No need for a release system/safety?

[james]

I think someone has his big boy pants on today

With a Compound fracture to the leg in boots you, would reload your loop and body drag in... yeah of course you would.

I guess Ruben was being a pussy because he didn’t just reload and drag back in?....

[BernieTomic1]

Lentens quick release just opened mid air? That is a standard Ozone bar?
Is that Barceloneta by the way? Looks like it with surfers and the hotel building.

[andylc]

Probably best to stop speculating about the QR but the latest FB images look painful. He has properly mashed the end of his tibia as well as fracturing the tibia. I’m surprised given he was in boots how distal the fractures are both right down at the ankle which I would have thought the boots would support, making a mid-shaft fracture more likely.

[longwhitecloud]

Huge chicken loops with no QR were a thing for freestyle years after qrs were around, maybe they still are.

[purdyd]

Given that there are other people on the planet, and beaches and water are desirable for recreation for the vast majority of them, there will be beach goers at potentially every location you can kite at.

This guy never visited Australia.

Today, 3 foilers, ZERO beach goers on 2km stretch. Its Easter Saturday evening, BBQ and footy for most.

No, no need for quick reload on many occasions/locations. To be fair, fixed rope could be fine.
Use a knife when really needed. One might use a knife anyway in some circumstances. Or not, with fatal consequences.
Somehow we do not practice using a knife, do we. However, it might save your or someone's else's life.

No need for body armor as well, but we all know Matty is big on that

A quick release is a safety feature for the rider. A knife is not a quick release.

Body armor, helmets are the same a safety feature for the rider.

And it doesn't matter how deserted your beach is.

A single line depower is a safety feature for safety of other people. And I would agree, that the safest thing if you have the room and the money is to let go of the kite completely and not have to deal with releasing the leash.

The problem I've seen is that people are very reluctant to let the kite go and that builds a delay on releasing the kite.

Because once you release your kite you have a pretty good chance it will be damaged or even lost. The latter being especially prevalent when no one is around.

I'd take a.100% reliable QR over a 99% reliable one handed resettable QR anyday.

[foilholio]

you should always ride in the way that you don't need a QR. That is the safest way possible.

Once you need to activate a QR, you made a mistake.

Back then we didn't have a QR...and we had to anticipate a lot to not get injured. This starts from keeping distance on land and water, checking forecasts and the actual sky etc.

You rely on your QR, you ask for trouble.

[purdyd]

you should always ride in the way that you don't need a QR. That is the safest way possible.

Once you need to activate a QR, you made a mistake.

Back then we didn't have a QR...

Absolutely something has gone wrong.

Someone wrapped their kite around your lines.

A bridle got snagged

A line broke

Another way to be safe is to fly a smaller kite or even just simply sit on the shore. There is no totally safe way to kitesurf.

Most accidents are a series of mistakes which is a testimony to the robustness of the safety systems but accidents still happen.

People still make mistakes. People still get injured. People still die kitesurfing.

I can remember getting dragged through the water without a quick release and watching some pretty dramatic Yardings and death spirals.

I for one will always have the best quick release I can get even though it might be years between activating in anger.

Every time I get cocky I think of Kinsley Wong who would have just celebrated his birthday and was a far better kiter than 99.9% of those on this forum.

So yes there has been a steady hard fought progress on safety and the kites themselves are much safer but let’s not go backwards. These safety systems evolved for a reason.

[Matteo V]

you should always ride in the way that you don't need a QR. That is the safest way possible.

Once you need to activate a QR, you made a mistake.

Back then we didn't have a QR...and we had to anticipate a lot to not get injured. This starts from keeping distance on land and water, checking forecasts and the actual sky etc.

You rely on your QR, you ask for trouble.

First off Toby, do you kite with a "QR"?

Personally, I have witnessed 6+ instances of a QR saving people from injury. And I say people, becasue in 2 of the cases, the kiter activating the QR stopped short of taking out people on the beach. In 1 of those 2 instances, it was a 115kg kiter being dragged towards a 55kg woman with 2 children. It happened as he was coming in from a long duration lull, and just got to shore when the wind suddenly picked up. That lull followed by a gust, was in none of the weather forecasts available. Nor was there any previous indication that the day would produce such an event. Another 3 times, rv's on the beach were saved from a person shaped stamp. I have also seen a few instances of failure to reload (incompetent kiter, faulty release - happened to me, or out of control conditions/bridal wrap) where a quicker reload would have saved injury or loss of kite/damage to kite due to safety leash failing on overload and breaking. Sadly, the majority of times in those 6+ instances, other kiters had to scream "RELEASE! RELEASE! RELEASE!" before the out of control kiter actually activated the release.

Though I have never activated my safety in a similar situation (where it would prevent injury to others or property), I have activated it, accidentally and on purpose, and had to reload it to get back. In the instances where I was using brand new defective QR's and I could not stay reloaded, I had some damage to the kite when it washed up on shore.

The best take away, for any aspiring kiter to pro reading this post is that every single kiter should have a reliable QR, and should definitely know how to quickly reassemble it to get back underway fast.




Second, do you make mistakes? I do. So do the pros. Sometimes the wind just changes. This happens even at ideal locations for kiteboarding. And while you definitely try to minimize your mistakes, you can not be 100% that you will never make a mistake or conditions won't change.

Now I hate to bring up a cliche but back in the day, we had no seatbelts. Now we do, and even have airbags. Does that mean we can ram our vehicles into anything. NO! It is simply a safety for and ACCIDENT! And actually I have had 2 "accidents" in 25 years of driving. Both of them were deer strikes at highway speeds. No time to react in either. It was just an accident with dead dear and 2 bashed up vehicles. Thankfully, I had some safeties to protect me. And downsy will love this one as he keeps trying to troll me with saying I use body armor, (helmet and booties, lifejacket in freshwater only - how is that body armor?), but luckily I was wearing gold safety glasses when I hit the second deer. That "body armor for the eyes" as downsy would say, saved my eyes from the glass from the windshield and I did not even have to go to the hospital.

Another take away, for any aspiring kiter to pro from this post is that every single kiter should avoid conditions that necessitate the usage of a safety, along with avoiding any situation where using the safety would injure others. Just like when driving, don't think you can crash and rely on your safeties to save you. Drive smart, kite smart, wear a reliable seatbelt when in a vehicle, and know how to use proven safeties in kiting.

[purdyd]

Did I say one should ride WITHOUT a QR ???

I DID NOT !!!

All I said was that you should ride like you had no QR. Big difference !

And of course I use one.

[james]

Still wondering how you would have dragged In with the same injury as Ruben as you stated was the correct thing to do..

after reloading the qr, sorting the kite relaunching it and then getting through the waves to the shore with a powered kite and an massively fractured leg in boots

All the while whole not doing yourself more damage let alone not passing out through the pain.