2006 Crossbow control bar questions - leash, QR, stopper

[oldskewel]

Hi, I'm a beginning kiter. Windsurfed at 3rd for 20 years, successfully kited there a few times in 2008 on some C-kites.

Now a friend and neighbor of mine has given me a 2006 Cabrinha Crossbow 12m that looks like it has been used about once. This should be a great setup for me, but I'm trying to be extra careful (paranoid, even) regarding the control + safety procedures. With my old kites (all 5-liners) I had everything all figured out, but am a little puzzled by this Crossbow, and would appreciate any help, especially from people with this control bar (looks to be the 55 cm Carbon one that came with the 2006 Crossbow).

I downloaded the user manuals for kite and control bar, read them, hooked things up in a park, etc., but it still does not seem to provide the safety I thought I had with the 5-liners.
Questions:

should I use a leash? The manual says use of a leash is optional (says only for beginners - I know that's me, but want to understand more because it looks like there's no good way to use one). But if you hit the QR, the kite is gone! Is the depower when pushing past the stopper really good enough that you'd never really need the QR? So letting go of the bar + pushing past the stopper is the same as my old QR, and the QR is the same as my old leash-release?

If I were to use a leash, it looks like I would attach one end to the ring past the CAS on the left front line, and the other end to the hole on the chicken loop. Right? nothing attached to my harness directly? If I attach a leash, I'll need to unspin the kite by flying it, not just spinning the bar, right? So a leash is a real hassle on this setup, right? Any advice on whether to use it?

QR pin danger? Looks to me like when I punchout on the QR, as the red plastic slides out, the metal pin will quickly rotate down, right where my palm will be, possibly cutting it. Is this a real danger?

Stopper ball? Seems like a great idea. How useful is it in practice?

Bridle upgrade? Searching these forums, I've found references to a bridle upgrade in '07 that I could apply to mine. How important is this?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[stone]

Congrats on being paranoid and willing to ask questions. Please don't get offended by the reply, this is stuff you need to know:

Yes, you need a leash. That manual was written in 2005. Kiteleashes are not optional anymore. People like me will refuse to launch you. Besides, not having the leash will make you hesitate before activating your QR, and in that 0.8 seconds you'll already be airborne or learning sand roadrash. You can get an aftermarket leash from a local kite shop.

Also, don't take this the wrong way, but you might benefit from a lesson to fill in some of the gaps in your knowledge--one or more lessons costs a hell of a lot less than one ER visit.

Oldest cab I have is an 07, so things might be a little different on your rig: leash can attach either to that extra little ring under the QR, or to the flagging ring above the CAS. (as you already figured out, leashing to the ring below the QR means that popping your QR will release your kite completely--that leash ring below the QR is only useful for riding unhooked or saving your kite if your chickenloop breaks) The other end of the leash attaches to your harness--there should be a metal ring on the side or back of your harness for this. The end of the leash with a QR mechanism on it is the one that goes on your harness. Bodydrag out without your board one day and pop your QR with your kite leashed above the CAS just to see how the kite behaves, and figure out how to flag it. Also, set up your QR with the metal tab facing downwards, but make sure the tab is centered in the rectangular slot in the red plastic QR (if not in the slot, it's likely to come out on its own).

In my opinion the stopper on the centerline on cabs is a fucking nuisance. I moved all mine up as far as they would go so they'd stop annoying me. Maybe if I start doing certain tricks I'll move them down again, but that might be never.

You do not need to loop the kite to unspin the bar, in fact that would be a good way to hurt yourself. Just spin the bar around the center line.

[Greg]

I urge you to get Steve Gunn (Cabrina Rep, often @ 3ed Ave) to look your rig over before heading out.
PLEASE: Leash your kite and NOT your board..
Enjoy, L.M.G.

[steve]

you'll need to use a leash..I can fix you up. get a hold of me at 3rd and I'll go over your equip with you, leash hook up, override systems, whatever questions you may have. to make sure I'm at 3rd, OK to call me at 650-483-4520
steve

[oldskewel]

Congrats on being paranoid and willing to ask questions. Please don't get offended by the reply, this is stuff you need to know:

Yes, you need a leash. That manual was written in 2005. Kiteleashes are not optional anymore. People like me will refuse to launch you. Besides, not having the leash will make you hesitate before activating your QR, and in that 0.8 seconds you'll already be airborne or learning sand roadrash. You can get an aftermarket leash from a local kite shop.

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll try to check with Steve in person before proceeding. In general, I'm about as careful and cautious as they come. Did lots of safety training and had no problems at all with the C-kites I used back in 2008. E.g., the nicest piece of equipment I own is my kite leash (seriously - I've had people eyeing it and asking about it - I think it's a Mystic Handle-pass leash or something like that). There are just a few things that still don't make sense here. I'm wondering if some of the confusion is actually design errors made in the first xbow iteration. Maybe they were fixed in '07?

Thanks for clearing things up on the leash not being optional. That did not make sense to me. page 14 of the 2006 manual: "This security leash is an optional feature and is recommended for first time users and kiteboarding schools, and for riders who kiteboard without being hooked into the harness loop."

It still seems that if I leash from my harness to the front line above the CAS, I will not be able to de-spin the kite by spinning the bar. I realize I may be missing something, and will check in-person with someone. But page 17 of the manual seems to confirm this: "The Crossbow depower is designed to provide the rider with a greater range of depower and security. However, in the event of a self rescue, you may want to 'flag' the kite. We have provided for this situation by adding a 'grab ball' on a sliding leader. This point may also be used to attach a leash if
desired. In attaching a leash, the 'spinning leash' feature is disabled”.

Oldest cab I have is an 07, so things might be a little different on your rig: leash can attach either to that extra little ring under the QR, or to the flagging ring above the CAS. (as you already figured out, leashing to the ring below the QR means that popping your QR will release your kite completely--that leash ring below the QR is only useful for riding unhooked or saving your kite if your chickenloop breaks)

OK - I figured it was there for a reason - nice to know I won't be needing it.

... Bodydrag out without your board one day and pop your QR with your kite leashed above the CAS just to see how the kite behaves, and figure out how to flag it.

Will definitely do tests like that - probably at Alameda.

Also, set up your QR with the metal tab facing downwards, but make sure the tab is centered in the rectangular slot in the red plastic QR (if not in the slot, it's likely to come out on its own).

OK, that's what it looked like I needed to do. But the thing is built "upside down" if we agree that the metal tab should pivot down, not up. The photos in the manual on page 12 confirm that it is built to pivot up, not down. And it looks like I'll need to do some disassembly on the unit to do this (i.e., it's a lot more involved than to just turn it around and go). Seems odd that they'd build it wrong so I thought I was probably missing something.

In my opinion the stopper on the centerline on cabs is a bleeping nuisance. I moved all mine up as far as they would go so they'd stop annoying me. Maybe if I start doing certain tricks I'll move them down again, but that might be never.

Thanks for confirming that I should not expect too much from the stopper ball.

[oldskewel]

you'll need to use a leash..I can fix you up. get a hold of me at 3rd and I'll go over your equip with you, leash hook up, override systems, whatever questions you may have. to make sure I'm at 3rd, OK to call me at 650-483-4520
steve

Thanks. Will do. Heading up to Tahoe for a week now. See you when I get back.

[steve]

good, just give me a call when you return..have a good trip. In the meantime.....

1) need to use a lease...manual sd optional as the leash was not provide with the kite. Since then all Cabrinha kites are sold with a leash
2) you are correct, if you hook your leash to the ring on the front line you will not be able to dof spins and unspin your front lines...this hook up is not a spinable leash
3) the metal pin is not design wrong...in fact Cabrinha still uses the same system today and it is one of the best on the market. The red QR should have an white arrow on one side pointing to the kite...the harness lop should be connected to the red QR with the arrow pointing up
4) At this point, you have several choices for your leash hook up. around the black depower line is by far the most popular. Hooking it here will allow you to still be connected to the kite should you become accidentally unhooked from the depower loop. If you need to do a self rescue, your kite is already in the water and either depowered or mostly depowered. You can now remove the leash connection from around the depower loop and connect it to the front line ring so you can "flag" your kite while getting to the kite for the self rescue. If your leash is hooked around the black depower line, and you activate the QR, you will still be connected to the kite, but you will not basically not have depowered your kite any more than if you just activated the "punch thru/override...althought it will ensure that your bar will have traveled the max distance to depower the kite.
steve

[stone]

Steve knows more about the cab line than I ever will, please do talk with him. And sorry about my assumptions earlier--maybe the CPR training yesterday put death and destruction on my mind.

Like Steve said, leashing to the center line above the QR is probably the best option--that's how I leash my 07 and 08 cabs. Only reason I didn't bring it up is I haven't flown the bar or kite you have, so I didn't want to give you potentially bad advice.

As far as the QR tab being up or down, I think cabrinha simplified the QR between 06 and 07 so that it can go either way. But if the worst injury you ever get kiteboarding is a thwack on the palm from the tab when you activate the QR, you'll be a lucky guy.

On the stopper (override) on the center line, that's just my opinion. Try it and see if it works for you. It is not a safety risk; I just do not like the feeling of the bar bumping over the stopper when (usually) the wind moves outside the range I set the stopper for. That and I'm a former windsurfer and feel like I ought to be using my arms a bit.