WA
524 posts
hi all, as a beginer would you recomend waist or seat harness?
QLD
431 posts
waist Mystic warrior......
not the cheapest.... but very compfy... and heaps of support........
WA
685 posts
< 40 waist Mystic warrior
> 40 DaKine Fusion seat harness
WA
4485 posts
Seat seat seat - it will take you at least one season to outgrow it (if you ever do).
Wasties are more painful when learning and doing the walk of shame (in my experience). More chance of busting ribs with a waste on major stacks as a newby. Less back pain by far also with a seat.
I hear nothing but good about the Dakine fusion, which allows a slightly higher spreader bar posi than most.
VIC
5126 posts
Seat harnesses are more comfortable and more forgiving of bad technique and generally all around better for cruising about. You have much more arm movement so you can depower more easily. They don't get hauled up and crush your ribs when you spend time with the kite up high.
Waist harnesses give a much better pivot point for edging for board moves which translate into better kite moves. Waist harnesses are much more sensitive to correct adjustment and they amply the effects of bad technique. Toe side riding is much easier. Edging for pop is easier. Your reach is reduced so it is harder to depower just by pushing out the bar.
Seat harnesses are generally easier on your back unless you do a heap of toeside riding. Then they twist your lower back hard and can cause pain and inflammation.
If you ride in the poo man stance with a waist harness you will **** your back. If you ride with a good stance and body position then waist harnesses put much less stress on your back.
If you can afford it get a seat harness to start with then switch once you get past the beginner phase.
If all you want to do is ride about and do a few pretty good basic moves then get a seat harness.
If you want to progress into more advanced moves then get a waist harness.
The Dakine Fusion is a really good seat harness and quite cheap. I've had a couple of them.
I now use a Cabrinha Impact Waist and really like it.
VIC
760 posts
I spent the first 2 months with a seat harness then switched to an '07 Mystic Warrior. Perhaps i'm a fast learner but as soon as i started to ride toe-side i found the seat harness to be really restricting and awkward. As soon as your capable of flying a kite at a position other than 12, i'd highly recommend getting a waist harness.
My Mystic Warrior was the best $240 i've spent on kiting gear. When you compare it to the rest of the gear it's so incredibly cheap, and yet it's the one piece of equipment which will single handedly either make a great session or ruin it.
WA
1991 posts
I started off on a seat harness, and I disliked the bitch. Walking up the beach is soooooooo hard with a seat harness. There is very limited sideways movement, and I had to crab walk up the beach. With my waist harness now any walking (its limited, yay upwind) is so much easier because the harness can swivel around our body a little bit.
It could start of comfortable, but after a big stack, wedgie mania. Toesiding is about 4000% easier in a waist.
The one advantage of the seat is that stacking it at speed in a waist harness can be a lot more painful than a seat, because if it rides up your back slightly, the kite pulling force is bending you back fairly hard, the resistance to water can make that worse (specially when faceplanting) . Because a seat stays over your hips more, crashing is more comfortable.
Dont go out and buy a mystic warrior without trying it on. I almost bought one online, but tried one on, and it didn't fit me. Go to a shop, try on every waist or seat (depending on what you want) in you size, the size below you and above you , to hopefully find one that feels right for you.
I think a harness is one of the most crucial choices to enjoy kiting (after the kite) , because it can make it either comfy, of uncomfy. And uncomfy makes everything not fun.
This is all my opinion, other people think different.
My stats are probably correct. And thats a FACT.
10 posts
definatly worth checking out the pat lvoe range sick and good support through lower back
- I hate wedgies
