I'm surprised you are up to the point of doing "pretty big jumps" and still wearing a seat harness. Seat harnesses are quite hard to find in kite shops nowadays. Unless you are heavily overweight or you are into course racing, a waist harness is the way to go. Seat harnesses will encourage you to have a "pooh stance" and will limit the movements from your hips and legs. Just get yourself a quality comfortable waist harness and I guarantee you'll never want to look at your seat harness again.

theDoctor said...



^^^ this dude sounds like he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Please explain to me why only a small minority of people have seat harnesses nowadays? Would you go and tell everyone on the beach with a waist harness that they don't know what they're doing and they should go back to seat harness?

Try both, settle on the one you like best.
There are limitations and advantages for each. This has been discussed many times on this forum.

Seat harnesses are not quite hard to find in kite shops nowadays.

I had to wear a seat harness once for a couple of months, due to a broken rib.
The main difference I noticed was that, even with board shorts on it made my package appear bigger and this intimidated other kitesurfers around me.

I used the Dakine Nitrous shorts for years (I'm wearing them in my pic), despite unsuccessfully experimenting from time to time with a waist harness "to be like every one else".
Those shorts worked very well for me, particulary after fitting the dakine turning bar, (that rotates 90 degrees to the horizontal).

I could never get the tension on the waist harness right. Too loose and it would ride up under my pits, making it bloody difficult to reach for the bar if i had to let it go, too tight and it would not rotate during toe side to heel side transitions which was a real pissa as I was really determined to be a kite surfer rather than a kite boarder.

A mate of mine handed me a cabrinha waist harness last year, fitted it very loosely on me (tucking away the velco inner strap), told me to always wear a rashly, or stay wet to minimise any friction ... and guess what, I'm now "just like every body else" on a waist harness !

but those Nitrous shorts sure worked for me, keeping the hook nice and low just where I wanted it !

hehe, chunky cbulota

I like a harness that supports the back. When I face plant and my legs go over my arse goes over my head (which happens more than i want to admit), the waist harness seems to provide a little more support. It just could be that brand/model of seat harness I've used during my initial lessons.

Mark

cbulota said...
If seat harnesses were a better option for most people you'd think they would be far more popular ?

Does Kelly Slater wear a floppy surf hat and paddle gloves???
'People' (majority) will wear what the pros use, no matter how it suits that person.

cbulota said...
That being said, which seat harness would you recommend for my unhooking and wave riding progression, waist size 34 inches ?

None, surf = waist harness. Seat are too restrictive and don't allow for twist through the hips which you want for advanced tricks on flat water and in the surf. Ie, thats why the pros use waist harnesses.