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Don't show us your hook

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Ozone Kites AUS
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Don't show us your hook

Postby Ozone Kites AUS » Mon Nov 16, 2015 12:37 am

Started this on another forum and its proved very popular and is clearly very educational. Manufacturers please pay attention, we don't need a hook, if you make your chicken loop release failproof.

I ride mainly surfboards. 80kg wet even if the rope slider break I do not lose my kite and can ride back because the leash is attached to the spreader and I ride with it in the badly named suicide mode.
If the ring is tied to the middle of the rope slider it feels a lot like a hook, but without any possibility of coming unhooked accidentally.
Most riders never unhook. Accidental unhooking causes many accidents and near misses. Hooks are easily able to catch bar ends and rear lines and cause death looping. Hooks are for windsurfing, and only needed for advanced level riders who actually do unhook for freestyle or waveriding.

Here are a few of my set ups, but I am currently only using the RE Elite carbon.
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Toby
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby Toby » Mon Nov 16, 2015 1:14 am

Very interesting topic!

It will also be a benefit for riders with shorter arms.

It will also help when landing the kite to immediately release, so you will not be connected anymore and you release more times so it can become a reflex, which could save your life.

Ozone Kites AUS
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Posts: 2781
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2002 1:00 am
Weight: 75kg
Local Beach: Lennox Head, NSW, Australia
Favorite Beaches: There is a reason I live in Lennox Head.
Style: Old Coot. strapped surfboard
Gear: Ozone 6/8/10/12 Reo V7, 10/14 Enduro v4, Zephyr V7, Edge V12 10M, Alpha V2 8/14M, Firewire Vanguard 5'2" and Evo 5'1" and Delta Designs ReVamp 5'9" couple of custom Blacksheep surfboards Mystic Stealth harness and stealth rope slider.
Brand Affiliation: Ozone, AxisFoils, Armstrong, Core, Cabrinha, Slingshot, North
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby Ozone Kites AUS » Mon Nov 16, 2015 1:48 am

Toby wrote:Very interesting topic!

It will also be a benefit for riders with shorter arms.

It will also help when landing the kite to immediately release, so you will not be connected anymore and you release more times so it can become a reflex, which could save your life.
Exactly Toby!
Where I live I often kite alone or at least come in when no one else is around. I release my kite to the leash to land it almost every session, and I have to assemble to main quick release each time I launch, so I am very confident it works flawlessly and I've trained my mind to go for the release and to know exactly where it is without looking for it.
I have my front lines marked so I know which line will be on the top when I come in to land, pop the safety with kite at 9 o'clock (low) and then yank on the safety/leashed line, kite just sits down LE into the wind almost everytime. If it doesn't it will roll over once or even twice and generally land LE down into the wind. The only time that really happens though is if I were to release too high and not pull on the leashed line enough.

Here is my other backup, and former favourite harness a NP Bomb with modified Dynabar.
I have removed the slider line release pin. I am really against the pin, as I know of people who have had it accidentally release, even after the red ball is removed. The pin is not held in place securely enough and can work its way around to sideways and the elastic bungee holding it in the horizontal plane no long works to retain it. I have fitted a small D-Shackle, cannot come loose.

I've released my QR safety on my kite a few hundred times now, in lowish winds and in strong and well powered conditions, there has never been any issue at all and I feel super confident doing this and self launching/self landing now.
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yomotha
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby yomotha » Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:23 am

So what's the "no hook" version of unhooking?

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randycasburn
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby randycasburn » Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:36 am

I would like to see this go one step further. For the majority of us that don't unhook, I would like to see the chicken loop and bulky release removed. The BRM connection system is a good example of simplicity. Remove the loop and bulky release mechanism and replace with something akin to the Cab leash release so many are using. Smaller, simpler (and even better for shorter arms).

And to the question of the unhooked riders - there will always be variations. So the 5-10% of you can keep your hook.

Do-it
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby Do-it » Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:40 am

Nah.... I don't unhook that much anymore, due to my dynabar, but.....I like to unhook when self landing.....cause you never know.

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rynhardt
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby rynhardt » Thu Nov 19, 2015 2:07 am

there have been so many posts along these lines, I wonder if any of the major brands are paying attention.
Right now BRM has one of the few setups you can buy off the shelf, but I think you would still need to mod the harness yourself.

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randycasburn
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby randycasburn » Thu Nov 19, 2015 5:32 am

rynhardt wrote:there have been so many posts along these lines, I wonder if any of the major brands are paying attention.
Right now BRM has one of the few setups you can buy off the shelf, but I think you would still need to mod the harness yourself.
I'm convinced most of them don't pay much attention. Too bad really.

Any rope slider would work with the BRM system. Either my hand made rope/pully or my RideEngine harness would work. Just need a rope thimble to put the pig tails around:
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omg
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby omg » Thu Nov 19, 2015 7:07 am

how would you self land / launch with these "fixed" setups?

At times I need to attach the chicken loop to a pole or something solid object when operating alone. Especially with gloves on, no way I want to take the time to put the chicken loop back on especially in gustyish winds.

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rynhardt
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Re: Don't show us your hook

Postby rynhardt » Thu Nov 19, 2015 10:06 am

@omg: depending on the setup, you may need to use a different self-landing/launching method.

With my cabrinha mushroom QR, I have enough grip to comfortably hold the mushroom with one hand and connect/disconnect the QR with the other hand.

That being said, I self-land/launch the "traditional?" way, i.e. without an anchor, so can't really comment on how well it would work with the anchor-style self-land/launch.


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