Mix and match Kites and Bars ..tell us what works

[ronnie]

I use 2008 Nobile 555 4-line bars with my IDS Xbows. Only thing I changed was to move the knot on the powerlines to lengthen the bar throw. Its still a tiny bit shorter than the max Cab throw but it works fine. Bar is adjustable 48 or 54cm.

[Silver Fox]

I have had no problems mixing and matching bars and kites (short of 5th line set ups) I find extensions from 2" to 20" do the trick!

[Pumma]

so please inform me too...
riding a Ocean Rodeo Razor 2013 & North Evo 2010
can i ride both with the North Trust Bar Quad 2012

Razor has a mini-fifth but it will work with the north bar??

[Kamikuza]

OR Flite 17.5 on a 65cm 2011 Cabrinha IDS bar but it needed some Slingshot pigtails cos OR does them 'backwards'. Flew fine but I didn't try relaunch or safety - theory suggests they should work...

so please inform me too...
riding a Ocean Rodeo Razor 2013 & North Evo 2010
can i ride both with the North Trust Bar Quad 2012

Razor has a mini-fifth but it will work with the north bar??

So long as the safety gives enough of a difference between front and rear lines that the kite will flip onto back AND it releases to both front lines, it'll work. In theory

[edt]

this is an impossible task, if you look at the cabrinha compatibility chart it is about 6 pages long, they came out with a different safety system every year.

In general terms for 4 lines kites I would ride any mini-5th line (which relies on the bridle to flag) bar with any similar kite and any center line flag with the same sort of bar. Here's a short list of those two options as of 2012-2013

Y-mini-5th line quick release: cabrinha, best, north, airush, epic, switch, gk, core

single center line flag out: ozone, slingshot, liquid force, wainman, blade, naish

[TommyDuotone]

Almost every 4 line bar works with any 4 line kite except maybe the North quad bar because of that high split(any others with high split?) Only thing that really matters is the 4 lines are square which is easily done with 2 pigtails attached to your truck/car bumper. Also, an extra set of pigtails for your lines will help resolve any issues if the lark heads and knots are reversed on the kite. A better title might be "which bar do you prefer and why."

[edt]

You can put yourself into a dangerous situation if you fly mini5 bar on a single line flag out kite, for instance, a cabrinha bar on a slingshot rally, what happens is this, when you release the QR, all the weight is transferred onto the two center lines, and in a cabrinha kite, there are pulleys near the kite that let the kite fall into a U position, but on a rally there are no pulleys there and the kite will never go into a U what happens is that it will depower but only as much as you might by throwing out the bar, so if you are in a squall and throw the QR, you can get hammered. Conversely if you try to fly a cabrinha kite with a slingshot bar, the wingtips will flare out because it won't have the pressure it normally has and this can make the kite behave unpredictably. That said, people fly their kites on all kinds of bars, I think most kiters don't notice what I'm talking about, they don't notice how the kite flies weird and they don't notice how the safety isn't working right because they only test the safety in light winds.

[knotwindy]

from the "testing" i have done on lots of kite and bar combos

a mini 5th depends on the bridle to work properly so a mini 5th bar needs a kite to match

a single line release bar matters much less and will fly almost any 4 line kite and release fine
* if you are unsure, on a lightwind day leave one front line to the kite unattached and see how the kite behaves, then try it in higher wind. the kite will dance for a second and then hit the water and stay there.
it can not fly on one line regardless of the bridle in my experience

as far as the North quad bar goes, yes the Y is higher but this can be adjusted for by making the front bridles about a inch longer, the only "real" change is with the higher Y the lines become a bit shorter so you can adjust for that. it does not really "pinch" the kite, just changes the apparent line length, try it and see if you can feel a difference in how the kite flies...

5th lines are a whole different problem, loaded or not

if you are unsure on how to check to see if a kite will release properly on a different bar,
do NOT do it yourself, get help, it really can be your life at stake

[edt]

it does not really "pinch" the kite, just changes the apparent line length, try it and see if you can feel a difference in how the kite flies...

it pinches the kite. I can show you how the physics and geometry works if you are interested. You get roughly a kilogram pinching more than a V would. If you only fly itty bitty kites you might not notice because little kites have much more structural strength, but once you get 16m and above you won't get power from the kite no matter how you adjust the bridles. Do the math, you'll see. Or go buy a 16m kite and try it on a north bar. Adjust the lines however you like it won't fly right. I know some people from North have argued otherwise but you can't defy physics.

[knotwindy]

may be true for a larger kite, i do not know. 1 kg isn't much but maybe for a larger kite it would be enough to effect flight feel for some.
the largest kite i have flow in years is a 12 and only occasionally so what i should have said was for 12m and under kites for the North bar.
i will still try it for myself and see how much difference there really is in overall feel when i get the chance, just to "test" it!