Shan said...

Does anyone have any tips to prevent the leash wrapping around the end of the bar during a pass?

Sorry to hear about your near-death experience.
Be careful, hey.

AKSonline said...

Surely there aren't instructors teaching illegally down on the river at Point Walter.

DM

PS. Sorry, no advise on the leash matter.

Why is it illegal to teach on the Swan River ? ^^^

Some of those leashes that are thicker with floats on them prevent this sort of thing (look pretty euro though). Hope this helps... Also what stamp says is pretty much on the money (although longer leashes do have some potential to dangle around more).

Shan said...

Thanks guys for the quick replies. I clip onto a little ring inside the chickn loop and I have both the stretchy ozone leash and one the same as the soft one displayed above. With the soft one I find that I get my arm tangled in it heaps more that the stretchy ones but I agree that it probably wouldnt get tangled up around the bar as easily.

I will give it a go a pt walter today. (get back on the horse)

Anthing longer than a standard leash would dangle in the water on me as I am only a midget :)

Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated :)

Cheers


Shan

Standard leashes get tangled around your arm a pretty easily too I have found, at least with the soft leash it is less likely to do damage to your arm because of the increased surface area.

i always wondered how easy it would be to get to the leash QR and if it dragged you backwards the way it is connected to the back of your harness. problem is it all happens so fast.

Poida said...

i always wondered how easy it would be to get to the leash QR and if it dragged you backwards the way it is connected to the back of your harness. problem is it all happens so fast.

While the kite is powered I can assure you it is impossible, because the power of the kite pulling in that way turns you in to a human taco:

Shan said...

Had a kitemare yesterday. It really shook me up :(

My suicide leash lived up to its name and wrapped around my bar while doing a raley surface pass in 25kn wind. My 7mt kite looped uncontrollably through the power zone and I was being dragged backwards about 500mt so fast that I couldn't get my arm around to my quick release.

It's interesting to note that not one poster in this thread thus far has used the term 'safety leash'.
The INDUSTRY refers to it as a 'safety' cause they like feeding consumers marketing bullsh1t.
A kite-leash is not a 'safety'.
The terms 'safe' and 'safety' in regard to kiting is retarded.
Kiting is dangerous, it has risks, risks that we all accept.
Kiting will never be 100% risk free.
If something is 'safe', it is completely 100% risk free.
Please don't refer to a death-leash as a 'safety'.
This practise only encourages the INDUSTRY to be complacent and lazy,
self-satisfied with themselves in the fact that they have a third-rate kite management system.

How come you couldn't reach the quick release?
If you get a double clipped leash you keep your QR connected to your harness.
So in the event of being dragged you know it's next to your hip not near your bar (and extremely hard to reach)

If you use a smaller bar (especially with a 7) it will not be able to continuously loop until you hit something. Along with the fact that it will help you kite better.

Poida said...

i always wondered how easy it would be to get to the leash QR and if it dragged you backwards the way it is connected to the back of your harness. problem is it all happens so fast.

I can't see the point of having your leash attached to the rear of your harness unless you are doing handle passes.
It may seem easy to reach when standing on the beach but would imagine it could be very difficult when being dragged backwards through the water like in the vid.

As I am mainly just wave riding, I use a very short leash that attaches to the end of my spreader bar so the leash QR is right in front of me near the CL release.

Obviously this is no good if you are doing handle passes but if you are not I can't see why you would take the risk of making it harder to get to the release, be aware though that the D ring on the side of some harness's is not recommended for attaching your harness.

@ Shan, pretty sure I saw you "back on the horse" again today good onya!!!

terminal said...

Similar to this?

You can buy harnesses with the Q/R for the handlepass line at the front of the harness, to solve the not being able to release part of the problem.

OMG.. That video shows exactly what happened accept I went about twice to three times further than shown in the video.

The reason my leash is on the back of my harness if for doing handle passes. I have been competing for years now and I enjoy the challange. I know my safety inside out and always test it before I go on the water. I knew where the safety was but with such force dragging you backwards it is extremly hard to reach back and grab the safety. Finally when I reached the safety it it worked first go.

I have changed my leash today and moved the red quick release a few inches closer to my back (as I am only short I cant reach as far as the average bloke) I think this will help me to find the release quicker should it ever happen again (I hope not)

I have swapped my thin standard leash with an older leash the same as the mystic one above and it looks like it will help stop it from happening again as its heaps harder to wrap around the end of the bar when its so thick.

Please everyone have a good think about your safety systems and have some practice at pulling them so that you know automatically what to do in an emergency.

Hey dude isn't not wearing a leash dangerous?

Not unless your downwind man.

Be cautious attaching the leash to the front of the harness. The body is not meant to bend so that your heels are touching the back of your head.

I like the Pat Love TFMK for the side release pins as a back up alternative for freestyle riders.

@ Shan, eventually everyone ends up in that same situation, I've also been there, twice actually. Can happen in many different ways, also in the surf without having to be unhooked.

Glad you're OK!

DM

Shan said...

terminal said...

You can buy harnesses with the Q/R for the handlepass line at the front of the harness, to solve the not being able to release part of the problem.

OMG.. That video shows exactly what happened accept I went about twice to three times further than shown in the video.

The reason my leash is on the back of my harness if for doing handle passes. I have been competing for years now and I enjoy the challange. I know my safety inside out and always test it before I go on the water. I knew where the safety was but with such force dragging you backwards it is extremly hard to reach back and grab the safety. Finally when I reached the safety it it worked first go.

I have changed my leash today and moved the red quick release a few inches closer to my back (as I am only short I cant reach as far as the average bloke) I think this will help me to find the release quicker should it ever happen again (I hope not)

I have swapped my thin standard leash with an older leash the same as the mystic one above and it looks like it will help stop it from happening again as its heaps harder to wrap around the end of the bar when its so thick.

Please everyone have a good think about your safety systems and have some practice at pulling them so that you know automatically what to do in an emergency.

I dont think moving it slightly closer will solve the problem as you still may not be able to release it.

You can add this system to a harness to bring the release to the front of the harness.

http://www.kiteitright.com/accessories/lines-n-leashes/mystic-quick-release-handle-pass-system-p-5600.html

On the video, Karoline Winkowska has a "snap hook" on her safety leash that clips her chicken loop or loop line to the bar end and hence back line. This is a problem that was recognised 5 years ago with snap hooks (at that time hooking onto the returning back line from 2:1 pulley bar end on Crossbows). There were multiple kitemares described on Kiteforum at that time. Everyone changed to "trigger snap hooks". Trigger snap hooks can't pick up the back line like this. For some reason, they don't make safety leashes with trigger snap hooks anymore. They are not as durable as snap hooks because the spring only lasts one or two seasons on a trigger snap hook. Also, all the 2:1 bar systems have gone out of fashion. But obviously from these incidents, you don't need 2:1 to get into trouble with snap hooks. I think we should stick to trigger snap hooks but build better ones. Then this exact incident shouldn't happen. If it does happen, of course you need to be able to release your safety leash.


Snap hook



Trigger snap hook