Sorry guys, I'm sure it was discussed before, but I could not find any reference...

I had a Dakine waist hybrid (windsurfing/kiting) which would readily become an annoying "chest harness" and I replaced it with a seat one (for windsurfing).

As I'm getting into kiting, I think the waist one would work better and was hoping for some advice on which waist harness doesn't slip up?

Looking forward to your advice.

Wearing an impact vest will stop it riding up
ive got an np harness that doesn't ride up if properly adjusted

My general experience is that you only really notice the harness riding up when you are learning as you tend to spend a lot more time with the kite at 12.

So you might consider a waist harness with optional leg straps. North do some (I have the transformer - its alright, I think the airstyler range have the same optional straps) and Ocean rodeo does something.

North Transformer has a pump up fit system which is good as it gives a bit of extra floatation round you hips for body dragging. Bad parts is the leg straps pinch a bit.

I also hear good reviews about the Ocean Rodeo one but the design is pretty old so I was put off by that at the time.

Thanks Iggypop

I tried that though, and didn't help much.
I'm quite long, so when it slips up, my bum goes down and hits the waves ( ), so I would put on a very short harness lines, and the whole geometry would be skewed. I had to go to the seat harness, and all clicked after then. (for windsurfing)

Now a waist harness with straps, (thanks weebitbreezy) that sounds good.
I knew of a combo waist/seat by Flying Objects - with a full seat, and riding high, but after trying it on...nothing wrong with it, just didn't feel right.

I'll have a look at the one North and Ocean Rodeo. Thanks

Try getting your belly above the harness....

Also try a seat harness with a rope slider, which allows a lot more movement at the hips than a standard seat harness, in my case I would argue that it allows even more freedom of movement than my waist harness.

With the waist harness - have one professionally fitted in a shop. I have never had my waist harness ride up, except when things go pear-shaped.

>>Try getting your belly above the harness....
What are you implying here

I like seat harnesses, however the hook is low and I feel that the pull is tipping me backwards. A seat harness with a high hook would probably work well.
I'll try to learn more about the "rope slider". Not quite familiar with what it means.

>>. I have never had my waist harness ride up
I only have experience with one, so maybe it was just a bad fit.

Wearing an impact vest won't help much, as you now have 2 surfaces that slip.
I rode with a waist harness and swapped to board short harness (essentially a seat harness) as the waist was riding up. After 1 year of riding I swapped back to a waist for some reason i can't remember, and suddenly it wasn't riding up anymore.
The reason behind this is when you learn you will ride with your kite up a lot higher, but once you are better you will ride with your body perpendicular to your lines, so the harness doesn't ride up.
You could go into this a lot further, for example, when riding straight downwind i do 8's above my head and I stand fairly upright. You would think the kite would pull the harness up but due to the lower power associated with riding downwind it doesn't. So basically, when powered, keep your at a right angle to your lines.

>>when powered, keep your at a right angle to your lines.
Good point flyingcab.

Still, I think a hybrid - waist with leg straps is probably the way to go (for me) . It will take me a while to adopt the correct stance.

I'm using a Mystic Star. Very happy with it... within limits!

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Obelix said..

was hoping for some advice on which waist harness doesn't slip up?

Hi Ibelix
The waist harness that wont slip up, is the one that fits you the best.
Its a bit like asking someone what pair of shoes are best. You have to try on lots of different makes and models to find the one with the best fit.
Go to a few different kite shops if you can, and try on all their models, wear them for some time and try swinging from a bar. Don't look at the price just the fit.

As well as keeping the kite lower more often, you will have a good result if you have good kiting posture. i.e. no poo stance.
Leaning back, with hips forward towards the kite .

All well and good until you need to put the kite over your head (don't you do sent jumps?) or fall over and get dragged.

If you're the wrong shape, no harness will avoid riding up.

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Kamikuza said..
All well and good until you need to put the kite over your head (don't you do sent jumps?) or fall over and get dragged.

If you're the wrong shape, no harness will avoid riding up.

not if you're a dedicated wakestyle rider

Definitely try before buy. I agree it has to feel good immediately.

Thanks a lot for finding time to help me with the advice guys.

I'll visit a few shops on Saturday. See what fits.

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loftsofwind said..

Kamikuza said..
All well and good until you need to put the kite over your head (don't you do sent jumps?) or fall over and get dragged.

If you're the wrong shape, no harness will avoid riding up.

not if you're a dedicated wakestyle rider

And there's the problem!

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Go to a few different kite shops if you can, and try on all their models, wear them for some time and try swinging from a bar. Don't look at the price just the fit.

I have done this and kite shops understand that for you to get a good fitting harness you might not be supporting your 'local'.
So if you are worried about rocking up with a competing companies product, don't.

Also in regards to the dedicated wake style riding, I used to send my kite to 12 all the time, but now i find i can get way better height by popping then sending.
I find that the harness doesn't ride up as much as you are accelerating yourself initially, and the kite just provides assistance. When you rely on the kite, you get the harness riding up a lot more as its essentially pulling you off the water.

Mystic code 1, using the boa tension system , the tightness of fit is your choice

As for in the shop fitting, a waste of time, think about it

Using a waist harness is all about correct technique and correct adjustment.

As a newb you will spend a lot of time with your kite at 12:00 so a waist harness is ok to stop that.

Once you get skilled you want to keep your kite relatively low. It then pulls the harness down onto your hips. Good stance helps. Front leg straight. This is good for a waist harness. Back leg slightly bent and trimming the board. Back straight. Hips forward. Shoulders back. Arms straight. Steer and sheet from your shoulders and not from bending your elbows.

You don't want a waist harness too tight. If it is tight and gets pulled up then it gets stuck on your ribs. You can't breath and the harness won't come back down again. Looser is better so the harness can slide up and down, and from side to side for toe side riding. In general, do it up fairly tight when it is dry. When it gets wet it will ease off and be just about right.

I would not recommend an impact vest to keep a waist harness down. Usually the waist harness pushes the vest up. One of my worst memories from the early days of kiting is being choked by a vest pushed up around my throat.

I am not a fan of seat harnesses because I ride toe side a lot, and ride fairly aggressively. When you're cranked hard over on toe side the seat harness is like a big spanner trying to twist your hips. It caused all sorts of low back pain. A waist harness rotates more easily and put less stress on my hips and lower back. In fact, the torso strengthening I got from kiteboarding excessively with a waist harness has meant my lower back pain has gone for good.

A dry harness is so ridged and the straps are such a pain to tighten,I have found if you wet the harness first then fit it it is so much easier to do up the straps and gives more of a snug fit and won't give so much as a dry one does,

fly your kite lower!

I have no experience with this product/ brand but I remembered reading about them on this forum and thought it was interesting... might be worth considering...


www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Review/Engine-Handmade-Custom-Harness/
https://ride-engine.com/about/
www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2387511