how to switch from suicide to "self-landing" ...

[Greg]

A true "Suicide Leash" setup is attached to the riders back-side and Chicken loop (bail) providing very little de-power, thus the name was born... The purpose was to stop the rider from free fall during HUGH sent Handle passes gone bad or from dropping the kite doing low-level passes... THe name stuck do to a number of hight profile riders nearly drowning or being dragged ashore (killed).
This is a pretty effective way to terminate yourself,
L.M.G.

[vdeub]

they did not have self-release to get rid of the leash ?

[Greg]

they did not have self-release to get rid of the leash ?

They did- but...
just a few years back the quik releases were not so quik.. ( especially under load!!, matter of fact they often would not work)
combined with the fact the leash is attached to the back of the harness makes it hard to use also..
A suicide leash is quit dangerous.

Here is an example: one day I fouled my pulley bar, wrapping my leash over one end of the bar- leaving me with a super-looper. The kite looped four times before I could cut it loose, and these wern't mellow loops, these were lit 10 meter loops.. After the last one I was becoming very concerned I would be disabled on number five... Thats when I finally cut that baby loose (I got super strenght!) I've never been so happpy to see a kite "go away" in my whole life....
Had I been at an on-shore location I'd have been taking the life-flight home, lucky for me I was behind the second island in an off-shore condition... (note: this was not luck)
L.M.G.

[vdeub]

small update. I tried this morning and everything works fine.
you do not flag the kite but it really depower and it s easy to put it on his back. from there you can reach the central line easy and flag it if you want. I suppose that it works not as good as flagging the kite from the start (like the IDS) when you have tangled lines or in -o-shit mode, but it s much more safer than my previous -suicide- setting. Thanks for all the advices and see you on the water !

OB this morning :

[EvanOR]

Glad you worked it out. Once you get it straight, it is very easy.

Further to the earlier questions regarding leash arrangements, I just received this photo and it's a good illustration of what I was referring to. The leash is kept well clear of everything, and permits easy spinning of the bar. It can slidely freely to either side of the back of the harness and is easily ejected if you need to cut everything loose.

[vant20]

More newbie questions, thanks for your patience :)

I have not examined OR kites closely. Is there is a 5th line in this picture and if so is this the usual setup for your kites?

How is the OR bar similar or different to the 09 Naish bar? In 09 Naish the leash also attaches under the bar (as opposed to their '08 setup). If you eject the chicken loop the bar can depower for ever, as the pulley splits in two and the central line attached to the leash lets the bar go. It's kind of hard to explain but I am sure you know what I am talking about.

For a newbie concerned with safety is it worth considering upgrading from the 08 bar to one of the new bars with the leash going through the center of the bar?

Thanks,

Marius

[eag]

there is a 5th line in that photo, but that is the Diablo C kite. The Rise (SLE kite that most people are using) is a 4 line kite.

The OR bar is similar in function the the new Naish SLE bar. They are both clean, effective, simple designs.

[EvanOR]

Marius,

No patience required, that's largely what these forums are for! As Eag stated, the photo you are referring to is off our Diablo C kite, in that case depicted with the stock 5th line set up.

The Rise, which is our 4 line SLE kite, comes with this bar. Yes, it is a very similar set up to the new Naish bar. The difference is that we have been selliing our bar with essentially this set up since we introduced it with our One kite in 2006, and Naish just got their bar up to speed as of late. :lol:, All joking aside, one of the differences is in our stopper, which is tension adjustable. You can vary the amount of pressure you need to knock it upwards, which permits you to safety the kite without having to push the ejection hub.

In my opinion, having the right bar is as important as having a good kite. There are many people who fly one brand of kite but opt to use another manufacturer's bar with it. If you are not comforable with your bar from both a safety and performance standpoint, I would upgrade it.

[G-man]

This has been a great thread...thanks for all the useful info. On a related note, I have '08 Naish bar (where the leash hooks in above the bar). Can this be (safely) retrofit to hook in below the bar? An '09 bar is $460 (WTF!!)? I'm not spinning anything yet, but I hope to soon.

[sloughslut]

If i was getting dragged backwards by kite i dont think i could reach that release on leash behind my back. :shock: