Im always loosing my board, specially when i load up for jumps. Im not sure this is servear lack of skill or a gear issue. My straps tend to loosen heaps when wet.
Currently im riding this board as seen http://force.net.au/kiteboards/fly.htm
the board is pretty sweet but im not sure about the straps.
Any hits and tips on settign up foot straps for max grip would be greatly appreciated or any experiance with my board.
Where should the foot strap sit on your foot?
How tight should they be?
Are heel straps a good idea? sounds like it for someone who battles as much as i do with keeping my board on.
Cheers
I had that problem too.
Didn't matter how tight or loose i did my straps or where i positioned them, i would hit some bumps or load up and out came a foot.
Guess i just have a narrow foot with a high instep so it makes it difficult.
So i started with bike tyre inner tube. Screwed it on the screws of the straps so it acted as a heel lock. Best move i did. Board is locked onto my feet so i dont have to worry about it.
I now ride with the mystic heel straps and they are awesome. $25.
But beware:
Heel straps cause you to be lazy with gripping your toes so when you ride other peoples board, you tend to lose it a bit.
And when you boost up high or pull a slim chance............ and it goes pear shape, it's not easy kicking your board off. But easier than boots.
Give it a crack.
Buy a adults road racer tube for $5. Cut in half and tie it to where your straps attach to the footbed. Make it nice and tight.
See how you go. If you dont like it, it cost you $5 to find out.
Josh
^^ im not that cheap, i think ill give some proper ones a go. i figured my foot shape might be a factor.
I had the same problem with my foot straps.
I'm now using the Dakine Raptor heal straps and find them great. Have no issues with loosing the board except in decent bails - they're pretty cheap and well worth it in my opinion.
Hi Lex123,
We solve this issue for heaps of people at the beach who also have the same issue. You need the footstrap to be as narrow as comfortable, NOT as tight as possible.
Think about it, if the footstrap keeps your foot in through downward compression, when you impact a piece of chop, the footbed compresses releasing the compression holding your foot in place.
If the footstrap is tighter on the sides of your foot and just snug over the top, then you rely on kinking your feet, front foot at 45 degrees to centreline of the board and back foot at 90 degrees to the CL of the board. If your footstraps are ducked to around 22 degrees this will allow your foot to lock in place tight as, and still be easily able to get out by aligning them with the strap.
This only works on boards with multiple inserts allowing the straps to be set wider or narrower.
Have a go, I'm sure it will sort your issue out. If not, you need some lux footbeds and some new footstraps.
Good winds,
the foot beds rather than the straps can make a big difference here.
I replaced my beds with some by dakine, they have a nice contour and a ridge along the front of the pad that you can "lock" into with your toes.
they are awasome as they do not let the board slip away from you, even with relatively loose straps
iv`e had the same issue in the past [high arch and narrow foot] . i put some underground foot pads and straps on my board and has fixed the prob. they are very adjustabe. you can tighten them up in many ways, either width or top pressure . i bought them for a directional originaly .you can ride them in either direction so your board wears on both heal sides insted of just one and you don`t have to flip your board over all the time. just grab it stick it on and off you go.
if your board keeps comeing off while your practiceing tricks it can be very frastrating and time wasting.
hope this helps. stu
Just recieved a pair of Dakine Raptor heel straps from the ever helpfull KP. They are awesome, im yet to test them in the water but i can feel how much of a diffence they make specially with the advice from Kitehard as well. When your not using them they sit out of the way ontop of the straps.
Highly recomend them.
Does the water wear out the edges of your board??
of course not ,but if you check out a board after it is a couple of seasons old you can easily see dammage caused by sand and rocks on your healside edge.
i`m just saying if you have 2 healsides your board will wear evenly!
