what is this thing? line separator?

[Grizwald]

This was featured in a video re launching a kite from a catamaran. Google image search results are sniper rifle which while interesting is not really useful. Various other searches by description have not turned up anything useful.
Does anyone know what it is and who makes / sells it?
thanks,
Griz

[Regis-de-giens]

It is a "kite cleat" , main function is a line manager to ease the reconnection of the lines to the kite , avoiding the untangling of the bar.
You can find it in many in-line shops, or ebay.

You can add a small tube to derive its use to help lauchning from a boat. One version has an integrated line cutter which blade is made of ceramic, hence very efficient and without roast

[Faxie]

https://kitesurfvoilier.fr/en/

[Grizwald]

Thanks for the info.
I can see how this could be very useful launching from the boat.

[kitesurfvoilier]

Hi Grizwald,

I'm Sébastien, the designer of this accessory.
Thanks to Regis-de-giens for the explanation and Faxie for the link.
I would like to add the following precisions:
- The main concept is to become safer buy using and handling a line cutting tool for its line manager function.
- For the boat purpose, depending on its size of course but it could be useful to be able to quickly (with only one hand) keep lines position to connect / disconnect the kite.
- For the precise picture you talk about, it's a line guidage function that I develop to help managing the lines on the deck. It was first design regarding some kites with "security position" (safety release activated) on both front lines. Those could be difficult to get back on board but are also going to disappear from the market and the idea was to help making one front line shorter than the other to drift more easily the kite (still possible).
- 2nd video of this section https://kitesurfvoilier.fr/en/on-board-kite/ is a lot lower quality than first one but show how to keep lines extended on the deck in order to be very quick in boat launching. Sorry for quality and also for all the detailed annotation that I made to explain and that Utube make disappear from one day to the next one without any replacement solution
By the way, the product is now upgraded to 2nd version models that don't look the same that the picture and have had some technical improvements.
And one more time, thanks to all users helping me improve on my design project about confort and safety accessories, best winds to all Kiteforum members for 2020!

[jyka]

sealer-clamp to aliexpress/ebay search. Just heard today you could use these to the same job. Might require slight four cuts to lines.
https://image.dhgate.com/0x0/f2/albu/g5 ... ANI120.jpg

[kitesurfvoilier]

Hi Jyka,
Regarding the clamp doing the same job, just would like to say:
- It could keep lines in position the same way but believe me (or not) great thing with the Kitecleat is that it can be open and close with only one hand (thanks to the inside SST spring). And it makes a real difference when you catch all the lines in the same move in few seconds. Does it worth the few bocks price difference, probably depends on how many bocks you have to put on it!
- My concept is not only on the lines holding matter, https://kitesurfvoilier.fr/en/the-concept/ and I'm today distributing more Kitecleat with ceramic blade inside that the models without. Probably just because kiters today more than before think about the danger due to the lines and the fact that few of us are trained to manipulate their line cutting tool. In an emergency situation...
Anyway, some people like it for themselves or think it's a nice present to be done some other will always think it's not so useful, ok, no problem but it's a little bit more than a plastic clamp on Aliexpress