Want to give the waist harness a try to take pressure off the arm for going upwind. Any recommendation which brand - swivel, slide, fixed? Looking for something that won't damage the board climbing on a stink bug water start.
Mystic Wingman Foil Harness. Works great and is reasonably priced compared to a lot of others. I like that the hook easily moves out of the way when you paddle.
DC
Just started using the Ozone and am happy enough though I will modify a couple of things. The material allows you to easily spin it around so the hook is behind you for paddling which has been handy for one of our spots. It has a real spreader bar too which makes a huge difference in comfort compared to just a hook. It's overpriced but it's the same as the Mystic.
You could also just buy a $10 weightlifting belt off of Amazon and fashion a hook out of an old carabiner, it'll work 85% as well.
that looks a like really well thought out package, and a lot more affordable than the wingman harness system, only real difference is that the wingman has a wing leash attachment point which you could just make yourself, have you used it on the water yet? Select to expand quoteFoxi said..
Ion Rush Wing Impact Vest & Harness
Yeah that ion rush looks great I'm noticing a trend that the hooks are working there way up higher which is where I think things will go so the closer to your shoulder height the better as it becomes a common axis point as you raise your arms and wing the harness line dosn't get to short so you get more movement while you are hooked in and a added bonus you don't scratch your board getting on
With the Ion Rush, its clear that you can use the impact vest without the harness. But can you use the harness without the impact vest?
Im really dying for a system where (a) you can use each component individually, (b) there are D ring, or webbing straps on the vest where I can clip things (leash, music, etc...), (c) a pocket, and (d) a harness that is not overbuilt, so I can use it as a leash belt without harness lines if I want to. Whoever designs that system can take my money. I'm currently undergoing a project where I am gluing a couple of D rings onto my vest, but I wouldn't trust them to hold a leash attachment (wing or board).
The Ride Engine Vinaka harness is pretty decent. I swapped out the metal hook that it came with and use the Ride Engine Nug, or an NSI hook instead (easier to push to the side and less risk of damaging my board). From what I've seen the Mystic and Dakine are almost functionally identical. These designs are pretty minimal, but they are overkill if you aren't going to use harness lines, and I find myself using a more minimalist belt on those days. I have the Manera wing belt on order which appears more minimal and might work better as a crossover when some days are hooked in and other days are not.
I made my own hook out of a piece of polyethylene. I bought some HDPE from ebay (search forHIGH QUALITY H D P E PLASTIC 3 MM SHEET GASKETS SEALS CHEMICALS CRAFT DURABLE). You could use an old plastic cutting board. It's easy to make and you just slide it onto a waist belt. It works fine. I used something like this as a model.
I also made a waist harness based on the Dakine Solo Wing harness. Fairly easy to build and also works well. I used scraps of bags and webbing and stuff I had in my junk box. It cost nothing but time. It's very comfortable.
I stopped using a harness. Yes it makes a big improvement in upwind angles and the amount of power you can hold. I was worried about bagging out my wing. It's alarming how much power is going into the wing when you're cranked over and doing a long upwind run. The apparent wind is huge. I didn't love having the harness lines hanging about either.
The one thing I really liked about the harness is I put a kite handlepass leash on the back. It was easy to quickly remove the leash at the end of a session for the carry up the beach. I don't do that anymore because I got a smaller board and mastered carrying the board and wing together.
Select to expand quoteVelocicraptor said..
The Ride Engine Vinaka harness is pretty decent. I swapped out the metal hook that it came with and use the Ride Engine Nug, or an NSI hook instead (easier to push to the side and less risk of damaging my board). From what I've seen the Mystic and Dakine are almost functionally identical. These designs are pretty minimal, but they are overkill if you aren't going to use harness lines, and I find myself using a more minimalist belt on those days. I have the Manera wing belt on order which appears more minimal and might work better as a crossover when some days are hooked in and other days are not.
I've been all in on winging with a harness for about 2 years. Once you're pushing hard with the harness I don't think the simple plastic hooks are up to the job. I use a freestyle windsurf harness (like the Ion Icon) with a spreader bar. It's really comfortable and have done 3 mile upwinders using it.
The spreader bar has padding behind it so I just lie on the hook for short paddle outs through the waves. However, my board does have a tough Surfdek grip that doesn't mark from contact with the hook. On longer paddles I'll unhook the spreader bar and put it to one side.
Gong now has a hook as well, not tried it myself..
www.gong-galaxy.com/en/product/gong-hook-for-leash-belt/
Personally I don't think a simple belt and plastic hook would be quite enough for me. I use the ride engine Vinaka wing harness. I think it's the ideal harness. Lightweight and minimalist, barely noticeable wearing it and doesn't effect riding. Still a good amount of support for cruising upwind.
I really like using the harness for the upwind then downwind riding I do. Makes those big long upwind tacks effortless just like in kite foiling.
I use Ride Engine Vinaka and feel that a simple belt would offer too little support. I used a windsurfing wave harness, which was overkill for me - too heavy and too big. I didn't swap a hook for a plastic one but I did think about doing that - probably I will keep it as it is.
I use the prolimit wing harness. It has a very simple flat hook that folds over when climbing back on the board, no need to move it out the way. The buckle is located far enough around that it doesn't con in contact with the board when climbing on.
briskites.au/products/drift-wingsurf-harness?_pos=30&_sid=a15cb9a73&_ss=r
I got a weight lifting belt with velcro strap from amazon for $20 and an nsi plastic hook 18mnths ago and it's been perfect and still going strong.
I'd love an impact vest with a chest strap for a hook but that ion one is way to over engineered and expensive.
Mike
