would it really be worth the extra money for a hard shell harness? I do heaps of jumping and wondering if it really makes that much difference to comfort and support while boosting? Looking at mystic majestic x or majestic both hard shell. Cheers.

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ste said..
would it really be worth the extra money for a hard shell harness? I do heaps of jumping and wondering if it really makes that much difference to comfort and support while boosting? Looking at mystic majestic x or majestic both hard shell. Cheers.

Yes it does, You don't get that torso squeeze when you are really powered. So you can hold more power for longer.

But make sure you get a good fit or the hard shell harness can dig in and be uncomfortable as f%^K if the wrong fit.

Cheers plums. I tried on the majestic and majestic x and both felt the same to be honest. Both felt very comfortable but have to ride with them I suppose.

I couldnt go back to a soft harness

Wear a wetsuit when trying them on and dont forget to go home and drop a brand new bottle of gin on concrete to simulate the joy and sadness of kiteboarding

I tried a hardshell for a short session only - seemed a little bit better than my Mystic Warrior but hard to tell given I tried it only for half hour. I bought Ion Radar seat harness and found it super comfortable both for boosting and for foiling. I know, I know, only infants and old people need diapers, but if you go beyond trying to look cool at all cost, it is really a huge comfort improvement. The fit is so good that I frequently forget to tighten leg straps and don't even notice it (it does not ride up with the leg straps loose).

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Swavek said..
The fit is so good that I frequently forget to tighten leg straps and don't even notice it

buys lace-up sneakers
never ties shoes

I'm not sure that a hard shell is significantly better for riding than a high end soft shell harness. It feels good and works very well, but so does a soft shell.

There's a certain "edge" feel to a hard shell which is not so great. It's not bad, but it's noticeable. With a soft shell when it's loaded up the harness comes down onto your hips and flares out a little so that it beds in really nicely.

Where a hard shell wins hands down is in usability. It takes up half the space in the gear tub and weighs about half the weight of a soft shell. It's so light you almost forget you have it on. Soft shell harnesses can feel like you have a mattress wrapped around you.

The hard shell doesn't seem to shrink as much when it dries so you can just clip on and go without the wrestling and fiddling with straps that sometimes happens with soft shell.

You can't fold a hard shell flat for travelling. That's fine as long as you remember to wrap it around stuff instead of trying to wedge it into a bag.

They take a little bit of getting used to. Not sure I loved them that much for the first few weeks.
Now I'm used to it, but don't really feel that strongly about whether or not they are much better than a quality soft shell TBH.

Gave me a pretty sore back for quite a few sessions

For me, that are worthy AF when super powered. Like 8m 30-35 knots sorta power. 10m in 20 knots.... not so much.

Plums do you wear hard shell boots for those sexy sheep's back legs

Nah, I prefer to wrestle them free range.

Just want to clarify im a goat not a sheep.

Best thing I bought last year was a Majestic X (mainly wave kite directionals) and previously had an ion apex. Go and have a good fit test though as I ended up with a smaller harness than I would've bought by myself and it's a perfect fit.

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causehecan said..
Just want to clarify im a goat not a sheep.

bad luck bro, Plummet is a catch, and treats you like you're the only one in the field, no need for a cliff with this one

I've just bought a Ride Engine. The difference with "flat" hard shell harnesses is massive. It's simple: I don't feel my harness anymore. With a hard shell harness, you have to make sure it maps the shape of your back properly. Things like ion harness are just a marketing joke.
I must say, hard shell harnesses are very comfortable, don't get on your ribs. The first jump I did with it felt very strange because I didn't have my harness pushing on my ribs. I felt so light in the air. I never realized that the harness was such an important piece of the gear. My first jump with it was surprisingly high with no effort.
Yes, I would definitely recommend a hard shell harness. Ride engine are good. I tried Mystic too. Not bad at all.

What are you even talking about? Ride engine stopped mapping / molding backs years ago after "discovering" 90% people had same back


All hard backed harnesses are better then soft back harnesses in my opinion. Its about spreading the load evenly. The way the small of our back is shaped means it doesnt get supported as well if harness is soft.


End of the day just wear a wetsuit it solves harnesses sliding up and a couple mm of rubber does wonders for comfort

hardshell has no allowance for growth
excludes pregnant ladies

I completely forgot about beer bellied blokes with no business kiteboarding good point amirite

Ooooo i havent felt this nervous hitting the post button since i made that comment about getting my sister pregnant might have to turn the phone off for a couple days now

I've got one of those damn expensive top of the wodger hard shell harnesses. I'm not totally convinced. It just doesn't feel right. Might go back to my staple mystic warrior to be honest. Had last one for years.

One thing I forgot to mention is I had my Mystic Majestic X replaced under warranty.

The holes in the carbon from sewing on the rubber edge cut through the thread. It was only 5cm or so but for a $600 harness I wasn't going to wear that. They replaced it fairly cheerfully.

The graphics are painted on and the paint cracks. It's only cosmetic, but ... $600 harness!

The paint cracked on the replacement, but it came after a fair bit of use and that is kind of reasonable.

Both the original and the replacement had shatter marks in the carbon around the stitch holes where the rubber edge is sewn on. I'm guessing the needle was a bit blunt, or they need to use a needle more suited to cutting though carbon. I raised it as an issue with the shop but I'm prepared to let it go as long as the harness holds together. You can't see it without pulling back the rubber.

The Majestic X has got 230 hours on it and it's holding up fine. My previous Majestic lasted 450 hours. It worked fine but the seams were splitting and the webbing looked very sad.

I don't record the hours on my harness, but I know when I bought it and I record all my sessions. It's easy enough to work out.

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Gorgo said..
I don't record the hours on my harness, but I know when I bought it and I record all my sessions. It's easy enough to work out.

denies recording hours on harness
freely admits to organising sock drawer

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amirite said..

Gorgo said..
I don't record the hours on my harness, but I know when I bought it and I record all my sessions. It's easy enough to work out.

denies recording hours on harness
freely admits to organising sock drawer

A tidy sock drawer is a thing of joy.

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Gorgo said..

amirite said..

Gorgo said..
I don't record the hours on my harness, but I know when I bought it and I record all my sessions. It's easy enough to work out.

denies recording hours on harness
freely admits to organising sock drawer

A tidy sock drawer is a thing of joy.

Agreed, left socks in left draw, right socks in right draw. Jocks in the bottom draw, shirts in the top draw, shorts in the middle draw. It makes getting dressed in the morning a simple process of dressing in draw order.

Then again, some weird people arrange their cutlery draw knife, spoon, folk ?????? WTF
Fools, its always and has always been, knife, fork, spoon!!!!

Animals

Nice to hear ruffly how many hours on harness.
I think im getting more mileage out of mine since i started keeping them in relaxed circle state at bottom of one those big plastic unbreakable tub/buckets from bunnings. I just throw the wet kite gear ontop. Use to just put it on floor vehicle drive home and hang em

My Ride Engine is 4 years old. I never rinse it. Traveled the world with it. I finish a session and like CHC i just put it in plastic bucket, put my wettie or rashie and boardshorts in the middle and when I get home hang my wettie etc but leave the harness in the bucket. The Ride is the best move I ever made for ME in terms of harnesses. They don't move and they feel small and light. In the four years of heavy use I have only had to repair the velcro and sew on new patches as they wore out. Everything else is smicky doo. Of course I wear out the sliding ropes, but that is expected. When this one gives up I will get another. Every body is different, and this is why trying on as many as you can (though that still isn't enough as you just don't have the pull you get from dynamic movement and pull of a kite) it will still help determine which harness is best for each person.