Hooked In Handle-pass already been done ??????

Hey everyone

Who knew the Hooked-In Handle-pass had already been done??? This was news to me, but I discovered this when reading kiteworld issue 49. On page 144 there is a picture of a 13 year old Aaron Hadlow doing a handle-pass. Yea not unusual I know, but in this pic he has a metal ring which goes right round his harness/waist, which his chicken loop is hooked into. He's actually passing the bar behind his back whilst his chicken loop is still hooked in to his harness.

I cannot find any other photos of this contraption on the net. But the device is referred to as a 'handle-pass ring'. After a bit of a google search I learnt Hadlow caused a bit of controversy at the 2003 PKRA Cabarete round. Hadlow won a heat using the 'Handle-pass ring' and people weren't happy!! This was a defining moment for Hadlow though, as the 13 year old was made to re do the heat with no 'handle-pass ring' and won the heat again landing all his passes anyway. From here he won 5 world titles before he was 20, without ever using a 'handle-pass ring' again!

Obviously this 'handle-pass ring' concept never took off, but has anyone else ever used one of these things? I can't even find any pics off one, which I can post on here.

So you want to see some photo's of someone passing through their ring?

is hooked in with straps legit