What does the fireball give you over a chicken loop attached to a closed loop (Mystic Freeride spreader bar) or a rope slider setup? Sincere question. Thanks.
I kited on typical loop and dick setups for years before switching, they have 3 main drawbacks:
1. foul hooking: where the dick is holding the force instead of the loop, this will cause the dick to eventually bend and release
2. the tow point is pushed away from your body by the harness hook
3. when rotating around laterally the action is not smooth at the attach point
I tried several rope setups before fireball and hated them all due to the constant changing of where the tow point is.
I also do not like the idea of hooking in to a power kite where the only way to unhook is the quick release. For piece of mind having a manual unhook option is much better.
Rope sliders are also terrible to boost with.
After a week after contacting Cabrinha and adventure sports, the fix must be so stupidly simple that they didn’t bother responding. I Guess they thought I would figure it out eventually.
What does the fireball give you over a chicken loop attached to a closed loop (Mystic Freeride spreader bar) or a rope slider setup? Sincere question. Thanks.
I kited on typical loop and dick setups for years before switching, they have 3 main drawbacks:
1. foul hooking: where the dick is holding the force instead of the loop, this will cause the dick to eventually bend and release
2. the tow point is pushed away from your body by the harness hook
3. when rotating around laterally the action is not smooth at the attach point
I tried several rope setups before fireball and hated them all due to the constant changing of where the tow point is.
I also do not like the idea of hooking in to a power kite where the only way to unhook is the quick release. For piece of mind having a manual unhook option is much better.
Rope sliders are also terrible to boost with.
Fireball solves all of these issues for me.
To me the fireball system is an 'evolution' to replacing the chicken loop with a ring and attaching a (pelican)shackle system to the spreader bar. Probably around 2004 when I did that. In those days getting accidentally unhooked was one of my biggest fears and the shackle made that impossible AND had a safety. Also the chicken loops were much larger so replacing that with a ring made the bar a lot closer; guess the same still applies to the fireball system so that could be a benefit for our t-rex arm kite brothers and sisters.
To your other 3 points:
1. yep...been there...done that
2. Doesn't fireball still require a hook? Can be used on any harness?
3. are you experiencing a significant different in that? Can't say it's something I normally notice
Guess the slider rope works better on seat harnesses as it counters the non-rotating-properties of a seat harness. Never rode with a slider rope, but that system seems less efficient for boosting.
Personally I want to unhook every session (no that doesn't mean handle passes..so much more possible) and ride my waist harness loose so it rotates when needed (toe-side; blind; strapless), but if none of that is on your preferred riding styles that's fine..enjoy your session, don't make it harder than it already is, but equally keep pushing yourself and try new things.
2. the tow point is pushed away from your body by the harness hook
3. when rotating around laterally the action is not smooth at the attach point
2. Doesn't fireball still require a hook? Can be used on any harness?
3. are you experiencing a significant different in that? Can't say it's something I normally notice
The fireball "hook" is the ball socket on the spreader bar. That socket is right up against your body allowing the pull from the kite to come right in to the spreader bar it's self. When you have a CL and hook the hook is 2-3 inches away from your body which makes the pull of the kite twist the spreader bar. The Mystic Stealth Freeride spreader bar solves this problem buy eliminating the hook and you directly hook in to a loop this means you are relying 100% on the CL safety if you want to eject which I'm not a fan of doing. It also does not work with bars where the CL ring is fixed and stays attached after a release (old LF CPR, old Caution bar, Cab modular bar).
As for 3, yes I definitely experience a difference. I'm primarily surfing and when riding waves your body and kite are moving all over the place. Not only does the fireball stop those clunk moments where the CL flops over on a turn but when doing this kind of riding, especially when you slack the lines on a wave, you have a much higher chance of causing the CL to foul hook and then pop out once you power up again.
