Do any of the local shops around here lend out harnesses for demo? I'm getting a pain that i think is caused by my harness and wouldn't mind trying out a seat harness to see what they're like.

Does anyone else have any experience with seat harnesses?

Hi Mattyjee,

To the best of my knowledge none of the shops have "demo" harnesses. The range is too wide and sizing is too vast. Take for instance AKS have 4 brands, of which have 14 models appropriate to kitesurfing. Even if we only cater for the most common sizes of, M, L & XL, that's 42 harnesses just for demo

Most other shops would be in the same boat as us I'm sure.

It's just not possible. We do have some harnesses for demo but only a few and usually traded in or swapped by customers so not well represented. A better bet would be to ask someone on the beach if you can maybe borrow their seat harness for a test ride.

Problem with just grabbing a test ride, especially if you are going from Waist to seat, is that the two harnesses are SO different in feel and style that you would need at the very least a full day to acclimatize to the differences before you could make up your mind as to whether you like it or not.
What kind of pain are you getting and whereabouts? Most people go the other way. Just curious.

Cheers,

KH

where do you normally kite? i have a dakine seat harness i bought and used for half a season while learning - i kite down woodies or Leighton if you want to try it

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Kitehard said...

What kind of pain are you getting and whereabouts? Most people go the other way.

I wasn't going to go into detail but since you asked...

Its basically the exact same pain as a hernia (had one before). I think it's becuase my waist harness squeezes my guts too much and then when i flex up it puts pressure on my groin and strains it a little. At worst, I was out for a month back in July after one incident. And no, it wasn't actually a hernia, i had it all checked out.

Just wanted to try a seat harness to see what they are like, but i don't see too many people using them. I was hoping that maybe that some shops might have one or two demo models lying around.

Kiter2007 - i'm often at woodies, i'll send you a PM. Cheers.

I have a lower back problem and therefore still use a seat harness as it seems to give me better support - or so I'm guessing as I've never tried a waist harness, so I'm curious also to hear from any other kiters with back issues as to what they use?

Stevo,
will depend on the nature of your back problem.
I crushed a disc at L4/5 and wear a waist harness because a seat harness compresses the spine (pulling upwards from your butt).

A good waist harness that provides lumbar suppport works for me because I can lean back into it and the pull of the kite relieves the pressure on the spine.

If I could use a seat harness I'd go the Dakine Fusion (by far the best harness I've used) but if your back is anything like mine I'd recommend shortlisting it down to the ProLimit Hadlow Pro or the Mystic Warrior for a demo if you can.

Mattyjee, I had exactly the same injury as you, ie a strain that could have been a hernia but wasn’t.

I got my strain while trying to learn to jump, I was flying the kite way past 12 o’clock then getting wrenched sorta backwards as I went up and basically hyper extended the stomach muscles. Had to have a few weeks off and no jumping for about 6 weeks. The injury never really went away and then I also strained it again and had to have a rest period followed by 3 months of no jumping.

Anyway I switched to a seat harness as I now have a weak spot there and have never had a problem again. I also learnt to jump correctly so that helped a lot too.

Wear a waist if you can but if not go the seat and a dynabar for toe side riding.

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Stevo J said...

I have a lower back problem and therefore still use a seat harness as it seems to give me better support - or so I'm guessing as I've never tried a waist harness, so I'm curious also to hear from any other kiters with back issues as to what they use?

Hey Stevo J,

I had a prolapse L4/L5 disc and had a discectomy, was back kiting after 3 months rehab. I started on a dakine seat harness as a waist harness hurt my back and crushed by ribs but only cos I was still doing the 'walk of shame'!, once I was going up wind I switched to a dakine waist harness and prefer the focused support it gives my core .

You gotta make sure they nice and tight and try different brands as they all have different back padding etc, to find one that is comfortable. You can get a pretty good feel for the right fit in the store, but sure other kiters on the beach would be happy for your try theirs out maybe you could ask a local school nicely to try brands they have? I remember seeing one brand that had padding / support that could be removed if necessary?

Good Luck testing them out

Many people use Dakine Fusion and just don't do up the straps....the harness molds to your butt keeping it from moving up. For real big jumping you can put on the straps.

Cheers au_rick, GanzoGirl and Gruezi,
Yep, prolapse disk at L4/L5 for me too - thankfully seem to have it mostly under control these days, but was interested to hear you're both using waist harnesses - and have to say that pulling on the straps (I still have my dakine fusion from my noob days back in '05') does cause a lot of discomfort even after all my stretches. Makes sense that it would compress your spine as you say Rick so reckon I'll have a look at the waisty's.
Cheers for the feedback,
Steve.

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mattyjee said...

Kitehard said...

What kind of pain are you getting and whereabouts? Most people go the other way.

I wasn't going to go into detail but since you asked...

Its basically the exact same pain as a hernia (had one before).

Inguinal Hernia? Have you checked it's not another one, or the repair has failed? I had a right inguinal repaired and it feels like the left is going to go in the next year too :/ Apparently it's not too uncommon....

Inguinal Hernis sux, I had it repaired a few years back. Surgeon says it was the biggest he had ever seen. XL prosthesis was barely able to cope.

I kited with it in a really bad way for over a year on the comp circuit. Riding flat out and splatting hard. Felt it tear in a couple of bad stacks. Not good!

Inguinal Hernia is usually a hereditary genetic weakness, if one side goes, it is likely the other will too if you play hard.

Isn't it time you returned to the beach Mike, the wind is in and the sun is out.

Cheers,

KH