There seems to be a trend by kite companies doing away with these. Can understand maybe 5 line kites, but not "mini 5th line" kites. Could be very difficult to land those on yoiur own in high winds!!

I dont understand - what is an "oh shit" release, and why needed ?

Thought it was an extra rear line loop to hold, if something else was wrapped so the frontline releases does not work ? (I havent seen those for ages)
But in doubt what you mean ?

What do you think is missing ?

All kites has option for a rear or frontline or 5th line safety release setup, right ?

Even if you ride "suicide", you can just move your leash clip to the rear/front/5th line if you need to land in high winds

Peter

The safety release on my kite is what I think is called a "mini 5th line". This releases most of the power but certainly not all (like a real 5th line).

The "oh shit" handles are on the steering lines, and if you grab one of these and release everything else, the kite flags out to that one steering line.

I was out by myself the other day and it was pretty windy. Really did not know how I was gonna land the kite, but fortunately there was a windsurfer there who landed the kite for me.

I agree Bill, I never understood why they disappeared. I'm not an expert so maybe there are some reasons for this but I never heard of someone having issues with the OS. They simply seem to be a very safe option to neutralize the kite when necessary.

Best bars still have OSRs on the steering lines. Matter of fact I broke a front line yesterday and flagged out on the OSR. Easy as pie.

I think they changed the 2013 bar to have a below the bar safety that flags out to one of the middle lines. Got rid of the rings on the steering lines.

I like them. Never used them. Never had the time to think that I had them. Probably why they got rid of it. Cheaper to make the bar... still cost ca $50 more then last years. wtf

If you can grab one before you unhook because of kite down in damaging surf , I think it could save a blowout to a kite flagged on two front lines and keep you from being dragged as far..."oh, shit"

Very easy for mini 5th to fail to slide through bar, stopper, swivel, twists... happened to me the other day.
Was self landing in water in light conditions so I just untwisted the twists and yanked the line through the hole it was stuck in.
Even a loop to loop connection can get stuck!
If I couldn't get it straight, or it was windier, at least I could have gone to the OS handle.
It's a very good feature to have.
FWIW, "safety" leashing to both front lines as in cabs etc, is absolutely worthless approach to safety.
Sure it works usually in a simple crash.
Then again so does suicide -or even the old death shackle.
But then the next thing goes wrong, and you and/or the kite are in real trouble.

I have oh shits on two of my bars, not a fan. The problem is that eventually the velcro fails when seaweed gets into them, so the steering lines get loose and wrap around things. If you like them go buy some stainless steel rings and lark's head them onto your steering lines and leaders.