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Straps or strapless

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alamos_kiter
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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby alamos_kiter » Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:31 am

I'm riding strapped and strapless, depending on conditions. Skim and Surfboard and TT. Here's my take:

For learning (light conditions), it's easier strapless. It's the only way to learn proper stance and shifting stance according to your tack - you would not even know where exactly to mount your straps if you have never experienced the board strapless. It's easier to learn gybes.

With time you'll be able to ride ever harder conditions strapless, that's normal progress. Until you're good at it, you take your TT to the beach as well when it blows hard, is very gusty or infested with ugly chop. Swapping boards every so often in the session helps you to learn fast. If you have the luxury of 2 surf boards, you can use one with straps instead of the TT in those conditions.

When you have the skill, it's good fun to race around the slop and blown out crap pretty powered on a strapped surf board. NEVER I would use front strap only, unless you don't care to eventually destroy your knee.

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Starsky
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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby Starsky » Sun Apr 19, 2015 2:27 pm

Not sure if it's already been mentioned, but going strapless opens your choice of board up ten fold.

There are exceptions, but a LOT of boards with inserts are pretty stiff and heavy. I know you hear that all the time, but it really is a big deal. Take the best shapes out there, overbuild em and you kill em.

Both weight and flex are a huge deal on their own. Mess em both up and its no where near the board it could be.

The buoyancy of a surfboard is noticably impacted by really small increases in weight. When a board starts taking on water, you better let it dry out before you fix it or your gonna find its bogging down in spots it used to fly through.

Take out the flex, even a little and you take away a lot of the pleasure factor. I don't know if it makes you surf better, but flex sure makes everything feel better!

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby maurice_k » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:45 am

:thumb: Yes Strappless all the way.

It is hard in the beginning to learn to insert and pull your foot out of the bindings if you are riding strapped.
It is also a complete different feeling when you are riding strapped. It gives you the freedom of riding popping tricks when you are riding strapless.

You can go endless here and teach ourself a complete new way of riding which def. brings a smile on your face.





Summer is coming. www.seabreezekiteclub.com

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby flyingcamel » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:59 am

i got the dialer last year for my light wind board and first did it with straps and then with out the next session. never went back to strapped when riding it. the only thing that i benefited from straps is keeping the front foot in contact with the board in chop while going fast or for stronger gusty conditions, other than that it was a pain and awkward to put them on during every failed transition since the board is very wide and buoyant and the front strap is pretty much in the middle of the widest part. you also cant get your back foot as far back as you should with the strap in the way to do some nice turns while crusing. you can also start working on your transitions and jibes on day 1. i haven't been using it as much lately since the water is still cold and each dip reduces my time on the water so ive just been using my 165 stylus which i found out today is also fun strapless. a screw came loose after a jump so i rode it back with my feet out and it felt so good i did a few more tacks and am debating putting some pads down so i have the option while riding when the wind is below jumping speed.
i got the big TT even though i had the dialer because i once had a situation where i was in a wind shadow from a small island and was having a lot of trouble relaunching my kite because of the lack of tension of not having a board on my feet to fight the pull of the kite. holding the surfboard with one hand wasn't helping things so i had to drag in. i got also got the flite because of that because of its very light weight and shape and turning speed to avoid that problem so once the water gets a little bit warmer ill be back on it working or being better than 1 for 5 on my jibes.

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby matth » Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:29 am

thanks again for all the advice...i cant wait to begin riding my Dialer..

Flyingcamel.. we must have been separated at birth...I also have a Stylus and a Flite.

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby cleepa » Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:45 am

I'm a 100% strapless rider, even on days where it is big surf with onshore wind and chop. Even then, I absolutely love it. It takes a while to learn to deal with the hardest conditions, but when you can do it, it is so satisfying. You'll learn that board choice can be make or break. You'll get worked more than with straps. You'll wish that you had straps on the big days. But, you'll eventually learn how to be efficient, how to use the board to it's maximum potential and how to handle the power of the ocean better than you will with straps. Because you have to. With straps, you can hold down a lot more kite power, and use that to power you through some tough stuff. But the freedom of being able to move your feet to exactly where they need to be on the board is lost. Watch a pro surfer on a wave - their feet will be in totally different positions for tubes, turns and tricks. You lose a lot of that with straps.

Having said all that, I kite with some 100% strapped folk, who often end up ripping harder than I can, because they can hold down more power. It's pretty rad to watch and sometimes makes me question my choice. In the end, strapped vs. strapless is just a preference. You can rip either way. You should try both and see which you like.

As for learning, all I can say is what I did. I learned with straps. As soon as I took them off, I was kicking myself for not having done so sooner, because I loved the extra freedom. Straps for the first few sessions may be a little easier or may not. Experiment!

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby Westozzy » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:25 am

Clean nice swell days strapless.

Big days, little ugly, front strap only

Real big, crazy wind, ugly days, both straps and boost as well.

Everything else TT.

That's how I roll. It all depends. Learn both.

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby knotwindy » Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:43 am

again, slightly different perspective

if you are riding strapless and flailing around in the rotation because you can not stay on your board yet and messing it up for everyone behind you in the best spot on the wave, you are an a-hole and need to move someplace else to learn how to ride a wave
if you are doing the same with straps your are still an a-hole and the same thing holds true

i ride straps and strapless and am not advocating either one, just saying you are probably not one of the top riders in the world if you are reading this and need to be realistic about your abilities strapless,

if you are dragging for your board as often as riding it in busy break, think straps or move someplace else to learn and then welcome back
if it is a private, uncrowded break, anything goes, of course, but just because you think strapless is the only way to ride, don't mess up everyone else day

ride whatever you want, just try to be kind to the other riders
end of minor rant :o :bye:

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby Westozzy » Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:51 am

Agreed otherwise you become as annoying and hard to read as windsurfers, or even worse TT riders who don't actually don't go into the waves, but hover just before the wave section you need to be on when going down the line... :cry:

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Re: Straps or strapless

Postby jeromeL » Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:18 pm

Beginner point of view :
Got to borrow a surfboard for the first time a few weeks back. It had no strap.
18 knots with a bit of choppy irregular wave (2 feet max) and 5mm booties.
I got up boy ways and made toeside and heel side turn on first try. Wasn't able to jibe on first try though.
I hear a lot of people who claim they want to learn with 2 straps then remove back strap then go strapless but I found it easy enough strapless so being a beginner is irrelevant. I would say use strap when the conditions require them.


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