Respect but don't be too afraid of the bullet. Well behaved kite that will be an excellent engine for a buggy. I had 4.5 and 7 + a lot of time on a friends 5.5. Lots of pull for scudding etc..

Seat harness is preferred for buggies + most land pilots. Very much a personal choice. You don't have to be hooked in to ride a buggy with FB kites. I know many who never do. The 2 benefits are longer fly time . ( unhooking when trying anything tricky) and for moving up to depower kites. If you go that way.

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner

Respect but don't be too afraid of the bullet. Well behaved kite that will be an excellent engine for a buggy. I had 4.5 and 7 + a lot of time on a friends 5.5. Lots of pull for scudding etc.. Seat harness is preferred for buggies + most land pilots. Very much a personal choice. You don't have to be hooked in to ride a buggy with FB kites. I know many who never do. The 2 benefits are longer fly time . ( unhooking when trying anything tricky) and for moving up to depower kites. If you go that way.

For land based riding I have had great comfort and success while seated in a buggy with the PL Divine harness: http://www.awindofchange.com/product/pldivine.html

And when standing for snow or skate kiting the Ozone SB harness: http://www.hardwaterkiter.com/harnesses.html

Both are work horse basic harnesses that will work fine for most situations. You can certainly spend more money to get more but these two will set you up fine. I have no experience using the Divine standing or the SB seated but suspect one would get both jobs done if need be. If I were only getting one it would likely be the SB IMHO. Other folks may feel differently but I've been pleased with both all in all.

hi windstruck and thanks for the harness links and video,i have watched johns buggy video and yes its a great video but for my first time in a buggy i am going to do a lesson as its cheap enough and i will make a day of it.take my kites do some flying before/after the lesson,take my kayak as well and generally have a great day!

thanks bladerunner yes i will respect the 5.5 when i do get to try it out

hey all,

got to try the 5.5 bullet today for my first time! i had 9mph wind for just over an hour before it died off to next to nothing.

after the initial shock off it i enjoyed it,i found i could park it at edge off window which i have failed with both my hq beamers.i enjoyed it being slower and loved the power!! i was sitting on floor trying to dig feet in but grass was little wet so i was just sliding along.

i did manage to fly out to side of window and keep it low to control its power but i did not try holding it at zenith as think i was being little shy!! i can see that you could get in trouble with it if not careful!!

:D

hey all i have brought a second hand dakine seat harness off ebay which i should receive the next couple of days or possibly tomorrow.

can i ask if there is do or dont's for first time out with a harness? best to ask rather than get in a pickle!

could of done with a harness today as i had great session with my 4m beamer in 12mph with some nice strong gusts.i was sitting on floor,leaning right back in and flying it full in power of the window!

i can certainly feel it in arms,shoulders and hands after hanging on hard!

Take it easy your first time with the harness and remember to hold the power of the kite with your hips and sit back into the kite. Let your feet slide in front of you and absorb the power, don't try to fight it. Just hips down and steer the kite lightly with your hands. As you do it more you get used to the feeling. I feel off balance now when I try to fly without my harness. I pretty much only fly hooked in.

Even after years of flying I still unhook when pushing the limits with FB kites and a strop. Especially in strong Janky winds!

The way to extend your fly time is to hook in to walk back upwind and when you are just free flying / resting at 1st. Practice flopping your strop in and unhooking it to the point it is set in reflex memory.

As you build confidence you can remain hooked in and work the power zone. When you get completely comfortable you can stay hooked in to scud down wind. As mentioned get your center of gravity :moon: LOW and your feet out front.

The big issue with hooking in to a strop is in unhooking when over powered. ( or in an Oh Sh ite second ) Many times I have found ( usually with larger kites ) that I can not pull in and down to release the strop do to being overpowered!

thanks guys for your tips and advice which is very appreciated.

thanks bladerunner that makes sense to practice hooking & unhooking,i am glad i asked as i would not of thought of that!

i can imagine first few times it is going to feel strange/uneasy being strapped to the kite!

one thing i think i will need to do is lengthen the strap between the kite handles because i am tall with long arms and being a seat harness i think the current strap that came with my hq beamers will have my arms to close to body rather out in front.

You will eventually figure out how long a strop you need. I like mine on the short side.

When winds are low and I need lots of influence on the kite I unhook. When hooked in I take advantage of brake turns with much less push pull involved.

Taking the power through your core via the harness feels very different. Be ready for the change.

hi bladerunner


thats good i will play with strop lengths and pleased i have learnt its correct name

when you say about brake turns when hooked in,is that because while hooked in the kites pull is on the harness which will make it easier to brake with less load on handles?

my harness turned up today but after i popped out so i didnt get to use it today.

on the harness there is a strap which i am not sure on,its a long strap which is just under the spreader bar and it is attached just above the leg strap mountings.any ideas?

harness is a dakine speed seat hawaii

You want to develop the ability to combine brake turns with the Push Pull of the handles to speed up turns.

You are going to feel like you need a long strop while learning to add brake input. Your Janky winds will add the feeling you need a longer strop. As mentioned I unhook when needing to wrestle with the kite in low Janky winds and a shorter strop.

When you get in motion a lot of your control will be just minor inputs on the brake while hooked in and taking the load through your core. At that point you will likely want a shorter strop.

SO MUCH changes when you get in motion. Look at your harness as a way to extend your fly time while flying static. + getting used to taking the power through your core.

i think i am with you on the push/pull brake turns and can do really tight turns now with exception of when i get over powered.

whats your thoughts on this strap on my harness that i am not sure about? i watched a similar harness video on youtube and they called it a hold down strap and it went over the spreader bar to stop harness riding up when kite climbs,does that sound right?

wind is looking good tomorrow at around 13mph so i am thinking my 4m beamer wth harness!

YUP, I think the extra strap is to hold your spreader down as described.

got to try the harness today with my 2m beamer.i tried hooking/unhooking and was happy with that but i did find that when flying i would allow strop to go loose and unhook its self by accident.i did like being on the harness and it didnt feel to strange,might be different when i fly bigger kites!

and for my next bit of advice and feel free to tell me i am going mad!! can wind change direction almost instantly ?

wind was good and strong and forecast at around 15mph but i kept finding things like if i went to left edge of window no power but then that would be full power and i could go even further around.if you timed it right you had a really wide window or get it wrong and you would fly completely out of the window.few times in power the kite would just fall out of sky due to wind change.

seamed very strange goings on today and i stuck with it for couple of hours!!

YES, you will feel the power through your harness much more with your bigger kites. That will result in less of that false release.

Trying to fly hooked in slightly concerns me if the winds are as Janky as you describe? Just to counter react to shifts and gusts like that I would need the extra arm room to keep the kite flying.

Yes wind can change direction and do all sorts of strange things if it is not clean wind. It flows like fluid or a gas after all. I really think your problems are related your location. Can you show us the park on Google Earth or something?

just went out again with my 2m and its definitely janky winds.in a 5 minute flight i was getting nice strong wind for couple minutes,surge of wind,and no wind with kite falling out of sky!

going to have to try different locations which is a shame as field i am on is very close to home and possibly largest bit if green around!i did find a smaller field near by which has nice flat surrounding areas which would of been perfect apart from its covered in electric pylons!!

also been watching trees movement at home and they are same,one minute no movement and next lots of action so makes me wonder if in general my wind is poor sadly

Yes mooms. You are officially in the janky wind club. Such as I and many others. Your free club benefits packet should be on its way. Included in this special members only packet are, but not limited to:
New curse words to use.
Ear plugs for the ladys and kiddos at the park.
A therapy kite that can be torn apart at Velcro seams.
A bar designed to break over your knee.
How to cope with yard work being more fun than flying that day. And many many more.... :D

In all seriousness, don't hook in with those conditions. IMHO

Quote: Originally posted by 3shot

Yes mooms. You are officially in the janky wind club. Such as I and many others. Your free club benefits packet should be on its way. Included in this special members only packet are, but not limited to: New curse words to use. Ear plugs for the ladys and kiddos at the park. A therapy kite that can be torn apart at Velcro seams. A bar designed to break over your knee. How to cope with yard work being more fun than flying that day. And many many more.... :D In all seriousness, don't hook in with those conditions. IMHO

As a (reluctant) member of this club as well I've come to find great use of each kit item! Spencer (Soliver) is the self-appointed president so please bug him if your kit doesn't arrive within a fortnight. :D

In full agreement with 3-shot here. I was hooked in to a FB kite in my buggy last summer (in this case an 8.5m NS3) and a gust at just the wrong moment caused me to slam my buggy into a soccer goal post. I displaced the goal posts about 6-8 feet and got dragged down an embankment. Got pretty bloodied on that one, but it could have been a lot worse since my buggy hit the goal not me.

Two recommendations for jank. Don't strop in (as mentioned) or start investing in DP kites as well as you can more readily scrub power by letting out the bar at critical moments.

The Jankers have it right!

Sorry, I forget sometimes how lucky we are to have clean wind.
I really should have put more consideration into the winds you are working with. I unhook by nature when dealing with Jank. It's just easier and safer that way. You just may want to fly unhooked until you find some cleaner winds?

I forget exactly where you live?

oops so i am a member of janky wind!! i will have to try get down coast few times then as i did go there with my 1.8 symphony 2 line and wind was super clean.

so keep the harness for clean non janky wind conditions which i am grateful on that tip so thanks for that.cant see me using it on the 5.5 bullet for a fair while even with clean wind!

sorry to hear about your incident windstruck but good to hear it didnt put you off at all.

lucky bladerunner with clean wind,i live in south uk just under london almost splat bang in the middle!!

This guy seems to have found a great spot near London?
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=31869

I drive 45 minutes - 8 hours to get to clean wind. 2 - 5 hours in the winter for clean wind and snow.

It is far better to drive 4 hours for a good clean wind 2 hour session that to fight Janky wind close to home!

thanks for the video link and that beach is about 2-2.5 hours away from me and its near where i want to go when i do a buggy lesson.

i am fully with you on travelling to get some clean wind but sadly time does not always allow and being new to this sport i never looked at wind in same way i do now so its all learning i guess.

thanks as always for all your help and time spent helping me so far.

over here in the uk the weather is turning warmer and less winter so hopefully wind will settle a bit.....i can but hope

hey all i will keep harness for non janky wind days but thinking about it the other day i flew my 2m whilst hooked in but i had kite killers on at same time!!.... surely thats not right as if had left kite go to killers (not that i have so far!) then brakes would of been on killers and harness would of been on power lines .

i have read on here about kite killers and it seams to be a mix opinion

if you let go and werent wearing kite killers youd still be hooked in anyway...either way you gotta get unhooked first
i found kk w/ a harness would at some pt be a pblm getting tangled up at the most inopportune times...lotta laughs

They actually make kites that come assembled with a quick release and a spot to attach a leash and generally afford enough time to activate the release and are made to fit on a standard spreader hook with no additional accessories and no kite killers to worry about.

They are called depowers :evil:

no pulley block, no wichards, no multiple types of roller wheel spreader bars. Just simple.

Quote:

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre   They are called depowers :evil:

Quote: Originally posted by m00ms

hey all i will keep harness for non janky wind days but thinking about it the other day i flew my 2m whilst hooked in but i had kite killers on at same time!!.... surely thats not right as if had left kite go to killers (not that i have so far!) then brakes would of been on killers and harness would of been on power lines . i have read on here about kite killers and it seams to be a mix opinion

You are correct. Kite killers are useless while hooked in. People who get too used to killers can make exactly that mistake and let go hooked in. THIS is why I talked about getting used to hooking and unhooking by reflex memory. Also why I warned that unhooking under a big load can be almost impossible. ( for a little twerp like me at least ) . Pulling in and down to release is really hard when overpowered. Especially with a big kite and you are being tea bagged.

To get around this people use a complicated pulley and QR combination.

The best thing to do IMHO ( besides going depower ) is to avoid hooking in when you are pushing it and or overpowered using FB kites.
Kite killers have their own set of problems. There is a link to a very good old post about this in PrussiS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s recent thread. Once again, using them in overpowered situations can turn bad.

AFTER CHOOSING AN APPROPRIATE LOCATION learning to control your kite in an emergency is always what you want to learn.

If you can't get the kite to and down the edge then letting go of one handle is an emergency option. That and letting go completely should be OK if your location allows room down wind. The price may be messed up lines or damage to the kite but both are less important than staying alive.

bladerunner quote "Especially with a big kite and you are being tea bagged. "



Being tea bagged is no fun. just ask jared from subway now that he's in prison.

I'll be here all week folks

Tea Hee !

Didn't think of it that way. They told me I was being " tea bagged " after I was sent down wind hooked in with kite stuck in a death loop.

:bouncy: :bouncy: :bouncy: