iriejohn wrote: ↑Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:19 am
Perhaps you would care to identify
exactly what "design principals" Ozone have "borrowed" from the North Ironheart?
Do you want a long post from me? Because this is how you get a long post from me! In fact, just making a complete post and saying "too bad" to:
knotwindy wrote: ↑Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:12 pm
Nice, preemptively TL:DR
is probably better AND shorter in the long run.
So from now on, I will try to make that my policy.
As to your original question:
The design features proven to make a reliable release, and copied from the Ironheart are:
1. Metal to metal contact at the disconnect point where the cam/lever connects to a metal box ring on the end of the CL line
2. No plastic in tension (high load) where elongation of that plastic will eventually cause an "out of tolerance failure"
3. The basic arrangement of the release
You can rearrange things a lot of different ways, change the looks of the cuff, install a mechanism for a simple "click in to reload", but the Ozone release has the same principals above as the North Ironheart. The two reasons it is not a cosmetic "complete clone" of the North -
to add in the "click to reload" feature, and to differentiate from the North Ironheart release. Ozone does not do "straight up copy" like some other companies are willing to do (copying is good in my book, if you copy something good). But Ozone could not continue to be priced at the level they are if they engaged in utilizing the design of an existing product (and thus skip the R&D cost and additional liability). Thus an attempt was made at some innovation so that they could claim differentiation.
Ozone has had perfectly functioning releases before with the Megatron loop. It was just not passable with modern kites which went to a 'push away on the stem' on almost all manufactures. In fact, I cannot think of a company that does not have QR activation below the stem like as the old Megatron. So Ozone, being Ozone, had to find a proven design, change it so it was passable as "newly designed", and keep the functioning/design principals the same as what North and most other companies had switched to.
Think of it as the almost the exact same chassis under the body, but an automatic transmission instead of a manual.
And I am not critical of Ozone for doing this. Again, emulation of what works is definitely good. The opposite of that is creation of something that does not work in a effort to not be a "copy". And that is very bad. For years many brands did just that on purpose, or because they were forced to due to patent constraints. The effect of this was to put the end user in danger, along with bystanders and our access to the beach.
So good job, Ozone. But credit where credit is due. North nailed the design while Ozone was still pushing the Megatron. Now the Megatron is gone and we have something just like the North release.