I'm a noob pretty much and was wondering why there are both a fixed loop and a chicken loop on my bar. Recently I was mucking about while hooked into the chicken loop, when the main loop got caught in my harness hook, basically locking the bar into full power . The sudden boost of power nearly caused me to crash the kite...

Question: Should I perhaps remove/detach the fixed loop completely to avoid such annoyances or does it have some purpose I'm not aware of?

Someone told me that some of the new bars don't even have a fixed loop.

TIA,
Bo
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Humanity cannot bear very much reality- T.S. Eliot

same happened to me... take it off as a nube... put it on when you feel the need to.

Some differing ideas to to think about. Good stuff, thanks for your help guys.

Bo

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Humanity cannot bear very much reality- T.S. Eliot

that's "still *can't* see the point" .. damn typos..

Totally agree with VB MAN. I neglected to mention in my previous post the added advantage of having the luxury of resting your arms from bar pressure while kiting when utilizing the fixed loop. By continually 'double-hooking' at appropiate times during a session, a kitesurfer can sail longer when other crew are thoroughly spent and thinking about their first beer. I've never tried the powerlock bar but I guess it's really just a simplified version of 'double-hooking'. However, the black plastic chicken line that comes standard with this set-up is problematic as it breaks with no obvious warning of failure. At least with the typical rope chicken line, the tell-tale chaffing will give warning of imminent failure.

Hey Padbury,

You're right, back in the day, we had only 2 line kites with a harness loop. The chicken or trim loop wasn't even invented yet and I can tell you that the people that learned to ride using a "fixed" setup ie, 2-line or fixed 4-line, turned out to be the kiters that are out in all conditions, can boost bigger than others who didn't and can generally ride better in a wider variety of conditions. Quite simply if you didn't learn edging, you never went upwind!

The reason is simple, when you rely on the trim loop, you never really properly learn to use your edge of the board and board trimming to control power and speed.

This is why when the wind gets up over 25 knots the waters are all but empty. Strong wind requires good edging to control power by bringing the kite to a higher neutral position in the window, which in turn gives you a greater angle of upwind ability.

This reason is also why kiters that learned on fixed setups boost bigger, becuase it is all about managing power and speed and edging hard to maintain maximum pressure on the lines. Felix is a classic example, he could go bigger than anyone on a 2 line kite in his bindings because he was masterful at edging.

The trim loop helps people ride upwind more easily because when edging to go upwind and you get a gust which would ordinarily accelerate you too fast and lift you off your edge, you just depower instead of digging in your heels and bringing the kite low you do the opposite, bringing the kite to 12 o'clock and depowering!

Both ways are acceptable, but one and only one, produces a better kiter in the long term.

Go fixed while you are learning, it will be gold in later years.

Good winds and Peace

Hey thanks guys,
I have both fixed and chicken on and am learning in the surf (and doing a fair bit of walking). I have been wondering the same things - ta for clearing this up for me.
I am sticking to my fixed at the moment, so I have a little more time and brain resources to stay clear of others and pretty much anything dodgy! I can see how the loop will be handy soon though as I am really sick of walking upwind with an otherwise comfy seat harness, giving me an atomic wedgy.

Just a quick tangent too - I have a Naish TT 2003 4'9" (142cm x 37). This board for a 2003 vintage is stiff and seems to have a pretty standard sharp style rails which I find hard to get much "bight" out of (even though it's an eight fin board). Now i think at 80kgs in gusts on a fixed bar or in the hands I should have a little more leverage than i am getting without crabbing sideways or geting slipped onto a flat plane. Wassup?
I should say as far I am learning but far as edging I wakeboarded and used trick skis (fast) for years and know how to control an edge at speed even without fins. So what's up have flexi boards (as is the current trend) really got the edge?? Bad pun I know...
cheers,

Getfunky

Just ride unhooked more than hooked. But that doesn't even matter anyway, you don't need a fixed loop. Also setting up or tuning the kite each time you ride (with stopper balls on the chicken loop line)means you can give yourself less movement with the chicken loop & this works the same as having a fixed loop but you can have a bit of extra power when you want it, or depower whatever you prefer. Launching in the chicken loop is fine as you can launch with the kite totally depowered then tune it to suit the conditions your about to ride in. Check out the new Slingshot bars and you'll know what I mean.