DIY Sliding Bar - remove the hook?

[mede]

Hi everybody,

For the upcoming surf season, I'd like to make a sliding bar (usual concept: dyneema rope, sliding stainless steel ring that I hook into with my north chicken loop).

My question here to the ones who have actual experience with the setup:

Is there a tangling risk / potential other problem if I don't remove the hook (I'm using a dakine harness).

In theory, if the rope is tight enough not to slide over the hook, and as the pull comes from above the bar, there should never be a problem.

But then, I also know that when pushing things in the waves, I'll end up in the washing machine sure enough some times , with pull potentially from wherever....

So is removing the hook a must? (would be a pitty, I'd like to keep the fixed hook for unhooking)

Any advise?

[mede]

Thinking a bit more about it:

Given I will stay hooked in anyway for a session (like it's onshore or side-off when surfing),
Do I need the spreader bar at all? Or could you ditch it, use the velcro to close the harness, and fix the dyneema rope where usually the spreader bar attaches?

[Telekiter]

Well, My experience (6 years) is that if you tighten the rope that hard it will be very uncomfortable. The sliding will not be very smooth at all! The stainless ring will want to be on either the left or right side and never in the middle. For best movement the ring (straight in front of you at the hook position) should make a triangle that have all sides (close to) equal. Ex. if you have a spreader bar that is 12" (which would be like 10" in a straight line between the straps) the dyneema rope should be approx. 2 x 10" long (maybe a touch shorter, 2 x 8" = 16"). Start with this and test it. If you dont like it shorten or lengthen it to your liking.

/Urban.

[Telekiter]

NO, dont attach to the spreader points, you will need the spreader bar for sure! I have tried this and the forces will squeeze your hipps like crazy. AND if you have a waist harness it is very lightly that it will squeeze you lungs so you can not breath.

/Urban.

[tomatkins]

You will need some sort of "spreader bar", but not necessarily a conventional metal spreader bar. To find out how much of a "bar" you really need to avoid the "squeeze", just take an old piece of half-inch PVC and make a couple of bends in it using heat (in a well ventilated area, and do not burn the plastic or inhale any of the toxic vapors). Here is picture of what I found to be adequate. Safety first... so do not make a bar out of wood or thin metal that could splinter and spear you in the gut. Also, hang a rope from a post and test the system on dry land first to note the characteristics of whatever you have tinkered up... then, take it out in low wind for a test ride in safe conditions.

After a couple of years of using the PVC bar, I went to a 12 inch (not a 10 inch) dakine spreader bar and cut off the hook.

Note: There is an art to tying on the slider rope to any curved bar, so that when "pull" is placed on the rope by the sliding ring, the bar stays stationary and does not rotate up or down, along the long axis of the spreader bar. The physics of force on "off-set" axles come into play. If you need to have further explaination of this phenomenon, just ask and I will post a picture of the bar design that I have settled on.

[Telekiter]

How much does a spreader bar realy cost? I mean seriously, just get one and cut the hook and your done. I did weld two small "rings" (like 5 mm diameter, one on each side) at the very end of the spreader bar just where the straps attaches to the spreader. The dyneema is fead through the small rings and make a knot at the end of the dyneema so it can not slide back through. Works perfectly. I have to exchange the dyneema once or twice per season due to wear from the stainless ring.

/Urban.

[tmcfarla]

You definitely need the spreader bar to prevent your hips being squeezed in. You don't have to remove the hook, but it does help, only takes a couple minutes with a hacksaw. Replacement bars are only about $25, it does help to have a hooked spreader bar for flat water.

[Kamikuza]

Ask anyone with a Dakine spreader bar -- we've all got at least one with a broken book...

[mede]

Thanks a lot for the info.

So a spreader bar it is, without hook.

"Unfortunately" is the hook on my fusion harness still going strong (it clocked at least 300 hours on the water already )

Anybody has a broken dakine spreader bar on sale?

[topmick]

Hi mede, when I started experimenting with slider set up,s I left the hook (Dakine) on - for about 3 months. Never had a problem but it was always on mind that it could become a problem if things went bad.
After a few changes from fixed hook to slider, I eventually cut the hook off & never looked back.