Newbie question....

I run handles, cause i dont really get on with bars; but cant kite for that long (much as i am a fit chap).

I'm looking to run a waist harness, so i can board easily, and for longer. My new blade just saps power from my arms.

With harnesses, if i get a strop loop for my handles, how do i then attach that to the harness? Do i run it through the hook on the spreader bar?

Yup, and replace the strop when it wears, or get a spreader bar with a pulley or roller. alternately a marine snap shackle pulley with a loop that can be dropped off the hook (like a plain strop can) or with a quick safety release.

Hi-I use both rope for the strop and I also use windsurfing harness lines as well. I prefer the windsurf harnes lines because they are somewhat rigid and don't foul as easily as the plain strop rope.
The only type of windsurf harness line I use are the fixed length ones i.e. no adjustment for length.
On the ends of the fixed length windsurf harness lines there is a loop and some velcro to fix it in place. I put the main kite powerline through the loop as I"m fixing the harness line to the handles.

Make sure you use a "Reactor" (roller) type spreader bar on your harness. Get the long spreader bar unless you are very skinny.

The length of the harness line/strop depends on what size kite are you flying and how much control movement is needed to turn the kite.

If you need some pictures of the setup let me know!

Scott
p.s. I have found the rope strop tears up roller bars pretty quick if the roller gets stuck/bound up with sand.

I would like to see a picture of your setup Speleo - thanks!

Yeah, a picture would be good. Thanks for the help guys!!!

I've just got a 6.5 Blade IV and it just saps power from my arms, i can only fly for about an hour before having #@%$#! all strength. Awesome kite though, got some stupid big jumps on yesterday.

pic of handles with windsurf harness line

handles on my Quadrifoil XL kite

Here is a picture of what a normal 4 or 5 mil strop rope did to my pivot on one outting when the pivot got stuck due to sand. The rope ate all the way through the plastic within a few minutes.

New Dakine Nitrous harnes/shorts. I'm not sure I like this harness yet. Since I bought it I've only been able to go out one time on my land board. There has been no ridable wind here for several weeks.

I might sell this harness without spreader bar for $100 including shipping....size 36....I just don't know if I like this harness.

My new Dakine swivel style spreader bar.

I'm trying to reverse engineer this harness setup, having never seen one before, so please endure the newbness.

Speleo, does the webbing of the harness thread through the ends of the spreader, and does this sit against the front side of your waist? Would you mind snapping a pic of that (the spreader attached to the harness, that is!)?

Then, what, do you simply hook the strop under the pully and off you go?

How do kite killers work in this kind of harness configuration? Won't the strop be applying lead-line tension if you drop the handles?

Thanks for the info everyone.

Here is two shots to show what it looks like. The harness wears like a pair of shorts with some built in buckles and straps and supports for the webbing.

I do not use kite killers on any of my setups. I really only ride in the ocean and there is typically some waves. If I drop my kite in the waves I want to get as far away from it as possible because I don't want to get tangled in the lines.

If you do use kite killers you have to unhook from the harness first then let go.

Scott

the other picture

Thanks for posting the pics Spele. Just one question - How long is that windsurf line (strop) end to end?

I'm ready to try some handles out on the water

Use a rope that still allows you to COMFORTABLY reach the handle when one is fully extended.

For your XL you don't need as long of a rope as the XXXL. But make the strop as long as you can get while still being able to hold onto the extended handle.

Basiclly if one handle is right up next to the spreader bar pulley you want to be able to reach and control the other handle furthest away. I made the mistake once putting a strop longer than my reach. It was a bad scene. The XL will loop like crazy!!!

Scott

The lenght of the strop line also depends on how long your arms are. My strop line measures 19 inches.

Susan

I use a pro-limit seat harness, if you buggy a waist harness will eventually slide up and be really uncomfortable in the bug, a seat harness puts the pull nice and low against the side rail of the buggy putting most of the power straight into the bug and not into your body.

Best bet for a noobie would be a roller spreader bar, instead of a hook it has a roller, you avoid wearing out your strop that way, They can get stuck with sand, but it's not the norm. This will allow you to unhook from the harness by simply pulling the handles towards you and down. I fly with a fully captive system now, A shackle on the harness spreader bar, a Wichardt quick release, then a climbing pulley on the strop, harder to get out of in a hurry but 0% chance of being dropped while airborne. Not recommended for noobs.

As far as strops go, as long as you're using a pulley any 5mm climbing rope will do, you can use it off a standard hook type harness as well but you'll wear through the strop fairly quickly if you're powered up. Most handles have pigtails or something coming off the rear of the handles in line with the main flying lines. I simply make a peice of rope somewhere between 12-18" long with a larks head on each end, larks head it to the pigtails coming off the handles. Easy to have one for each kite, Adjust the length until you have lots of play to turn the kite. Ideally you want to be able to stretch one hand all the way out while the other one's close to your chest. On my big kites I've run a really long strop, so when turning hard, I'm holding one handle and the other one's flopping around about 1ft out of my reach, push away on the handle I've got in my hand and the other one comes back to me.

Paul

Awesome! Thanks for all the great info.

Hey, another question. For those of you who have tried them, are these seat harnesses with the molded back/lumbar support (e.g. Dakine Fusion) comfortable to wear even when flying standing up, or are they really just for sitting down?