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Strapless or straps?

Forum for wing surfers

Do you use straps?

I ride with straps and also jump
3
6%
I ride with straps but not for jumping
2
4%
I ride strapless
31
63%
I ride with front strap(s) only
12
24%
I ride with foot hook(s)
0
No votes
I change depending on the day
1
2%
 
Total votes: 49

Dave K
Frequent Poster
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:49 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Outer Banks
Style: Knee friendly strapless kite/wing foil
Gear: 10 m Airush Ultra / 7M Switch Helium, 5M RRD Passion, 120cm Groove Skate. Duotone Slick SLS 6/5/4/3m, Cabrinha Code 5’0”/78l wing board, Gong Veloce V2 L, XL., XXL, Gong Fluid V2 L, pro Fluid 42cm/freestyle 44 stabilizers, Gong HM 85cm V2 carbon mast, 75cm Al mast. Foil Drive + and 40L slingshot prone foil board
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 37 times

Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby Dave K » Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:03 am

Ok, saw the very brief short jump Ken Adgate made in that FB video. He’s an extremely talented wing and kite foiler, and even that small puddle hop doesn’t look “easy” to me. Anyway thanks for link!

I have a bad right knee so strapped in winging (and jumping) would be a very risky proposition for me, especially at the ripe age of 63. I think the downside to messing up a strapless jump attempt could be be pretty………………. “messy”. I’ll likely remain strapless

Dave K
Frequent Poster
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:49 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Outer Banks
Style: Knee friendly strapless kite/wing foil
Gear: 10 m Airush Ultra / 7M Switch Helium, 5M RRD Passion, 120cm Groove Skate. Duotone Slick SLS 6/5/4/3m, Cabrinha Code 5’0”/78l wing board, Gong Veloce V2 L, XL., XXL, Gong Fluid V2 L, pro Fluid 42cm/freestyle 44 stabilizers, Gong HM 85cm V2 carbon mast, 75cm Al mast. Foil Drive + and 40L slingshot prone foil board
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 37 times

Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby Dave K » Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:15 am

Double post deleted
Last edited by Dave K on Wed Jul 27, 2022 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

joekitetime
Frequent Poster
Posts: 312
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:58 pm
Kiting since: 1999
Weight: 160
Local Beach: Sherman Island, SF BAY CA
Style: Surf Foiler
Gear: Appletree, FONE, Mike's Lab, Peak4, Mystic, Wainman Hawaii
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 169 times
Been thanked: 103 times

Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby joekitetime » Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:45 pm

Dave K wrote:
Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:03 am
Ok, saw the very brief short jump Ken Adgate made in that FB video. He’s an extremely talented wing and kite foiler, and even that small puddle hop doesn’t look “easy” to me. Anyway thanks for link!

I have a bad right knee so strapped in winging (and jumping) would be a very risky proposition for me, especially at the ripe age of 63. I think the downside to messing up a strapless jump attempt could be be pretty………………. “messy”. I’ll likely remain strapless
Hi Dave-

I "love" the idea of riding strapped, and Kenny told me that you can carve way harder with straps. He broke his foot over the winter jumping, and he doesn't ride with straps anymore. I don't fall much, and when I do it is normally pretty benign. However, every few weeks I'll have a "weird" fall and will immediately realize that if I'd been strapped that would have been bad. I do see the guys riding 2 straps which seems better than one in my opinion. However, since I ride so many different foils I find my back foot is all over the place which wouldn't work for straps for me. A friend whom I asked about it said a front strap is ok but a back strap sucks. So, if you ride a lot of foils, go strapless, and it is safer. If you want to ride strapped, I'd say go with 2 straps and once you get it dialed keep it there. And I would never try strapless airs winging - just too much of a time commitment for me!

Dave K
Frequent Poster
Posts: 355
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:49 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Outer Banks
Style: Knee friendly strapless kite/wing foil
Gear: 10 m Airush Ultra / 7M Switch Helium, 5M RRD Passion, 120cm Groove Skate. Duotone Slick SLS 6/5/4/3m, Cabrinha Code 5’0”/78l wing board, Gong Veloce V2 L, XL., XXL, Gong Fluid V2 L, pro Fluid 42cm/freestyle 44 stabilizers, Gong HM 85cm V2 carbon mast, 75cm Al mast. Foil Drive + and 40L slingshot prone foil board
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 37 times

Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby Dave K » Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:08 pm

Yep, if someone like Ken can break a foot jumping strapped, then that seals the “strapless” deal for me. I’ve never been anything but strapless on a wing board so I’ve gotten pretty used to mixing a carve turn with a flat pivot turn to get the board turned pretty quickly. Maybe not as good as straps but decent nonetheless. Valuable for any upwind transition

RadDrDuke
Frequent Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 10:18 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Weight: 75kg
Local Beach: Stuart, Florida
Favorite Beaches: Cabarete
Style: Surf > Foil > TT
Gear: Duotone Unit 5m V2, OR Glide Hybrid 5m, Airush Ultra 9m, Axis Foils, LF Moon patrol TT, Wainman kite surfboard, Fanatic 75L wingboard
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 4 times
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Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby RadDrDuke » Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:44 pm

Started with straps, began jumping (extremely easy with straps), had some wipeouts with mild knee/ankle twists and removed the straps.

I think straps are very useful for a beginner or obviously someone jumping but otherwise they are too dangerous for my liking.

RadDrDuke
Frequent Poster
Posts: 269
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 10:18 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Weight: 75kg
Local Beach: Stuart, Florida
Favorite Beaches: Cabarete
Style: Surf > Foil > TT
Gear: Duotone Unit 5m V2, OR Glide Hybrid 5m, Airush Ultra 9m, Axis Foils, LF Moon patrol TT, Wainman kite surfboard, Fanatic 75L wingboard
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 33 times

Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby RadDrDuke » Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:50 pm

Wings are not the best tool for jumping. We see these wingers in magazines jumping 30 feet in the air, well the kiters around them are likely jumping 50+ feet!

I dabbled in wing jumping last winter and gave it up after a few sessions. It's very easy to jump 5-15 feet but difficult to get a big air compared to kiting and the risk is so much higher (imagine coming down onto an upsidedown or sideways foil...)

Boston kiter
Frequent Poster
Posts: 259
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:29 am
Kiting since: 2011
Local Beach: Naaaaaahant
Favorite Beaches: Chapin, Kalmus, Wing, Horseneck, Hardings, Hatch, Good Harbor.
Style: freeride , boost, surf, foil
Gear: Duotone 11 rebel sls, 9m Pivot sls 7m Pivot 9m UFO

Crazyfly Raptor pro, Slingshot Celero Cab secret agent/Lift 170 classic
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 126 times
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Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby Boston kiter » Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:47 pm

The only thing I will ride straped is a TT.
Front hook only on my foil. I had a really bad quad tear from my foot getting stuck during a fall when learning to foil..never again!!

I would NEVER recommend straps to a beginner when falls are frequent and the odds of a severe twist or even worse getting trapped are very high, no thanks!!

StellaBlu
Frequent Poster
Posts: 445
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:19 pm
Kiting since: 2015
Style: Winging
Gear: -
Brand Affiliation: None
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Re: Strapless or straps?

Postby StellaBlu » Wed Aug 03, 2022 5:22 pm

RadDrDuke wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:50 pm
Wings are not the best tool for jumping. We see these wingers in magazines jumping 30 feet in the air, well the kiters around them are likely jumping 50+ feet!

I dabbled in wing jumping last winter and gave it up after a few sessions. It's very easy to jump 5-15 feet but difficult to get a big air compared to kiting and the risk is so much higher (imagine coming down onto an upsidedown or sideways foil...)
I speak for myself, but height isnt the only objective. Yes you can launch much higher, but at the end of the day with a kite you are kind of dangling around supported by your harness and I find it all a bit awkward and unnatural. Coming from other sports like skiing, snowboarding, surfing, skateboarding, there is something natural and pure about leaving the surface (ground, snow, water) and having speed, trajectory and gravity dictate the outcome. I find jumping while winging more similar to that feeling and I prefer it. I find a feature or contour to launch off of, get my speed and angles, launch as high as I can and come down with gravity (yes the wing adds lift and softens landings, but its still pretty close to natural). I might be half as high off the water, but I get plenty of rush looking down and knowing I'm going to come down a lot faster and spotting a landing where I can smoothly pop onto foil (wave face) - which I find to be more technical than landing an air with a kite. I know others will disagree, but for me launching with a kite just isn't as satisfying for me. And take it with a grain of salt since I am not jumping 30 feet in the air with my wing and I was never throwing big loops or anything like that with a kite.
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