Are Cabrinha bars actually safe?

[tgautier]

First, before I get into this discussion, despite the possibly trolling nature of the title, I want to assure anyone reading this that it is a serious post. I know there are those on here (you know who you are, if you want to reply to this I'm happy to hear your points of view) who might have strong opinions on this matter. I assure you guys, this post is really meant as a question born of experience, and ultimately, disappointment, that I would like to vet with the community.

So I've been buying Cabrinha kites since about 2009. I've owned over the years what they call the safest bar (and kite/bridle system) on the market year over year. I've purchased, in that time, 2010 switchblades (10M and 12M), 2012 switchblade (8M), 2013 switchblade (12M) and most recently, 2014 switchblade (9m).

In that time, I've owned nearly every iteration of IDS except the most recent one, and to be honest, the most recent two years of IDS leaves me scratching my head. The first change was to the single line flag, which everyone else had been doing for years, but Cabrinha insisted their two line flag was the safest on the market. But then they switched to a single line flag in 2014, and I gotta say, flagging on one line seems intuitively better than two.

Then, in 2015 they change up the entire way the chicken loop release works. No more crazy Cabrinha IDS release. It now works basically 100% like North's bar, which isn't all that different from just about any other bar on the market... All the while claiming in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 AND 2015 that the IDS design was the safest and the best. And yet in 2015 they toss that design out and go with one that works nearly the same as North. Ok.

Now the point of this post. I wouldn't be giving you the history above if the claims of Cabrinha actually seemed to be on point. But I have to relate some hard won experience. Last week, I had the need to throw my safety. I was at OB in strong winds and did something stupid where I kinda knocked the wind out of myself. After getting to the beach, and standing there on the beach, I was like man I'm not sure I have the presence of mind to self land this kite, let's just hit the safety and be safe.

And you know what happened? Nothing. Exactly zero. Under high load, the "safest bar on the market" as of 2014 (this was my 2014 bar) simply did not release. So I self landed the kite. And after the tension was released, it let go. I gotta say, that was a major eye opener for me.

After that, it got me thinking. I've had to release a Cabrinha safety - for safety reasons - about 3-4 times in the past 3-4 years. And EVERY time I have had to do so - IT HAS NOT RELEASED. All those other times I was in the water, and had something go wrong where I needed that release. But the thing didn't release, and I had to go to plan B.

So that's the reason for this post. Until this point I've been a pretty strong supporter of the Cabrinha kites and bars. But I just about got myself into a very dangerous situation at OB, and the bar did not live up to the hype.

And thus my relationship with Cabrinha is in jeopardy. I have already decided I am going to buy a new bar, even though my 2014 bar is in great condition, because I do not consider my health and well being worth $500-$600. But I am not considering a Cabrinha bar, even though my loyalty, and to be honest, the "sexiness" of their design has me wanting one, I am far more inclined to go with the North Trust bar.

As I said though, I have supported Cab all the way, until the point I am at now where having those bars not release on me has put my health and safety in jeopardy, and that's where I've had to draw the line. I am sure we could try chalk this up to poor maintenance and such, but really? As for the OB incident, there wasn't sand in the release and the bar is relatively new (sure 1 season of use, but is it reasonable to have to buy a new bar every season? At nearly $600 for a cabrinha bar, I should hope not). It seemed, from my point of view, to be simply a loading issue as I was in high winds, and as soon as I put the kite down, pop went the safety.

Just wondering what everyone else's experience has been...

[Cali_Rider]

I'll respond to this since I had to blow my release yesterday...

I was using my 2014 Velocity and was not able to self land it. I blew the release and the kite flagged out perfectly and I had no problem controlling it and getting it down. I also have had to blow the release on older Cabrinha kites, ~2010 crossbow, ~2012 switchblade, and they never failed me.

One thing I always do when blowing the release (especially in emergency situations), is right after I pull the release, I grab the safety line and give a quick hard pull towards myself - this immediately depowers the kite and has saved me a couple of times.

Scary to think that the kite wouldn't flag out as intended...maybe your center lines were twisted causing friction on the safety line??

[jaxonholer]

Thanks for the post and your annoyance for this issue comes across clearly. I don't really know that bar at all, but when you punch out of other kites, you push the emergency away from you, the chicken loop releases, and the bar goes all the way too the end of the throw, kite depowers, and falls down, etc. This is a broad and general explanation from my experience with other kites, what is supposed to happen with the Cab bar, and what exactly did happen to you. I'm trying to understand what "nothing happens" means.

I'm not questioning you at all, just looking for clarification on the 1) Correct function of this bar 2) Malfunction of your bar.

Thanks for bringing this up to us, it's helpful to understand how things can go very wrong. Plus I'm bored at work.

[tgautier]

IDS bar function a little bit differently than normal chicken loop releases, but identically from the point of view of the user.


You push away in the CL release mechanism and the kite flags to two or one line depending on what year you have.

Internal the system works a little bit differently as it's not the CL itself that is released but rather the front lines. It's hard to explain but if you see one in action you'll understand.

When I say *nothing* happens I mean the mechanism did not release and flag to the front lines as it should but instead stays connected.

In the past I had chalked this up to tight wound up from too many back loops without untwisting and other existential circumstances.

That day on OB was sorta the last straw. There were no excuses. I didn't throw any back loops as it was a really powered up day and I didn't feel like it. The bar was clean, had been in the water and everything functions as it should if you release it not under tension.

[Xor]

I always felt that cabrinha overdrive is overengineered bar with unnecessary complexity. Do you know what exactly jammed under the load, pin or lines in a tube?

[Cali_Rider]

When I say *nothing* happens I mean the mechanism did not release and flag to the front lines as it should but instead stays connected.

Do you mean that the mechanism didn't release? (i.e. the red handle did not separate from the chicken loop)

Or did the mechanism release and then just got stuck and didn't let the bar slide all the way up the lines?

[Xor]

And BTW there was recall on overdrive bars that might be related http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2014/Cab ... ol-System/

[tgautier]

Honestly dude I don't know what didn't work I was too busy landing my kite after realizing the safety didn't release properly. After I got it landed or during the process of landing it it did release which leads me to believe it was load related though truthfully the only thing I can say for sure is that it did not release when I pushed away on the safety.

Thanks for the link to three recall. That looks to be for the 2015 bar. Mine is a 2014.

[tomf82]

I've got 150+ hours logged on the 2014 bar but am having a difficult time understanding what you mean by "didn't release." Here are some possibilities:
1) The red cuff wasn't pushed far enough for that hinging metal piece to release and allow the flagging line to load up. This could be caused by the cuff bungie being too short or not pushing the cuff hard enough or long enough.
2) The red cuff was pushed far enough to release the hinge but friction in the system didn't allow the flagging line to load up. One possible cause of this is the flagging line being twisted. The flagging line is in two parts near the bar(one piece runs through little loops on the other. If this gets twisted friction will prevent the line from running through the loops.

I've never had any problems with this system but will say that the complexity of this system(compared to other bars) requires a greater attention to detail during set-up.

[yojimbo]

I have had similar situations with other brands. I think this is the result of using this equipment in harsh conditions, salt water being the main culprit.

I make it a habit to not only rinse my bar and lines with fresh water after each use but deploy the quick release at that time and rinse out the interior of the mechanism as well. if you want to get all anal, you can also lubricate those parts every once in awhile using a silicone based lubricant.

That should take care of that issue.