I don't reckon that looks right. A QR should require a decent yank before it releases.

cauncy said..

Chris_M said..
I don't reckon that looks right. A QR should require a decent yank before it releases.

Then you'd get the mincers who'd complain it didn't release easily enough

Nah it doesn't look right. Mincers can go back to street SUP

Question: If the QR came undone in mid-flight, I would just hang on to the bar (if possible) and try and control the landing. Wouldn't that be the right way about it - to try something at least?

NorthernKitesAUS said..
Question: If the QR came undone in mid-flight, I would just hang on to the bar (if possible) and try and control the landing. Wouldn't that be the right way about it - to try something at least?

NorthernKitesAUS said..
Question: If the QR came undone in mid-flight, I would just hang on to the bar (if possible) and try and control the landing. Wouldn't that be the right way about it - to try something at least?

This would be similar to when a harness line breaks on a windsurfing boom. You never expect it, so you aren't ready to do anything. Holding your own weight when something is static is easy, but under load, not so easy.

NorthernKitesAUS said..
Question: If the QR came undone in mid-flight, I would just hang on to the bar (if possible) and try and control the landing. Wouldn't that be the right way about it - to try something at least?

Give it a crack go ornn, boost huge and film it get back to us you could have your own trick the lofty winds one line bridal recovery loop

LeighMajor said..
To avoid injury he could of kicked his board off.
The impact forces on your ankles and lower legs with a flat hard landing are huge.
Where not bullet proof.

Maybe you could message him and tell him this?

He'd appreciate it.

LeighMajor said..
To avoid injury he could of kicked his board off.
The impact forces on your ankles and lower legs with a flat hard landing are huge.
Where not bullet proof.

wanna see you undo your boots mid air in the middle of a loop - would probably score high at KOTA tho

Here is a really clear video of what actually happened. Ruben fully opened the QR with his hand accidentally. The whole incident was an unfortunate accident.


www.instagram.com/p/BxIKF9sl9RM/?igshid=bdohwsd806f1

Ozone Kites Aus said..
Here is a really clear video of what actually happened. Ruben fully opened the QR with his hand accidentally. The whole incident was an unfortunate accident.


www.instagram.com/p/BxIKF9sl9RM/?igshid=bdohwsd806f1

Yup thats a good clear view, poor bastard!

How often does this happen when looping? I've never experienced it but have any others had this problem?

StKKiter said..

Chris_M said..

eppo said..

NorthernKitesAUS said..
Question: If the QR came undone in mid-flight, I would just hang on to the bar (if possible) and try and control the landing. Wouldn't that be the right way about it - to try something at least?

Your kite would only have 1 string under tension still tho so youd be a rock in a sock

Aren't all lines are still under tension if you are holding the bar? The quick release only matters if you let the bar go. Obviously in this instance, mid loop and unexpected, the bar would get ripped from anyone's hands

Actually, yes you are right.

I suppose the QR going off accidentally is the equivalent of accidentally unhooking eh? In which case you just hook back in and the kite carries on as normal. A bit harder when your loop has opened up but an experienced person would grab the loop and push the bar out and de-power the kite then get things sorted. But yeah the bar got ripped out of his hands in that loop as the QR went off. My bad. I take back my earlier comment. I suppose I have never tried pulling the QR while holding onto the bar so didn't really think thru the mechanics of the situation properly.

Gazuki said..

NorthernKitesAUS said..
Question: If the QR came undone in mid-flight, I would just hang on to the bar (if possible) and try and control the landing. Wouldn't that be the right way about it - to try something at least?

I don't think the rider was that experienced at riding unhooked so that probably never crossed his mind in the moment

Have I missed something? Isn't the rider Ruben Lenten? If so, he is definitely no newby. The dude is experienced!!

Underoath said..
StKKiter is spot on.

The force of the quick release executing would blow the bar out of your hands.

I very much doubt anyone would have the ability to hold on. especially considering the event was unexpected.

Eppo. Fish-poling is the safest way to loop. The slower the loop the more probability of a bad time,

Dude I know how to loop. He has also pulled the bar right down into the quick release mechanism. Fully powered. Which is also the way to go if trimmed correctly.

ps try fish poling something like a rebel ... best for C kites granted.

Peahi said..
So when a plane goes down you blame the pilot not the aircraft

Not sure if that comment was meant as criticism, or statement of fact....but in this case, yes. Pilot error.

The point of the QR is to do exactly that - release quickly, especially under tension, with minimal input required, when in an emergency situation (eg deathloops).

In this case, Ruben's technique is to fishpole his bar, and at the same time pull the bar fully in to choke down on the QR, to megaloop. He does this by positioning his left "pull" hand in the middle of the bar, jamming it up against the QR. As the kite powers up and pulls the bar, his hand catches on the QR and provides the minimal input required to release it. The difference being he is mid-megaloop 15m in the air, rather than being dragged along the ground/water by a deathloop, so the release is unwanted. If anything, it demonstrates that Ozone's QR works perfectly, even under the extreme forces produced by a deathloop/megaloop.

Unfortunately, this incident is down to his hand-positioning when looping. If he were to have his left hand out from the middle of the bar, so that it is positioned below the QR when he fishpoles, then there'd be no issue. Be interesting to see what his technique is when looping the other way (ie right hand is pull hand).

The priority for a QR, as an emergency device, has to be it's ease of release under tension. We shouldn't be trying to modify them to make them harder to release IMO. This wasn't a case of a faulty release (ie releasing without being triggered), this was a case of accidentally triggering the QR to do exactly what it was designed to do. The solution is for Ruben to modify his technique.

eppo said..
Yeh we will let you advise Lenten, one of the best riders on the planet lol. But agree with your point of choking down on the
quick release. That was the a clearer way of saying what I've been trying to say. Ta.

Haha - "Dear Ruben, allow me to teach you how to loop a kite" Trust me, I'm barely downlooping an 8m kite on jumps under 10m, so I'm not even half the kiter he is. Just commenting on what I see in the video, and some of the commentary around it that I've seen on modifying QR's etc.

To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't done it before, having seen that slow-mo video. Or maybe he has and it was just this one was so catastrophic.

Out of my own interest I've been meaning to go back through some of his vids and see if that hand position is something he does commonly; same for Kevin (just cos he posts a heap of POV kiteloop videos).

It's interesting, cos all the initial boosting advice you get is to keep hands centred and pull in, to prevent overflying the kite. So you develop that muscle memory, but then progressing to loops is essentially overflying the kite by fishpoling - not sure I've seen much advice on hand position at this point, but in light of this maybe it becomes worth looking at.