On my hols I met up with a family member from another state who'd done lessons, obtained an IKO card, and bought some 2nd hand gear. 11m LF with matching bar, decent enough, primary kite. 14.5 Fluid ATV thrown in with 2 bars, one very short (royal brand) and lines very frayed, and the one he thought he should use with it was a Naish 3 line bar (splits to 4 quite far up lines).
I had a look and discovered there's no sliding safety system - pop the chicken loop and the bar moves 10cm further away and stops.
Am I missing something - is there a way to make it safe? should he throw this bar away? I wouldn't fly a kite without flag out capability, but it's a big call to tell someone to bin something...
I also have concerns about a 14.5m SLE flying off a front lines that only split ~10m from kite... ?
Pic..
Any opinions?
you guessed it right, no safety system on this bar. Only solution would be to add a custom flagging line which requires the right parts and knowledge. It's probably not worth it, could probably get a second hand bar in good nick for $200-$300.
Christian
To me it looks like its an older bar that been put together for someone's specific requirements
For a mini fifth line system to be even vaguely safe the amount of centre lines it pulls in must be at least equal to the chord of the kite, I"d gp 1.5x chord
You could adapt the bar to work fairly cheaply
I personal would spend bit more money and convert to a single line system. Mini fifth systems with long bridle kites can be very dangerouse in my opinion
