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It's the second time (in two years - since I have my Ozone Catalyst) that the chicken loop 'unhooks' while launching. Could have been ended badly. But fortunately I was not overpowered so, I did not have to let the kite on leash (like at the first time when it happened to me) and could 're-hook'. Both times near losses only but still...I don't want more similar cases. Especially because I pay special attention to safety, I always check my lines, try my safety system before going in the water. Not sure which move resulted in unhooking. The 'donkey dick' is a bit short in my view. But on my Gaastra bar it's even shorter and I have not experienced any unwanted 'unhooking' so far. I want to avoid adventurous launching in the future. So, I thought I'll tie the chicken loop THROUGH the hook as shown in the below pictures. Before trying it out I thought I ask whether there is anybody who tied himself to a kite in this way. If so, what is your experience? Does the release work fine? Does it feels different? Any downside of this kind of 'connection'? Please let me know. Thanks

Oh no....don't do that.
Under load it will NOT release when you need it to.

easiest solution is to either replace/extend the donkey dick so you can use that during the launch.

Good luck

nherbold wrote:Oh no....don't do that.
Under load it will NOT release when you need it to.

easiest solution is to either replace/extend the donkey dick so you can use that during the launch.

Good luck

Hm....you may be right. Meanwhile, I was trying the release at home with this set up and it work smoothly only twice out of ten. So, not the best idea. I'm wondering if the RideEngine harness (not with bar but'rope ') works fine from this point of view?

Hello Mr.jb74.
The set up you have on these pictures are very very dangerous. So please don't use this set up at all.
Probably the reason your CL is coming "unhooked" from your harness hook is because the Donkey Stick is probably too short and this is the reason why the CL is falling off from your hook.
So make sure you put your Donkey Stick inside the hook, and if the CL still falls out then you need to make your Donkey Stick longer.

Dimitri M wrote:Hello Mr.jb74.
The set up you have on these pictures are very very dangerous. So please don't use this set up at all.
Probably the reason your CL is coming "unhooked" from your harness hook is because the Donkey Stick is probably too short and this is the reason why the CL is falling off from your hook.
So make sure you put your Donkey Stick inside the hook, and if the CL still falls out then you need to make your Donkey Stick longer.

Thanks Dimitri!
The set up did not pass my test so, I won'tuse it ☺
Yes, the donkey stick is always inside the hook. ...I don't really know how it comes out as my eyes are on the kite when launching. And it happened only with my Ozone bar. ..I'll have to change the donkey stick to a longer and stiffer one. Thanks again for your input.

Good subject.

I almost had my head taken off by a loose fully powered kite ripping down the beach. In this case the launcher released the kite before the kiter had fastened his leash or gotten the CL hooked up right.

When this happens, it is a common mistake to grap the chicken loop to pull it down below the hook, and then find your fingers trapped against the hook.

The problem is the angle of the hook Mr.jb74.

So definitely you need to have a longer Donkey Stick so it won't come out when your are launching your kite. Because this is when your CL gets stretched from the two forces pulling against each other.

So the best thing to do in order to keep your loop from falling off your harness hook, will be to use some long and thick ZIP TIES and put them on your harness hook.

Use at least 2 ZIP TIES and tie them on your hook looking down and make sure they are really tight. Then when you put your CL inside the HOOK you can secure it by putting the 2 ZIP TIES inside the LOOP going through the HOOK.

When it's time to remove the CL you can always bend the ZIP TIE and push it down.
Problem solved.

I suspect your kite was over trimmed. Trim the kite so its difficult to fully sheet in. This will prevent your CL unhooking.

you may notice from time to time if you are off balance maybe u step on something sharp you might push down on the chicken loop while launching. under tension nothing happens but slack lines you might disconnect. try pushing down on both chicken loops see what happens.

I used to have the same issue with an Ozone bar. The donkey "stick" on the Ozone bar is not as stiff as on some other bars. I slid a 3 inch piece of flexible plastic tubing onto my "stick" and glued it into place. It essentially increases the diameter of your "stick" and makes it stiffer (works kinda' like Viagra ......sorry couldn't resist). Holds the chicken loop in place and solved my problem completely.