Currently, if I wear any, i use fingerless leather sailing gloves.

hey geo, it's especially a good idea with your pansh ace's. Those things don't like any brake tension. You'll notice a lot more speed to the kite with less brake!

Quote:

Originally posted by f0rgiv3n hey geo, it's especially a good idea with your pansh ace's. Those things don't like any brake tension. You'll notice a lot more speed to the kite with less brake!

very true... I keep the brake lines pretty slack on my ace, and it won't travel full speed across the window unless I've taken every last bit of tension off the lines by pointing my handles nearly at the kite. that said, the brakes sure make it turn nice and quick....

There is no right and wrong way to hold your handles. It all depends on what's comfortable to you and how much tension you build into the brake lines with your leader settings. I always fly with all my fingers below the leaders and buy handles that don't put the power leader too far down forcing you to straddle it with your index finger.

Maybe if I'm feeling real over powered I'll slide my fingers up so I can take the tension off the brake lines but 99% of the time my fngers are below the leaders and I'm working the brakes. And whenever I'm hooked in I use brake turns only so I just pull on the botton of the handle.

If you have control of the kite there is no need to straddle the leader - but if you like to, go ahead.

You can feel the difference in your hand without having the kite in the air or even out of the bag.

Just pick up your handle and have someone pull on the top and bottom leaders of the handle while you hold it. When you hold onto the handle with your hand below the top leader, you put all the stress of the top line into your wrists as you try to keep the top and bottom of the handle balanced.

By placing your index (first) finger on top of the top leader, the tension from the top leader runs straight into the palm of your hand, pulling very evenly into your hand/forearm...reducing the need to constantly crank the handle back to balance the tension between the top and bottom of the handle.

As 90% of the power of the kite is on the top leader, you will want that power put directly into your hand/forearm and relieve as much stress in your wrists as possible.

With other quad line kites such as the Revolution, power is more evenly balanced between the top and bottom leaders so you will have your hand more evenly placed on the handle and usually never have your index finger above the top leaders.

As B-Roc has mentioned, there really isn't any hard written right or wrong way to hold your handles, it all comes down to whatever is most comfortable for you as the pilot and what works. This is also the reason that you have long extended leaders for additional knots for adjustment. There is no "One size fits all" setting and you will need to adjust the kite to where it works best for you.

hey arkay- I use paintball gloves. Full fingers, snug fit, leather palms, and ~1/8" vinyl padding on the back of the hand and fingers. Very comfortable and great freedom of movement.

in regards to the ace's no they dont like brakes but i have noticed that if the kite is moving quickly through the window, or the wind is high enough, their performance will increase slightly with a TINY bit of brake input...try it out.

heliboy50.. wow good idea. I imagine they have good padding. I found a bunch of really nice looking gloves online thanks for the tip!

Some of the cooler looking ones I saw... just a google search away
Empire 09 Contact ZN Paintball Gloves
Dye C7 Men's Paintball Gloves
Angel 08 Air Time Gloves

What is the purpose or benefit of padding on the backs of the fingers? I've never had an impact or anything negative happen to the backs of my fingers or hands, so I had to ask.

whiplash from a breaking line can slap the back of the hand or fingers. Happened twice to me with cuts- which is why I wear my sailing gloves and I find they offer the protection and comfort I need.

One quick note on gloves... if it matters to you, consider the fact that black gloves will stain your hands come summer.