Fug it then. Lets just release our kite EVERY time and let the poor buggers downwind deal with a fully powered up kite with 5kgs of bar flinging around everywhere. Yeh - that makes sense..
Safety leashes are not perfect (no-one says they are Slave) but are the lesser of two evils.
I'm a bit confused here, is waveslave against kite leashes or just against suicide leash setups?
Leashes aren't designed for your own safety, they're for everyone elses' safety. (and to stop your kite running away) Look up Silke Gorldt if you don't believe me.
The safest leash setup is a 5th line that is not under tension when the kite is flying normally. e.g. Slingshot Fuel on 5 lines.
I am on SLEs these days but completely agree - 5th line is the safest and best system by far. Wish most kites had it is some form or another. Mine have mini 5th's but it's not quite the same really.
Pity 5th lines are as poplular as a pork chop at a barmtzvah these days. Damn fickle trendy sport!
enjoy your comparably **** set ups
slave is right on this one. too many people that are too frail to deal with a kitemare just copy the cool kids and hitch themselves to a ride they wont live to tell the kids about.
in this set up you can drop the bar on suicide doing tricks
drop the kite on fifth line doing tricks
drop the kite on fifth while hooked in by pulling the stock QR
this is the range of the normal ways of connecting to a fuel but the blue line allows you to accidentally pull the QR while unhooked and riding suicide without losing the kite. it is rather convenient.
you can also pull fifth while unhooked
if in suicide and getting dragged in death loops (the kite will crash very quickly normally but if it doesn't then you can ditch the whole lot from the QR on the harness.
if you cant do tricks in two directions then maybe you shouldn't be riding suicide as a solution to the leash twisting up... just a thought.
attach your leash to wherever the the leash is designed to be attached to for the kite you are flying. I learned the hard way with my 04 fuel. The leash was a bungee with no QR. Long story short, I attached leash to chicken loop, Kite spiralled many times, unable to disconnect myself, getting dragged by my back, lucky nothing downwind. Now fly the IDS which has leash with QR and is designed for chicken loop to back leash for unhooking. It hasn't happened yet, but If something went wrong with this kite like spiralling out of control, the IDS is easy to get to and the QR is easy to disconnect even when attached to your back.
I've got an 07 Naish bar and leash (SLE) - no fiddly pins to pull, the leash release attaches to the spreader bar right next to the hook - the release on the leash is designed such that it's easier to pull out when the leash is under tension.
I can't see what the fuss is about - I've been around the traps for a few years now and the only people I have seen being dragged face first across the bitumen are people who decide to bring out their old '02 kites with virtually no depower after not touching the gear for 5 years.
a few guys with the ids kites use no leash at all. If you are staying hooked in the whole time there shouldn't be any dramas flying without a leash. If you want to land yourself you don't need a leash to land safely. If I was anti leash I would fly something with a system like ids.
a few guys with the ids kites use no leash at all. If you are staying hooked in the whole time there shouldn't be any dramas flying without a leash. If you want to land yourself you don't need a leash to land safely. If I was anti leash I would fly something with a system like ids. Just make sure your donky dick doesn't come out or by by kite
Leave the accident inquests to the coroner, man. ^^^
Do something you know...
Like selling cheap-arse Chinese death-leashes that go SNAP !
Fact of the matter...
Leashes drag folks behind death-looping kites.
I've witnessed incidents personally.
Many kiters have been shaken-up or injured in this manner...
tragically, some have been killed.
Look - I am not trying to bag you Slave but you have made sweeping statements then refuse to offer evidence.
I don't fancy trawling through death stories - but I didn't make your statement.
Then you suggest leashes are likely to snap. Wouldn't that result in a runaway kite - just like it would be sans leash?
As for facts of the matter. In occasional incidents leashes drag the punter behind a spiralling kite. In most situations the leash does it's job, the kiter gets their sh!t together and then gets on with it.
BTW - I have had a leash come undone on me 3 times over the years and have had to release my leash twice also. In each case i was not happy about the potential damage I could cause by this auto-pilot kite and bar going solo, with potential for very serious trouble for anyone in it's way, or worse, attempting to help.
In somewhere around a dozen other instances the leash has done it's job. I and others in the vacinity have stayed safe, I have continued kiting and everyone had a good/safe time.
I can see what you are on about as to attaching your leash to the loop (each to their own to some extent though). However this thread has become one of your crusades against leashes - wholesale. Just can't agree with you on this at all Slave.
Ride that way if you prefer but noobs and the majority of riders should be using a leash I reckon.
Not in my experience Slave.
The majority of times i have seen either my kite or when i have chased down others the weight of the bar (and the depower defaulting to max) has been enough to hold the kite in shape and have it periodically lifting off and flying unpredictably on auto pilot.
Funnily enough the better behaved (ie more stable) kites are probably most dangerous as they are designed to go auto pilot for park n ride flying.
Any kite goin solo is a danger.
