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QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

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KYLakeKiter
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QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby KYLakeKiter » Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:04 am

In the last post I did asking about the Fly vs. the Infinity, there were a lot of comments about the QRs from the Blade/Epic bar. That made me think there are a lot of opinions out there about different QRs. Regardless of the kite, everyone needs good release, so I am sure there will be no shortage of comments. I would like to hear about which brands are good, which ones have given you problems, and even what you may have done to make yours better.

My bars are older, but I have a Slingshot, a Starkite, and a Best Bar.

The Slingshot is by far my favorite QR. I can get to the big plastic knob and pull it easily even when my hands are cold and numb. The bar is an old 2 to 1 though, so I don't use it much.

The Starkite is simple and straight forward. Push forward on the plastic, no drama. (bar and kites, not my favorite though)

My Best bar is my favorite to use because the metal centerline swivel works well, but the QR is crap. That material loop is hard to find in the water, and then pulling the pin out under a load with that velcro is really difficult. I really want to figure out a mod to make it work better.

I also use a friends Cabrina sometimes. That QR is great in that it is a hair trigger. The down side is that when I am in deep water, it seems to regularly bump my surfboard and release when I don't want it to.

I know my stuff is older, so many of these problems may have been fixed. It is still good to discuss though since many on here are buying and considering used equipment.

Thanks for any contributions to this topic.

SupaEZ
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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby SupaEZ » Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:20 am

[quote="KYLakeKiter"]I I would like to hear about which brands are good, which ones have given you problems, and even what you may have done to make yours better.[quote]

Personally i have a Core Sensor bar with a "twisty" clockwise or counterclockwise QR..for my 19

Also i have a North Trust bar with mechanical push away QR..for my 12-10-8-6-5 Rebels

They both work very well....had zero problems...and i can't see how they could be improved :wink:

Just like trying to improve and re-invent the wheel or toilet paper roll dispenser technology :wink:

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby hmattar » Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:22 am

North QR is justs amazing. Never had any problem since my first 2007 Rebel.


Had a few Cabrinhas 2009-2012. They're all very good, but my 2012 was easy to release but a pain to get it back together.

I really dont feel safe with F-ones velcro release. Not only because it's velcro, but it's also not a push away system. One of the reasons I never bought a Bandit.

About Best, only used kites up to 2009, and hated all the QR from velcro to metal.

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby SupaEZ » Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:32 am

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY....MOVIE TRAILER :thumb: MAKES MY DAY :cool2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13EUXqIwDkQ

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby TheJoe » Fri Nov 23, 2012 3:05 am

I only like a push away. Then again I don't hook in with a donkey dick so I only need my leash's QR. Best thing in a crash is to let go. Even better not to have your bar near you.

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby dyyylan » Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:21 am

I usually clip my leash above the QR on the center line suicide, so it doesn't do anything anyway, but you really can't beat the simplicity of the Mutiny release, it's just a folded piece of webbing. hands down the most straightforward QR ive seen on a bar. from what ive seen the flexifoil one is similar. sand doesnt affect it and it's easy to put back together compared to the ones that release one side of the chicken loop

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby L0KI » Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:42 am

Folded webbing is super safe and reliable.
The Ocean Rodeo bar/chicken loop was perfect except it does not have a below bar swivel.

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby pmaggie » Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:35 am

I did not try a large number of QRs, so these are my two cents. All the QRs I operated worked fine (F-One, Core, RRD, Slingshot), never had a problem. What I think could be a real innovation is a QR that triggers by itself in certain conditions (death loop for example, or bad crashes). No idea about how to realize it but I think it one of the things we really need at the moment. Generally speaking, performances are good (wind range, depower, hangtime etc.), there's no new kite on the market that's really a sh..t. No doubt that performances will improve every season, but it's in the safety department IMO that our sport did not yet reach the state of the art and QRs are a very important part of it.

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby BigPaul » Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:27 pm

I've been lucky enough to have a few kites in my time.

Not really had an issue with any of them as far as the QR

Cab's
North
Blade
Naish
Starkites

The Cab's were the oldest kites I had but worked perfectly fine only grumble was they were a little bit small back in 2009 and when your hand were cold they could be hard to release.

I think the North Iron Heart is arguably the best QR out loved it but flagging out line could be a pain in the arse and most of the time meant coming back to the beach to sort out. ( I'm sure better surfers than me don't need to do this )

Blade - I've heard a lot of people slagging this bar off. I can not see any reason for it. It was simple and easy to use. I did look a bit plastic but that what it was made of

Naish This one I really did not like - I have no reason for this as I never had to use it, but it's the only one that released itself on my more than once which was really annoying.

I'm flying Starkites at the moment which I really like - had to move to Blade and Star due to the cost of kites these days.

I like the release on this as you can put it to suicide easily and it works well, do as well as I would like when there is little pressure on the lines though.

All in all I think that North have this rapped up from the kites I've flown.

Oh forgot to say also trialed a Mutiny P series. never used the release but loved the bar

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Re: QRs, the good, the bad, and the ugly

Postby tautologies » Fri Nov 23, 2012 10:43 pm

SupaEZ wrote: Personally i have a Core Sensor bar with a "twisty" clockwise or counterclockwise QR..for my 19
How does that work? Do you have to twist in a specific direction for it to release?

BigPaul: There is no way physically that the Naish release can release itself. It is light enough to release at any power as far as I know, but it has to have some kind of physical interaction to actually release.

My preference is the push release. I think it is more intuitive..you want to get the kite away, and so you push.

The only really huge issue, is that people need to practice their releasing skills. Making the release part of the muscle memory is critical to react in the shortest about of time.


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