TractionKiting.co.uk

Hi there,

I am a new to the world of kiting and loving it. I have a 3.5 Ozone Cult and it is flying well but I am finding it gets very draining in stronger winds. I am thinking about getting a harness but need some advice on what to get or if I sould also get a bar.

I am learning to fly and control it in diffrent winds at the moment and then hoping to get a land board or buggy. I had it out the other day at Cramond and last week at Musselburgh Lagoons and the wind was strong and I was feeling it was just on the edge of flatening me. So I was thinking if I am going to be able to fly it in stronger winds I need a harness. Can you use a harness with handles or do you need a bar?

Any advice very welcome?

Thanks Catriona

You can use a harness with handles as long as you have a strop on them. I just use my climbing harness with a karibiner with a swing-cheek pulley and quick-release. The strop goes through it. There are better descriptions in the Newbies section I think.
Others use proper kiting harnesses. It's probably better to try a few different ones before you buy anything. We sometimes kite at Cockenzie or Belhaven. Have been known to head for Cramond too. Keep an eye on the meets section and come along sometime.

Hi Catriona,
Firstly, welcome to the forum.

From what you have posted I would say the last thing you want to do is hook in to a harness at this stage. The reason I say this is, if you are quite new to kiting then you will be using muscles you probably arent used to using. In stronger winds, ye, it will be draining but I would work on either just taking the kite out in lighter winds or maybe getting a kite in the 2m size for the days when the 3.5 is too much.

Enjoy flying the kite, getting used to the power and if you are using handles I would recommend using kite killers with it as well.

I am only going by what you have posted but if you are sure you want to start using a harness then as Angie said there are a number of options out there. The option I would go for just now is a harness which has a hook or a roller bar on it, this is a non-captive system which means if it all goes wrong and you need to get rid of the kite for any reason you can unhook and ditched the kite. The Cult will fly on a bar and its easy to convert the kite on to bar. I would take it in stages though, buy the bar and fly the kite on the bar for a while and then introduce the harness.
I try and get down to Crammond when ever the wind swings to a Northerly as its great fun down there, I have a trainer kite which is on a bar if you wish to try a kite on a bar before you spend more on a bar and a harness.

This thread has given me an idea for the new TK website actually, will look in to getting some pictures and text together to illustrate the different harness options out there.

O.

Thanks Owain and Angie for your replies. I take your point about needing to try and build up the strenth and get the mussles used to the kite. The information you have given is great and gives me lots to think about.

It would be good to try out a bar and see how that feels. I only live five minutes from cramond and often see other kiters down there. So maybe we could hook up the next time your there.

Thanks Catriona

Ye, thats not a problem, just waiting for a northerly wind and I will be down
We tend to post in the meets section when we plan on heading down.

O.