Ive had a dilemma for a while now.
I have a radsail 7mtr and use the radsail crossover bar for boarding, whist being less faffy if you drop the bar as it doesn't tangle the lines I feel it doesn't help the speed of changing direction. Ive also noticed its a lot easyer to hold with one hand whilst walking holding the board in the other hand.

I went out on sunday in low winds and was playing well but crashed a couple of times on patches of dry sand, my fault due to low wind and upright stance, didn't hurt myself but decided to untangle my 3mtr kite, after 10 mins or so I managed to launch it with the harness line and kite killers attached and was playing and figure 8's and just keeping it on one side of the window whilst walking or running with it.

Right, heres the question.

whilst boarding which do you all prefer or use? control bar or handles?

also whilst buggying again, same question.

Thanks


Stu

:puzzled:

I honestly think changing to a bar for the kinds of things i like doing was the best thing i ever did , i'm only a boarder though mainly on water these days and i wouldn't even consider handles for a massive number of reasons... however, i hardly know any buggiers who use bars (although there are a few) and it does seem quite obvious, in a buggy, handles are the wiser choice!

Larger fixed bridles work O.K. on a bar. I'm a big fan for the simplicity + 1 handed riding. I found as the kite got smaller the extra pulleys and lines seemed to add just a touch of brake. The kites would act up in low winds but the problem went away when properly powered.
You can get a lot more fine control out of a fixed bridle on handles. You can do brake turns and get more out of the kite .

I am slowly being converted to depower flying and think it's the way to go on boards and blades . I haven't tried the Pulse on a buggy yet but I think I'll end up going that way. ( I'm not interested in racing )

If things change as I expect it looks like I'll fly a 7 or 8 pulse and 15m SA Flysurfer most of the time with a very large + very small fixed bridle as book ends.

My first kite was controlled with a bar (beamer 3.6 TSR) but the first time I flew a kite with handles I was hooked, no going back. Granted I ride in a buggy, but to get past the one handed thing use a harness and a strop line. If you have access to both I'd say fly the kite on a bar then land it' Replace the bar with handles and take it back up. Me personally I would have a problem putting the bar back on.

My 5m ace on the bar was interesting. I put it on a bar right off and really liked it. It had the backstall issue in low wind but was generally rewarding so I put up with it.
One evening I was flying in choppy low wind and getting frustrated because the 5 was all I had . I put it on handles and was WAY better off so enjoyed the rest of the night !

It's still on handles, Not sure if I'll go back ?

My 7m Bullet loves a bar, My 4.5 will hardly fly on one :?:

I must say I have noticed the advantage in low winds with the handles as you can turn the kite faster and therefore generate more pull.
When I have my 7 meter radsail in medium winds and its horizontal to me for speed , I think I prefer the bar as having it about 6 feet above the sand with me doing about 20 + mph whilst getting elvis legs. I think if I had handles Id just rub my arse on the sand.
I'm currently still waiting for a break in the weather and my life so I can get out again to try out handles and bar in a good steady wind (blustery this time of year)


Thanks for all the advice

The crossover bar helps with the tight turns with it's 2:1 action. It is the independent brake control that I find an advantage.