A few years ago i brought a slingshot SX doyle board and with it came the SLINGSHOT VIDEO.At the time it was the most up to date dvd i had seen.All my heros, ben wilson,tobius doyle are on it,and they are flying the same kite as what i was flying at the time,a 04 fuel.I noticed that to do handle passes you had to hook your safety line to the chicken loop and the other end on your back.Bear in mind that the 04 fuel safety bungee came with no quick release and the surefire handlepass safety hadn't arrived in the country yet. so off i went.....for about a year i flew like this with no problems,landing handlepasses..Then one day(lucky no one but hairytesties on the beach)i went to selfland the kite and forgot to detatch the safety from the chicken loop onto the flagging ring(located on the back line)...I unhooked,dove the kite and let go of the bar. this sent the kite into deathloops and i couldn't detatch myself from the kite due to not having a quick release on the bungee and not being able to reach the pin to release.Lucky for me it was cross shore,i was being dragged into the water,onto the sand,into the water,onto the sand.this went on for about 200meters.Hairytesties was pretty tired after chasing me for that distance. THIS IS THE DEFINITION OF A SUICIDE LEASH!!!!! Now I fly a cab switchblade2 which also has the safety bungee in the same area as where most people associate the area of what diffines a suicide leash. Even though this kite's safety is hooked onto your back and just above the chicken loop,it is designed so that when you are unhooked and let go of the bar,it pulls on the front lines which generates NO PULL. If there is no pull then there can be no deathloops which means suicide is non existant. To me SUICIDE=DEATH. Some people think that a flagging line is the safest option.I don't,just look at grant on bondi rescue.He had his kite set up wrong and ****t hit the fan. I think that if a kite is setup in a way that it will go into deathloops,this is what defines a suicide leash. The cab set up is definately no suicide leash so i think this setup needs a new name. How about this: ANTI-SUICIDE LEGEND SETUP
how about an 'emo' leash.... y'know... all the talk and of dramas of 'suicide' but really at the end of the day... just seeking attention
That paragraph made me want to suicide.
I think suicide should remain the name. It scares of beginners while they are still learning. The set up is not suitable for them.
Here is an idea
How about we stop referring to this method of leash attachment as being acceptable to 99% of kite surfers out there?
Its irresponsible of posters to post pictures of this set up without stressing that its for ADVANCED riders. I shudder to think how many noobs or less than advanced people are out there riding with this set up because they are trying to ape the pros (without the necessary skill to do so) or just because they read it on Seabreeze!
Not being able to instantly kill most of the power from your kite via the QR is a recipe for disaster for most kiters out there.
Laurie, you need to put a sticky advice up on this before someone gets hurt!
Cheers
J
I couldnt resist here, had to put my 2 cents in:
The over ride or cab 'stopperball' can be tightened so it takes more force to push the bar into over-ride mode right? I assume the bar pressure wont push the bar into override by itself then?
2 questions then:
- What happens if the rider has midget arms and is in the sh!t?
- What happens if the rider is in the sh!t, has the 'stopperball' set so that the bar has short throw and then hits his chicken loop QR while riding in 'ANTI-SUICIDE LEGEND SETUP'?
Oh yeh, assume the kite has a broken bridle or pulley and has Mr T on the beach onlooking saying: 'stop, hammer time'............'I pity the fool'
The newer cabrinha stopperball has an adjustable ring to tighten or loosen the stopperball, with about 3 clicks in the bar will pull past the stopperball when yanked by a gust.
All newer kites are really safe, except when something goes wrong.
What could Grant have done to prevent the yank up the wall?
One thing would have been when the kite grounded itself the first time he could have determined which was the shortest back line and pull it in, flagging the kite to one line. Unfortunately he was busy trying to ask others for help who were obviously reluctant to do so.
i dont see a problem here, if you know how to kite and know your gear and conditions you will be fine.
p.s. think before you do, if you cant do that then dont go kiting.
Here's a solution for a good working suicide leash.
The NEW bar works with something like 22 twists and still releases and flags out in 40 something knots.
Because the 5th line pulls from the center of the kite it's fairly unlikely your kite will do death loopdy doops.
You know this, clunk clunk clunk clunk darn na na na darn na na na....