i have heard that waist harnesses have the anioing habit of creeping up so it is around your neck before your can even get your first gybe. but im not sure this is really the case, but just in case, i wanna know some good models, and brands to look at, are the info like are you using it. is it good, etc etc, and all the boring stuff aswell

Jord070, what ever brand you go for, make sure that you can get it set real firm, without the need to have somebody tighten it for you when its fitted.
Some are a bit of a pain to pull tight when you have them on. If they are too loose they ride up.
Mark is on the money with the one he uses.
I have had both, crook lower back has me in a seat harness, but I have it set real high.
Mineral

Jord, I recently replaced my ageing NP waist harness, and while I was shopping around, I noticed a few things that may help you.

Apart from the big range of brands that most shops carry, I sort of divided the options into two basic types: those where the bar/hook is attached to a band that goes from one side of the harness to the other, and those where each side of the bar/hook is attached to the harness with it's own band.

so on the first type, the hook slides from side to side (which a lot of people like as it lets you adjust your posture for going upwind) and on the second type the hook is "locked" in the middle, which I prefer, so that narrowed down my brand choices.

In terms of riding up, that depends a lot on your body, how you sail, and how high you like your boom. I do mine up really tight under the bottom of my ribs so it doesn't ride up too much, and the slight gut that's appeared over the last few years has helped a bit there too.

Look, this is just opinion, but for me a waist harness is ALL about the cumberbund (the stretchy velcro bit that you put around you first before doing the rest up). if that thing grabs you in all the right places, your harness will stay put.

so hit the shops, try on as many as you can, and make sure you have a dangle from the "test" harness lines most shops have attached to the wall.

I have been a waist harness user forever, but I have no real justification for that. I just think that every seat harness looks like a bloody nappy, and a waist harness over boardies looks WAY cooler. at my age this is extremely important...

MP

No worries Jord. I always try to avoid the "brand" discussion for fear of getting flamed, but for what it's worth I ended up with a Pro Limit Hybrid. DaKines had movey-hook syndrome and the Pryde's didn't feel quite right for me. everything else had a bloody kite handle.

good luck mate. roll on summer.

hi eric is windshack open tomoro so i can come have a look there??

yeah i will
thanks for that

well i got my new harness its a pat love jet set, it is real comfortable, it doesnt ride up, well i havent been on water, but i tryed it on the boom thing at the shop, and it didnt ride up, and i tryed the sitting thing in it, didnt moove, so lets hope for some wind so i can give it a thrashing

my frame is no real waist, ( well a little) but its basically strait down , i am 70kg, and it is retaild at i think 180 but i got a little bit of a deal with it, to thank me in advance for working for free for him. there is a model up for another 30 or 40 bucks wich is the same harness but its out side is made of the same stuff as the indside, and it was a little with softer(as in flex) but it felt exactly the same for me, but it is a sweet harness, really good suport, no places dig in, and its a fixed hook wich is great. hope this is what info you were after
jordan

hey jords , got the same model the other day, u will be happy!

yeah alberto showed me the easist way of doing it, its a little more fiddly but still easy enough

i just wear my harness a bit loose so when it rides up a bit i just suck my gut in and falls back down to where i want it

Hey Frant,
of all the times Ive been catapulted (a lot) Ive only been stuck once. I have no idea how I did it but I ended up under the sail with the line twisted over the hook so it was super tight. When I hit the water i got the wind knocked out of me so I had no air. I didnt panic but could not get out. In the end I just managed to touch bottom and push up enough to get a small breath from under the sail and spin around and unhook. Scared the you know what out of me. I wear a waist in the waves and seat on flat water, this was a seat. I didnt even think about trying to get out of it as the natural thing to do is try and unhook.
I dont have the luxury of the ejector button so I would have to undo leg straps, waist clip and spreader bar. Sounds easier and quicker to unhook. The jury is out?????
After reading the post on the subject I dont know how long it would take me to undo everything but it is anotehr option I guess.

You're more likely to get your hook stuck with a kite harness. The kite hooks have a bulge in the end just so they are more secure.

quote:

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Originally posted by frant

Now that we can speak freely without fear of offending anyone does any body really take their harness off when you find yourself still hooked in under the sail or do you just reach down and unhook the harness lines. It never even occured to me that you would remove your harness when you have an open hook onto a line that has a plastic tube sheath. I suppose my seat harness does have one side with a quick release toggle. I thought that was just so that it was easy to slip on/off and secure the bar. Now I am facing an executive decision while underwater... do I unhook the harness lines or pull the ejector button and ditch the harness.

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i have always been in a seat harness for my catapults, and its a pain in the ass, but i have been catapulted like ka43 with the twist once, and i had the adjustible harness lines, so i reached down and i grabed them and expanded them fully, i was still stuck but it just alowed me to get out alot easier, but there was one when i was ontop of the sail, with the lines twisted and i had to use the quick relese to get out,
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Just a note about seat harnesses and waist harnesses - contrary to common belief, waist harnesses are suitable for slalom racing - just ask 95% of the competitors in the Hawaiian state slalom contest in Maui on 28th July....including Phil McGain, Matt Pritchard, Alex Aguera.

Time to stop the lies!