So, I've bought my brother in law a Legend 4.5 for Xmas and put together a litle Traction Kiting manual using the tutorial info from coastalwindsports supplemented by info from here in hopes that he reads it while he waits for wind and gains a deeper understanding of the sport and more importantly the risks associated. (He's frequented my 3's and the Rage and can certainly handle the kite.)

I got to thinking about the extra safety gear I'll be imposing on him - helmet, pads etc. and when the thought of killers came to mind I wondered....why the heck can't a guy make his own? I know I can get the elastic cord for the lines but what about the wrist strap. Has anyone else out there made their own killers, and if so did you happen to find a premade donor for the wrist straps. Like, I don't know....a waterbottle strap from a mountain bike shop or the like.

Truly, it could easily get more expensive to make rather than buy premade sets (about $12) but still I ask the question......

I got a cheap set of HQ KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s & substituted the thin lines they have on they'res for the thin bungie stuff.. worked great...

I also got HQ and they came with bungie cord. I looked into making my own also and couldn't find any kind of strap that would work as well and be cheaper than the HQ set. The first time I flew my npw5 I didn't have kk and I had to let go of the kite at one point. So at the field I made up some kk from some straps from my stunt kite. They weren't the best because they didn't cinch down on your wrists , but they got the job done that day.

My Flexifoil KKs only cost about £9.99 or something like that.. you could get some bungee cords (elastic ropes) and loop them. then use the same knot as we use to connect the lines to the kite (i forget the name of the knot) to attach them to your wrists, and some how do the same to attach them to your brake lines..

something like that might work.

only problem you might find is friction burns around your wrists, but an easy solution would be to wear "sweat bands" on your wrists to prevent the burn.. they are usually real cheap and cheerfull..

or.. simply but a length or 2 of velcro, enough to fit round both wrists individually.. and attach the bungees to them, if your good with a sewing machine.. lol

I made my own as follows:
For the wrist band I used 2 small dog collars and burned new holes in them to fit my wrist. I got ones that had metal rings sewn into the collar which would have held dog tags but hold my bugnee.

I then got bungee cord of an equal diameter to what is on my FF KKs.

I also got a thinner diameter section of line to loop the the bungee because it forms a smaller, tigter larkshead to the brake leader.

I fastened the bungee to the O-ring and the line to the bungee and the other end of the line to the brakes. It works fine though I don't fly with killers much any more.

The downfall... no quick safety release.

It took about 15 minutes to make them after all the supplies were puchased. I saved some money but I only made them because I couldn't buy any local and didn't want to wait for something to be shipped.

The dog collars are a great idea !!