Buying a new harness

Hi Peeps,

Being a store owner we get to sell a lot of harnesses each season. Buying a harness is a decision many people take flippantly with little regard for comfort. I am always amazed by people looking for the cheapest harness.

The cheapest harness we have is around $229. A decent harness will last a good three years before you would consider replacing it. Breaking this down it equates to $76 per year. If you ride twice a week for half of the year, it works out to less than $1.50 per session. Of course many people ride more often than this and some less.

I understand buying a cheaper brand kite or purchase a season old kite to save up to $1,000 if you are on a budget, but saving just $100 - $150 and "putting up with" a harness which isn't an ideal fit or design to suit your riding style is just mystifying. It's like shopping for a car and removing the seats and installing up turned milk crates to sit on to save a few bucks. Yes it will do the job, but it's going to create discomfort every time you go for a drive. Kitesurfing is not dissimilar, an ill fitting or wrong sized, or incorrectly chosen design will create discomfort EVERY TIME YOU RIDE.

The right type of harness ie, beginner, freestyle, freeride or wave harness will improve the way you ride by increasing comfort and allowing more flexibility of movement or prevent the harness from riding up over your ribs.

Freestyle harness - Generally minimal support, none or minimal thermo-formed EVA foam. Lightweight and offers maximum flexibility so you can tweak your body to make the more difficult grabs and prevent restriction of movement.

Wave Harness - Usually decent support with higher back support, usually minimum or no thermo-formed EVA foam to allow it to slip around your body and twist to allow switch riding. Often with a free sliding hook or some form of allowing the chicken loop to slide.

Freeride/Boosting Harness - The freeride harness has best support with most amount of comfort. It often has some or a lot of thermo-formed EVA which is sticky to the wetsuit or your body, this prevents the harness from riding up when jumping.

Ladies Harnesses - These harnesses have the most amount of 3D shaping to fit snuggly around your waist and prevent riding up. They are available in freeride, wave and freestyle design generally.

Beginner harnesses and seats - These are designed to not ride up. They can make life easier when water starting or by keeping the bar lower for easier reach to the trim cleat.

Never buy a harness without having tried it on and load tested it properly. Shop staff, if well trained, can help you make the right choice in a harness which will then result in many hours of comfortable riding. Choose poorly and every minute you ride, or every jump you make can be a new experience in pain. Does anyone remember the original Mystic Warrior and the hip chafing that everyone endured. Did you scream when the hot water hit chafed, red raw, flesh in the shower?

At the end of the day, it's your choice, but IMHO, I believe that this is the one piece of kit in kitesurfing that will cause you physical discomfort which will take the shine off of even the best session. I'm not saying you have to buy the most expensive harness in store, I am saying you need to take your time figuring out which is the harness which most perfectly and comfortably fits YOUR body.

DM

Hey Plummet,

Yes, it's the ION Team Wave and is an alternative to the Ride Engines but a little more conforming to body shape with comfy Neo inner. Super comfy harness and works awesome in waves so long as you are only wave riding and not unhooking.

It sucks if you can't get to a local shop. This obviously makes life much harder when buying something sight unseen or tested. Place a call to your local retailer and have a chat, it's likely the best alternative option. Try a mates harness or check out Kiteforum for reviews.

DM

I have had a Pat Love Kite harness for the last 5 years now , it has some wear on the inside of the bar protector area , other than that ,
I think it will last at least another 2 seasons if I don't put on too much weight .
Love it !
And if I have to buy another for what ever reason , I will be looking for the exact same harness again.

Also comes with its own line cutter which is still in good condition and easy to access in emergency.

IMHO most of the time it's not an ill fitting harness, it's an ill holding strap/ slipping buckle
Had me buggered for years why they haven't used a system like this( example)

These don't budge , dakine used them on warlock foot straps which I had for 3 years and then sold with board and still used today, so the longevity is there, I've also seen composite versions,
Every harness I've owned has suffered with major slippage, drives you nuts especially as they are difficult to tighten under loads
The photo shown has quick release options which would mean a 3rd safety release
And in the instance of stretching due to water softening material it's an on the go adjustment





If you buy a harness a small 2 buckle strap has a better hold than a large single
Shops should have an anchorage point on the wall to replicate the load a kite places on harness to get a better feel of fit,
How it feels in a shop is totally different when wet and under ever changing loads,
The mystic boa system was great along with the warrior harness, I had it 4 seasons and sold it to a mate who is still using it

Good write up, I must admit my current harness was bought purely on price, Ion Axis, does the job but I'd consider upgrading. What are people's thoughts on Ion's harness shorts?

(For free riding and a bit of boosting.)

I need a new harness. Currently using my ozone snow kiting harness because my warrior shat out. I like the idea of the hard shell harness. But alas no testing locally for me.

I rang up the distributor for ride engine and the closest reseller (5hrs away) asked to send one down for a demo. Nope. No demo harnesses. Just buy one they say.

Argh! It's a hard pill to swollow dropping $500+ On something that might not suit and no return if you test it in the water. As a result the I'm still using the snow kite harness...

Have the same as above, ugly, featureless but super comfy and only bought as newish ion harness crapped out upnorth and had to drive 5 hours to exmouth. This was the only large available and no regrets. Pat love also gets 5 stars, ion 1.

My warrior 2 from Christmas 08 is still going strong, albeit wit a two year period that had very little riding.

I had the same problem, it kept blowing out at the spot it turned into a seat. They have beefed them up with rip stop material. 3 seasons later and it's still going strong