Bar Floats - good idea...here's why

[tomatkins]

I would like some opinions on this subject: Look at the pictures.

One picture shows the "Floats" I have added to one of my bars. Another picture shows a situation, that I believe occurs commonly, usually while a person is relaunching a kite in deep water under difficult conditions, where a good deal of leader line is pulled in, in order to encourage a kite to motor on over to the edge of the window or to fill a wingtip with air. In this situation the kiter may have to act quickly to push out on the bar, as the kite starts to tumble over, and this can initiate a partially HOT launch... which is not particularly bad, in that it can get the kite up in the air, faster... but, on the other hand, can allow this accidental "leader line wrap" to occur... and when this happens (unknown to the kiter), and the kiter grabs the bar, trapping the line between his hand and the power line, and the kite shoots up into the air...well, guess what? ... the kite begins to loop. This action can be the beginning of a cascade of events, ending badly. From personal experience with this situation, I can tell you that the first view the kiter will have of this problem, will be while he is being dragged...under water! The attempt to grab the leader and pull it around the end of the bar, may not be successful, as the line may be under a lot of tension and may bind up against the power line.

I feel that a big advantage of adding these floats to a bar is the minimization of having this situation occur. I think that there are other advantages, such as making a bar, that has been released to its safety, less likely to tangle on other lines... and I like the way that the floats "wall off" the other components (power line adjuster, stopper balls, power line, etc) when the lines are wound up on the bar. This allows the lines to come off the bar, more smoothly, when doing a drift launch, or just unwinding the lines on the beach. One picture shows the lines wound up on the bar, illustrating this "neater winding" of the lines.

What do you think? What are the disadvantages of adding such "floats" to a bar system?

[cglazier]

Another good reason to add floats to a bar that doesn't float is that a sinking bar can snag on underwater rocks in shallow situations. Then you are in difficulty for sure.

CG

[Peter_Frank]

You are right on all points IMO

But I have never had, nor seen, a bar WITHOUT such floats ?

Did you lose the floats, or are there bars around without these ?

But even with floats - bar tangles CAN occur, in special situations - they are just very rare

Peter

[tomatkins]

The Cabrinha bar floats well enough to keep it on the surface, and it floats enough that most of the time, when the bar is thrown to its safety, the bar does not thread through the leader lines, and does not tangle... so, I do not have any complaints about the 'flotation' of the bar.

I would guess that the designers felt that the soft ends were an advance in technology, and that the large amount of flotation in the soft end winders would satisfy their customers. I was very happy with the design of the bar, and only had this one problem with the leader line wrapping around the end of the bar.

I posed this question to find out if, by chance, I might be creating an unexpected problem by modifying this aspect of the bar. As one can see from the pictures, I have already modified a lot of stuff on the 2010 Cabrinha bar... added an O'sh*t loop...got rid of the balls, short power line adjuster, and I added a home-made stopper ball... and all of these modifications have worked out problem-free, after a couple of years of use.

So everyone is unanimous ... "no unforeseen problems" with the addition of "floats"?

I appreciate all the comments... keep them coming.

[Peter_Frank]

Nice and neat design you made !
I dont see any disadvantages, and it yorks like most other bars now.

- Peter

[Kamikuza]

The addition of the OS handle is a good idea too ...

What's under the Cab bar end there? That is, how do you get in there to change the leaders around?

[consumer]

Lol dude- obviously agree with your analysis but this is way dweebing out. Now let's have the whole kite community agree on this wonderful benefit of bar floaties so you might be able to get back to kiting.

[Kamikuza]

Lol dude- obviously agree with your analysis but this is way dweebing out. Now let's have the whole kite community agree on this wonderful benefit of bar floaties so you might be able to get back to kiting.

Not trying to knock you down, but there are some newbies on here or who stumble on threads like this, and they come in handy just sayin' ...

[consumer]

Haha it's ok you can knock me down. I admit I wasn't being very nice so why should I deserve any courtesy?

Anyway- let's get back on topic! Bar floaties-

[prelives]

I am a newbie who stumbled upon this thread & have only used Cabrinha gear. Is the Oh Shit loop the red strap loop? How does it work? What does it do? Thanks!

-Scott