Mid last year Fluid kiteboarding decided to begin a project to design a push away chicken loop, whispers of moves pushing to make this type of safety an industry standard have been circulating for some time now. Many hrs of CAD design and feedback from riders has been put into the new chicken loop with the key elements focusing on safety, ease of use and reliability.The main parts of the assembly are made from an extremely strong composite injection moulded plastic with rugged 316 stainless steel hardware. The unit has been tested up to 300kgs!
Besides being super lightweight and strong the feature that sets it apart from every other chicken loop on the market is the ability to switch from mode 1 to mode 2. Mode 1 is the first option that has a cam cleat for using a below the bar depower setup, by simply removing the red push away collar and unscrewing the cleat you can switch to mode 2 which is a cleaner version with a different collar that covers where the cleat mounts. There is even a place to run a mini 5th line or 5th line, these modes and options make the Fluid chicken loop the most adaptable system on the market today that can be used on almost any kite.
Key elements......
* 2 different modes of operation to suit how you best want to use depower.
* Inexpensive parts should anything need to be replaced.
* Ease of operation under minimum or maximum load.
* No more accidental chicken loop releases.
* Does not seperate from centre line on release, no more lost chicken loops.
* Auto aligns when un-hooked.
* Can be adapted to almost any brand of kite.
* High quality cam cleat alows easy adjustment of depower line under load.
Fluid Kiteboarding
Rider: 80kg intermediate rider
Style: Freeriding, Surf
Weather: 12-35 knots
Build Quality: 9.8/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: alliancegear.com.au
My Comments:
Being a tech head and liking anything that is new i was really excited when i heard last year that Fluid had begun work on the push away chicken loop, i have had a few nasty experiences with accidental un hooking, heavy units, bulky units and all out nasty to use chicken loops! i have tried most brands in the quest to find something that is nice.
i was lucky enough to see some of the early stuff that was being done and the final product is a very polished piece of gear that does everything it claims, i have 100% confidence in using this chicken loop and love the way you can swap it to how you want with the different modes. i am still un sure of what mode suits me, previously i was using mode 1 (below the bar depower) but in the last few months i have switched to mode 2 and while it took a bit to get used to i like that too but am still un decided......thats what happens when you have too many choices i guess!
another good point is that this CL is fairly short in the length department, so people with long arms can be a bit closer to their depower control and gain that bit extra depower without having to drop the bar.
so after really abusing this thing by leaving sand in it, releasing under full load etc im super stocked and will put this on any kite i own from now on!
Mode 1
Mode 2
Mode 2
Chicken loop released
Mode 2 on kite
unhooked and self aligning
Looks good. Nice to see a few different companies are thinking along the same lines as this looks similar to a few others that have come out recently.
Is the red QR casing elastic loaded so it doesn't pop too far off?
If not elastic - what's stopping the red QR release casing from accidentally releasing?
What space and tolerances are there between the red casing and the inner plastic? Enough room for sand to flush out from being submerged?
What sort of force is required to release it?
How tricky is it to get the QR pin into place and re-rig it? Can you do it one handed? Can you do it without looking at it?
Is the red QR casing elastic loaded so it doesn't pop too far off?
there is a replacable piece of shock cord that holds the collar on.
If not elastic - what's stopping the red QR release casing from accidentally releasing?
you dont need much movement to release the system, the collar can be pushed off the assembly but only if you really want to, in all the times i have tried it on the water i have not had the collar come off which makes it easy to re assemble.
What space and tolerances are there between the red casing and the inner plastic? Enough room for sand to flush out from being submerged?
there is room for flushing, i have just been really not looking after it on purpose to see if it jams. so far no issues. there is only so much space you can put there so it does not become floppy and i think Fluid have found the happy medium with it not getting jammed and it still having a good tolerance to make it feel like quality.
What sort of force is required to release it?
it easily released, there is little difference in the force needed to release the chicken loop from zero load to full load. i have released up to 30 knots. i have been out in stronger but did not want to release unless i absolutely needed too!
How tricky is it to get the QR pin into place and re-rig it? Can you do it one handed? Can you do it without looking at it?
i would not say you could do it one handed, you need to put the loop back on the pin which is easy. then you need to push the collar back up to re engadge the system. very easy if you familiarise yourself with it. i dont know of any QR that is truly a one handed re assemble
good questions and im happy to answer them, another person PM'd me asking how small the loop is. its about the same size as the Naish and slingshot chicken loop. the Fluid one does hold its shape very well so hooking back in is very easy. the unit as a whole is very compact and does not add lots of extra length like some of the other push away safety systems.
another plus is that it is super light, so if your going to fly with 2 bars you wont be weighting down the plane!
What sizes do the bars come in, and are they standard with equal line lenghts?
On the Fluid website there is no info about the bar..