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New QR Chicken Loop For Any Bar

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RickI
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Postby RickI » Fri Sep 06, 2002 11:14 am

Being dragged at high speed and not being able to successfully unhook or perhaps even unshackle is not a good sensation. Many riders have experienced this now and some have also been injured. The following general trends have come out of this:

1. If you are hooked in and lofted or dragged you may not be able to unhook, many have not, and

2. Your snap shackle may not release

One solution that may help the situation is to use a quick release chicken loop, called QRL for short in this post. The problem is that you have to buy a new control bar to get a QRL. Not so. One QRL that I just picked up from Bump and Jump is shown below:

http://bumpandjump.com/prod/detail.php? ... ge=english

It has a stiff velcro quick release that appears to be pretty simple and straight forward. This QRL can be retrofitted on any bar. The external fairlead can be used if it has one or alternatively it can be fitted with one. Some external fairleads are sold on various sites including:

http://www.murrays.com/new_items/new_kite.html

I am still checking this QRL but it looks good so far short of doing extensive riding with it. Some reports have come on in some mixed experiences with this system so it would be good to hear more about what sort of performance people have had it. One issue appears to involve the release ball clearing the harness hook without problems.

I really would like to see fixed chicken loops go the way of the dinosaurs in the near future. Too many accidents and incidents have happened in which the kiteboarder just couldn't get free. So please checkout a good QRL. Pass on your experiences with the various systems out there to the rest of us. It would be good to consider retrofitting your existing bar systems with a good QRL, soon.

Rick Iossi

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: RickI on 2002-09-07 11:44 ]</font>

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kruzlifix
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Postby kruzlifix » Fri Sep 06, 2002 8:04 pm

hi rick
there are a few kiters they feel it is dangerous to launch the kite with the chickenloop already fixed to your harness. Maybe the bump and jump QRL is a good compromise and you can hook into it and fix it so you don't loose it once you are on the water. It is certainly easier then trying to connect a chickenloop to the wichard.
andreas

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RickI
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Postby RickI » Fri Sep 06, 2002 8:30 pm

Hello Andreas,

I agree, in an ideal world it would best not to hook in or otherwise connect to your bar until you are well offshore. To do this it takes some tradeoffs in terms of ease and managable kite size. Lots of us don't do this but we should expect to potentially have some trouble someday as a consequence if we have a particularly unlucky day.

As to replacing snap shackles, the B&J loop does have that stiff tube that can be used to lock it into your harness hook like the Wipika systems. So in effect it may serve the "locking in" function of a snap shackle.

I would just like to see riders find a safer, reliable option to fixed chicken loops.

Rick Iossi

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Postby Royce » Fri Sep 06, 2002 11:15 pm

Rick, we did some R+D with that loop and the one we had released on itself 3 times in an hour. We forwarded the results of this breif test to Bump and jump. I have the loop if you want it to check out I will be happy to send it to you to try. It is definitly a great system but needs either stronger velcro or some diferent fastening thing

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Postby Hernan » Fri Sep 06, 2002 11:53 pm

Wipika has a quick release loop on his bars since last year !! Takoon has one on their bars too.
What is so new??

They are not easy to re-attach in the water.

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RickI
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Postby RickI » Sat Sep 07, 2002 12:22 am

Thanks for the input guys. I only came across this release very recently. The one thing I have noticed with the B & J release is when it is loaded up you need to pull and then rapidly release the ball. Otherwise your hand could get pulled through your harness hook. I haven't had premature releases with it but haven't used it much on the water yet. What have other folks experienced with this or other QRL systems out there?

Rick Iossi

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Postby Windman » Sun Nov 03, 2002 6:51 pm

Can we resserect this post? What's the latest on QRL's. I am interested in going this route and potentially discarding my shackle. What's the best one available, Wipika, Naish, B&J.... BTW I would be using it on a 02' Sling bar which may complicate matters as the cleat may be too big for smaller lines. I also like the idea of "locking" the loop in similar to the Wipipka and B&J

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Postby randykato » Sun Nov 03, 2002 7:08 pm

yeah, when i first saw the bump&jump QRL two things quickly set off alarms in my head. the fact that there is a ball attached to the part that has to reliably slip through/around other hardware didn't make sense to me. why have anything that can possibly hang up on the released part? the other thing is related, as rick mentioned, if the shit hits the fan and you grab tight and pull do you think you'd remember to let go in that split second before the full force of the kite pulls your fingers into your spreader hook? as for the QRLs i've seen i still feel like the wipika system is the safest and cleanest...no parts get ripped out of your hand, no accidental releases, nothing to jam up.

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Postby Windman » Sun Nov 03, 2002 7:42 pm

What about the Flysurfer QRL??
http://www.oase.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/003487.html also on
http://kite-surf.com/

Looks pretty nice. The ball (handle) doesn't appear to go through the harness hook after releasing. I especially like the way you can hook back into the QRL after it has been released to reset it. Anybody used this and where can I get one?

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Postby WildThang » Sun Nov 03, 2002 8:11 pm

I actually utilize a dual system of a Wichard 2673 and a Wipika loop release.
That way if one doesn't work, I have a backup. It also allows me to launch unhooked. I just pull the adjustment strap way in to the right amount (experience will tell you how much) launch unhooked until I'm at the water's edge, hook in, pick my board up and go. Once out a safe distance on the water, I shackle in.

One time I forgot to shackle and started riding hooked in the loop and on a particularly bad jump, my loop dropped out and the kite powered up to the point I couldn't get back in. I had to release to the leash.

I think premature ejections :wink: are almost as bad as sticky releases. You want the system to hold you in without flaw and release without flaw when you need it to.

-Eric


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