Hi,

I know this post have been discussed a lot here in kiteforum, but i still have some doubts.

After 10 years kiting with waist harness, my lower back pain have forced me to looking for a good seat OR hybrid harness to avoid these pain.

For sure, the seat harness will give to me an excelent support but for sure will limit my legs freedom.

I found those kind of hybrid harness (a waist harness with legs straps, like OR Session, North Transformer and ION Xcite). This for sure will also give a good back support and will maintain the harness in the right position avoid goes up and hurt. OK! But, how about the hook position? The high position of the hybrid harness, as the same of waist harness, can let maintain the back pain, as the forces goes direct from our back and not from the hips?

I've been using an OR Session harness (the old style one) for some time now. As far as I can make out, the only difference between a hybrid like the session and a conventional waist harness is that the leg straps keep the harness in place. The load from the kite is applied to your body in exactly the same way as it would be with a waist harness - the leg straps only go into tension when the harness wants to ride up.

Hook position is the same as for a waist harness - I've experimented with using the leg straps to hold the harness lower, but found it pretty uncomfortable.

I fully agree!

/Urban.

The OR session holds the waist harness down at the sides, so you are free to lean forward and back, and because the leg straps are attached at the top of the harness, you have a reasonable amount of twisting freedom.
It only has elastic cords holding it at the back, so it does give a little bit of support if you bend forward, but not as much as a seat harness. Because the hook is higher on the hybrid, there would be more load on your back than with a seat harness with a lower hook.
Main advantage is that the harness stays down, so you have less load on your back than if it rode up.

A seat harness would load the back less from the harness hook as a general rule.

I have a Dakine Fusion and an OR Session 1 and the Fusion is the easier of the two on my back.

Stance and having the bar sheeting range within easy reach play a big part too - as could bar pressure.
A Dynabar spreader bar might also reduce the load on your back.

Same here. Just got the DaKine Fusion seat harness and combined with the Dynabar works great toeside. Rode the DaKine Pyro for years, but older and got some back pain. The seat is really comfortable also.

Hi guys,

I have read some comments about the fusion, saying that the support is excellent but it is very stiff, not so confort and hard to go in-out. Is it true?

Maybe is there others seat harness with good support and more flexibe?

It seems hybrid harness is not so good for bad back....

thanks for all informations!

I'd say the Fusion is stiff, gives good support and its comfortable and easy enough to get in and out of. Its not flexible though.

I'd like to find the kitesurf equivalent of an old windsurf harness I have. Its a Maui Magic Crossfire waist/seat harness, gives good support and is comfortable. I think I used it for kiting once. Its old now and it wasn't built for kiting, but it works very well as a hybrid. It does support the back well for windsurfing, but it wouldn't allow me to bend forward as much as the OR Session would. I think that trade-off is inevitable. It does show me that it is possible to build a comfortable waist/seat harness that supports the back well and is reasonably flexible.

I haven't found my ideal kitesurf harness yet.

Isn't the point of seat harnesses that the tow point is kept low? That will, as an by-product of the design, limit your ability to bring your knees to your chest (which is what I find) and, as it's strapped around you bum, it'll be unable to rotate around your torso ...

It's like buying a family wagon to load with gear then complaining that you can't go fast around the corners ... it's designed to one thing, and not the other

BTW you can shorten the leg straps on the Session, can't you? That should ease up on the back ...

Been using the North Transformer for a season now. Pretty comfortable but can't comment on the back issues because I've never had a back problem.

If you want to look at other options, the Liquid Force board shorts still keep the hook fairly high but is still a seat harness. I found it kept the hook mid way between a normal waist and seat. The dakine board shorts kept it at seat height which I didn't like.

Mocolombo,

Maybe you should try the Dakine Nitrous shorts. I know some people who have back problems who believe these help them. But each person may have a different source of pain and some solutions work for some and not for others.

I've used Nitrous shorts off and on for years and they are nice-- LOTS of freedom of movement. The padding in the leg straps is a bit minimal, but the new ones I looked at recently seem a little more beefed up.

One thing for sure is that a seat harness and Nitrous shorts let your abdominal muscles get a little "lazy" because you're not doing "crunches" with your abs when you jump...which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you want to look at it. Obviously you want to keep your abs strong to help manage back problems. But I would suggest you give the Nitrous a try if you can. Hope your back pain improves!