windyway wrote:I don't like the 2012 SS swivel, and there must be better designs out there.
It seems to be the only bad component of the kite.
1. It's bulky size and heavy weight are prone to start a tangle, if you slack your lines.
2. On my 3 kites, the bearing is frozen with salt and sand every time.
3. My bearings have rust dripping out from the China stainless.
4. The bad swivel adds a lot of issues, and doesn't function as intended.
5. I'd like to modify my bar and get rid of it, but that would be an issue at resale time.
6. The Naish swivel is very very similar, how well does it work?
Conclusion: I would prefer simple and lightweight mouse ears or a chicken loop swivel.
This is an old thread, but I wanted to see if anyone has come up with alternatives to either swap the swivel out for something else or keep it working as designed.
None of my swivels are rusted as windyway mentions above. As stated earlier in this thread, I rinse it with fresh water after each day of use and spray some McLube in there. On the beach they spin fine with very little resistance. When flying, one bar never unwinds and my other bar does half the time.
The more I ride in the ocean, the more annoying it has become. I tend to downloop in one direction more often than another, based on conditions. Here's the slap in the face that used to kill me until I figured out what caused it...
...I keep a real time (distracting) tally of my center lines after each transition to see if there is a twist. If I get a twist I make sure to throw in some downloops in the other direction so I can unwind them. I will occasionally do a transition, and then look up and find 4+ twists in the center lines when I had 0 the last tack!!
Fuuuuuuck! Took me a while to realize that on most of my tacks instead of the front lines twisting, I build up twists below the swivel, in my chicken loop line. I wasn't looking there. And then, after I'd get 4 or so twists below the swivel there would be enough tension to unwind all at once and transfer the 4 twists above the swivel in my center lines. FML!!!
Anyway, I love everything else about the kites and bar but this has become quite a distraction on ocean downwinders when I otherwise just want to enjoy my sesh. Someone must have found a workaround! Anyone? There are too many clever folks out there who must be experiencing the same thing. I'd happily pull the swivel out entirely if there was a way to make sure the center line safety still worked and I could unwind the lines manually.
It isn't an issue in flat water as I can usually relax, lay back, depower the kite so that the swivel is in reach, and unwind by hand. However, on a sketchy ocean day there is less opportunity to do that without going back in to the beach which is a pain.
Thanks for any tips.