Hi All,
So I am looking for some advice. I have been flying fixed bridle kites for a while now and I've decided too swap over to de power kites. I was wondering what type of harness people think is best, in particlar for land boarding and snow kiting, a climbing style seat harness or a waist harness?

Thanks
Phil

Get a Dakine XT seat harness. Very good quality with a low hook height which is good for landboarding.

Do not go with a climbing harness. I can't believe peps actually try with them. I have several climbing harnesses and wouldn't even consider them for kites.

Good luck-Scott

I have an older Dakine fusion seat harness and a waist harness. I like the seat harness for the above mentioned reason (lower center of pull) its a little akward but it also stays put.

Just my 2 cents Jon.

I used a climbing harness almost exclusively last winter on skis and although it worked just fine it seemed that the connection point was actually too low and centered such that it twisted against my body trying to stay carved away from the kite. I moved onto a waist harness which worked well but since acquiring the Dakine seat harness am kinda sold on it. I'll be flying that this winter if I can get it closed over my snow pants

Now, back to the climbing harness. I can't say for sure BUT I have a hunch that if and when I finally sit down in a bug I'll be re-evaluating using it again since there is just nothing to bunch up and quite frankly I find it to be quite comfortable. The only catch is that you need a way to hook into it. For me the answer was a carabiner - through both connection loops, not the belay loop - and a Wichard quick release (for the handles with a strop I used a Petzl pulley and for the depowerables I just opened up the carabiner and hooked the chicken loop in...can't unhook but you can still pull the safety and ditch the kite (only had to do it once).

Back once again to the fixed bridles - I get a little uncomfortable hooking the strop into the waist / seat harness spreader bar but it works. I can imagine there might be trouble brewing doing this but I can see no other way short of hooking the Wichard up and running the pulley....seems silly but.......

In a chatty mood, sorry. Hope that helps.

It's not a problem to hook your strop into your harness. Trust me if and when you yanked hard/out of control the last thing your going to be doing is pulling on little "safety releases".

I am thinking a Petzl caving harness might work ok. You can possibly attach a spreader bar into this harness. I might have to try with my cave harness.

Scott

You nailed it with that last bit. The most dangerous flying is done with a small kite in high winds. It doesn't matter how many safety systems you have hooked into your rig unless they are automatic (quick releases attached to the buggy not the person - buggy ejection= automatic detachment from kite). I have a dakine seat harness - rides up a little, but much better than the "creeper" waist harness I used to have - cuts into your gut and presses up on your diaphragm - makes it hard to breath.

I picked up a Dakine impact vest / harness at a good price. It's way too hot for anything but the water in summer. I haven't had a chance to try it with my ski jacket yet ? I like it with the ATB and Blades on cool days a lot + like the protection.
I wouldn't want it as my only harness but it is another one to consider. Dakine also makes shorts that have a seat harness built in. KyteSlinger ( sp? ) uses a Chest harness and likes it .

None of these are as popular as the standard waist and seat harnesses. No doubt for a good reason. I just thought you should know they are out there ! 'Cause there is no wind and I'm board

For buggying I find most seat harnesses uncomfortable. Bulkiness of most the seat harnesses, my large ass, and the fact they were designed for standing makes it hard to sit properly in the buggy. I have a Dakine waist harness but it catches on the back of the buggy seat; it also feels like someone is pushing their fist into diaphram. I am leaning toward an Ozone Access harness or the Libre buggy harness. Unfortunately both are very hard to find on this side of the Atlantic.

Sky Country makes a nice little harness, but it is designed for skiing, ie standing up. El Gordo here finds it bulky, I should ask them to design one for a sitting position.

S

BladeRunner there was wind today. I was out a GP with the Alasca. GPS says I got to 36.8 km/h in 10 ktsNW. (GP is a pretty small field, on a 100 m tack that is not bad speed.)

Way to go you Old Scudder !! Was that speed on the new Alasca :wow: I thought you hadn't flown depower at all yet :puzzled: :cool2: I can't wait to try it !

Yes the clouds seemed to shut the wind off just before I got off work but I took the skatewing out and stood there looking the fool.

Have you ever tried either of Dirtslides Harnesses ? They should fit you ? He has a similar buggy !

Yes, that was on the Alasca. I tried someones depower last year, but did not like it at all. It just sat in the sky you could barely move it around the window. I flew it for 5 minutes, then gave up. So yesterday was really my first time experiencing depower.
Wind stayed at GP until it got sunny again then died.
I tried DS seat harness. We both find that the seat harness is not great in the buggy. The harness that I have tried and liked was Tim's. I believe it is a wind surfer harness that is much less bulky that the Dakine. Hopefully that Ozone harness gets to DS soon.
I should be getting to GP fairly early. Need to know if there is wind first though. Right now its like 3 kts NW at the airport and 17 NW at Sandheads. A bit odd seeing as they are 8 miles apart.
S

S

I fly w/ a dakine tabu waist and like it very much. it can ride up a little but if I lean back really far it goes back down.
One thing - if you get a waist harness be sure to get a spreader bar pad. They help a ton:cool2:

I've owned quite a few harnesses over the years and have sold or given them all away except for the Dakine XT seat harness. The Dakine one with the built in shorts works very well. I actually liked the harness part of that harness. However, you have to like the shorts that are built into the harness (I didn't like the shorts"). Plus you had to wear the shorts all the time instead of just taking your harness off to chill out. I finally sold that harness but it was my favorite one other than the XT seat.

There is a guy here locally who rides a buggy with an XT seat and he likes it.

Scott