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Fireball & Swivel Danger

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Slappysan
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Fireball & Swivel Danger

Postby Slappysan » Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:10 am

Question for all you Fireball users out there, does the swivel still work one handed or does the ball just spin in the socket instead causing your safety line to get wrapped around it?
Last edited by Slappysan on Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fireball & Swivel

Postby jman » Thu Sep 28, 2017 9:25 pm

It can still spin the ball unless you apply slight pressure when twisting.

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Slappysan
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Re: Fireball & Swivel

Postby Slappysan » Fri Sep 29, 2017 12:02 am

So does that mean it does still work one handed as long as you spin it a certain way?

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Re: Fireball & Swivel

Postby Slappysan » Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:11 am

So I gave Fireball a shot and the ball rotates in the socket far easier than the swivel and thus I end up with my short Cabrinha leash wrapped 2-3 times around the part that stays attached to the harness after release.

This is very dangerous for 2 reasons:

1) It creates a fixed tether to the bar via the leash, even releasing the leash will not free the kite from you until the leash unwraps from the lower part of the Fireball.

2) It has potential for the wrapped leash to slide up over the QR pin and take the place of the orange QR push away release. This would mean the QR pin is still being held down and your are still fixed to the kite.

Does anyone have any solutions for this?

I've read that people suggest grasping the QR with your hand and using only your fingers to spin the swivel but I kite in cold water much of the year and that's just not doable with 5 mm gloves on.

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Re: Fireball & Swivel Danger

Postby dragnfly » Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:21 pm

Hmmm, this does look like an issue. On Cabs own video they almost acknowledge it, and appear to have come up with something that looks rather tricker than it should be:
See 1:32
HERE

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Re: Fireball & Swivel

Postby iriejohn » Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:44 pm

Slappysan wrote:
Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:11 am
So I gave Fireball a shot and the ball rotates in the socket far easier than the swivel and thus I end up with my short Cabrinha leash wrapped 2-3 times around the part that stays attached to the harness after release.

This is very dangerous for 2 reasons:

1) It creates a fixed tether to the bar via the leash, even releasing the leash will not free the kite from you until the leash unwraps from the lower part of the Fireball.

2) It has potential for the wrapped leash to slide up over the QR pin and take the place of the orange QR push away release. This would mean the QR pin is still being held down and your are still fixed to the kite.

Does anyone have any solutions for this?

I've read that people suggest grasping the QR with your hand and using only your fingers to spin the swivel but I kite in cold water much of the year and that's just not doable with 5 mm gloves on.
That's shocking and very very scary! Image

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Slappysan
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Re: Fireball & Swivel Danger

Postby Slappysan » Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:23 pm

So I did some more testing and my concerns are even worse now. How is nobody else having this issue with Fireball? Especially those who wear 5mm gloves in winter.

Once you get 3-4 rotations it's very likely that the clip can block the QR pin when you release:
Fireball_QR_Block.jpg
In this picture I'm pushing away on the swivel as hard as I can and it's not budging.

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Re: Fireball & Swivel Danger

Postby Bletti » Thu Dec 07, 2017 9:31 pm

Game changer :/

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Re: Fireball & Swivel Danger

Postby iriejohn » Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:26 pm

Wow :(

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Re: Fireball & Swivel Danger

Postby dylan* » Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:34 pm

well its about time for the yearly cabrinha recall anyway, isn't it?


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