Just wanted to post some concerns I am having regarding the 2007, 2008 and 2009 5th element bar…
1) Although I owned a 2007 5th element bar, I couldn’t get pics from it since I sold it a year ago… but, I remember a weak point in it’s design which I believe is being reproduced on the 2009 bar (but not on the 2008 bar…)
On the other hand when i got my 2008 bar, I noticed that North had made the hole in the center of the bar much bigger than 2007 bar, so the depower line dind’s suffer as much wear in the 2008 bar as in the 2007 bar.
To my surprise in the 2009 bar I recently got, that same hole is once again in a similar size as 2007 bar… so what’s happening???
2) The 2008 and the 2009 bar have IMHO a design problem that is a point in the line that holds the front leader lines with Vario Cleat lineloop.
This line (White coloured) has the 5th line that passes through it in a couple of points.
In this points, the White line suffers from a huge wear that in my case ended up in the broken line that needs a replacement.2009 bar has the same two points and in my case I am seeing that the same process is happening (and unluckily I know the end of the story…)
Not all is bad news…
Some improvements are:
- Better grip (much ticker one) so my hands feel better alter each session (I don’t like to use gloves)
- Better leader line floaters
- Improved donkey dick that it doesn’t appear that it will break in the middle as the 2008 did.
- Velcro to tie the depower line (hopper) so it won't mess up with the bar (it happened that in some situations, you this line could mess up with the bar and made it difficult to power the kite again i.e: pull the bar)
- Loosen a bit the 5th line so it is not tensioned while you are kiting
- Attach some plastic case in the points where the 5th line passes through the White line (I believe that a pen ink plastic that is cut through and then attached can be used) I’’ try to get this done and post some pics
Buenos vientos!!