Hello all, first post to this forum.
About me: 37yo guy from Finland, been kiting for a couple of years now. Guess i could say i'm progressing (trying first jumps etc.).
To the point. A friend of mine is seeking for a used kite for his wife. She is a beginner, around 165cm and 55kg. She's been practicing with a 10m naish ride and 138 airush switch which is a bit problematic since she can only use those in really light winds. The other problem is that she is short so she is struggling with depowering the kite.
Now she has a smaller board, 130*40 Shinn monk but a smaller kite would be good.
Conditions we are riding in are a bit gusty and choppy. Sometimes small waves. Wind speeds vary from 8 to 15knots.
Any suggestions for a kite that: Has a small chicken loop, a lot of depower with small bar throw, is stable and forgiving and preferably cheap as a second hand kite?
"The other problem is that she is short so she is struggling with depowering the kite."
Others can give advice on kites but can I suggest a seat harness or Dakine Nitro shorts with built in harness instead of a waist harness purely for the reason that, for short people and assume short arms (myself included), when wearing a waist harness the bar is considerably further away from you and you will be overreaching when it is furthest out. Getting the hook lower makes it more manageable. You can get aftermarket small chickenloops for some kites (Cabrinha).
Select to expand quoteKIT33R said..
"The other problem is that she is short so she is struggling with depowering the kite."
Others can give advice on kites but can I suggest a seat harness or Dakine Nitro shorts with built in harness instead of a waist harness purely for the reason that, for short people and assume short arms (myself included), when wearing a waist harness the bar is considerably further away from you and you will be overreaching when it is furthest out. Getting the hook lower makes it more manageable. You can get aftermarket small chickenloops for some kites (Cabrinha).
+1.
Go to a store and try different seat and waist harnesses. Hook yourself in and measure differences in throw length.
This is assuming she isn't already using a seat harness of course...
Some brands have the depower down near the chicken loop.
It isn't necessarily easy to pull the depower down there, but at least she could reach it?
Not sure if this is a good idea - but you could attach a flat rope to the existing depower to lengthen it.
(where it attaches may have to be normal rope, but the dangling bit could be flat rope so it ain't tanglin' while it's danglin')
Hi, I have had to design bars for short arms.
There are a few things you can do if your a tweaker, if your not 100% comfortable modding gear then dont mod your gear :)
1) If its an above bar de power, You can ad an extension to the de power strap, making it easier to grab, add some Velcro so it does not flap around when not used.
2) If your bar travels too far up out of reach you can shorten the de power line, but take care you dont limit your de power too much or amount of de power available
The Naish Alana Kites are specifically designed with Women in mind. The Alana Bar features a smaller diameter as well as a shorter depower trow to that Women can still reach the bar if they let go.
Check out www.naishkites.com/product/fusion-alana/
Here's a little of what goes into the Women specific Kite bar.
Ride safe,
JB
below the bar ( BTB ) depower is available on a few different kites now.
It is a bit of a fluff to use but you get used to it, and adapt.
I have it on my ocean rodeo and my previous Slingshots can be bought with above or below the bar depower
Trying to sell a kite in a couple of years that is specific to girls only ( check that colour scheme ) could be a problem.
My 8m Rally would be an ideal kite, I sold it for $300 bucks.( to a girl learner )
Bruna Kajiya did a girl specific kite/bar setup with Airush too
www.airush.com/2016/kites/diamond-bar/
Hi Tab,
Have a look for a second hand North Neo. The Neo is stable, grunty and super user friendly. The North bar system also allows the rider to set the trim/depower setup to suit their own needs. You can move the trimmer closer to the rider to give more trim but less depower, or any other configuration. This can be done in seconds on the beach.
DM
A small kite for a Scottish woman?
Anything with a tartan pattern should be ok.
You're welcome
Thanks for all the advice, it's really helpful.
I think I'll recommend her trying the Nitrous shorts as it would bring the bar closer than her current waist harness.
Tweaking the gear with shortening the depower line is probably not an option as it would limit the amount of total depower.
Naish Alana bar sounded good at first but: if the bar has smaller throw than regular ones, it limits the amount of depower as much as shortening the depower line. Am i correct?
I'll have to check Ozone Reo and North Neo as a combination of Dakine shorts and a kite that offers a lot of depower with small bar throw really sound like a perfect solution.
Cheers, tab
Also make sure bar is tuned properly,when trim strap or rope is all the way out,all 4 lines should be same length when the bar is sitting just above or touching the top of quik release system,that way the bar will be as close as it can be to the rider,with power,and you will have a lot of depower to play with.
