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harnesses, fixed or sliding bar?
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w8n4wind



Joined: 12 Nov 2008
Posts: 278
Location: canada

PostPosted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 8:03 pm    Post subject: harnesses, fixed or sliding bar? Reply with quote

ive always used sliding bars since i went to waist harnesses about 20 years ago. and i like them, and cant imagine the bar not sliding. ?
today i went to replace my last harness , which was about 5 years old, but was surprised to see almost everything in the shop is fixed bars, in fact they only had a couple of sliding bar harnesses out of the dozens in stock..and those didnt fit.

so, what your preference? sliding or fixed.?
and does it matter?

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xander.arch



Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 217

PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm with you in the sliding camp which I wayyyyyyy prefer. The fixed bar forces your hips more into alignment with the rig since the pull point is directly on center. This means that with a fixed I can't really rotate my hips out of plane with the sail which is a huge detriment to getting upwind and getting on a plane. With a slider I can crank my hips out to the nose which moves the hook slightly off center towards my back foot side of my navel. Once the hook is slid back it makes it natural to sail with your hips rotated towards the nose. For me this helps to create more mast and front leg pressure as needed which really helps get on plane and head upwind.

I bought a fixed once. It took me half a season to realize that the harness was why everything about my sailing was out of whack and slow. The slider is a little harder to hook into after a fall when the hooks stays on one side. But for me the greater sensitivity to my stance makes it worth it. I've used the dakine t5 and hot sails waist. Both are good.


Last edited by xander.arch on Sun Sep 01, 2013 11:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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KevinDo



Joined: 02 Jul 2012
Posts: 426
Location: Cabrillo Inside

PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just replaced my fixed bar with a sliding one a month ago. Got about 15 sessions in on it. LOVE IT. So smooth! Especially when I twist my hips forward hard in a gust!

-Kevin

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VinceSF



Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 249
Location: Maui, HI

PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

uh, 3 people in favor of sliding bars to 0 in favor of fixed bars. I hope the industry is reading this.
I use mono line and I can't imaging going back to doubles, but I can definitely admit others preference for doubles as some of the arguments are valid. it is a matter of choice and preference. But sliding bars are really going to seriously impact your sailing in a positive way.

Note to brands: if your harness does not have a way to be retrofitted, it will automatically be dismissed, no matter how superior it is by a lot of sailors.
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nw30



Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 6485
Location: The eye of the universe, Cen. Cal. coast

PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Slider for sure, fixed ones suck for all the reasons mentioned above.
I just recently bought a DaKine waist harness with a slider conversion kit, it's just a belt with rings on each end to hook onto the side clips, it works really well, but I have only one complaint with it. It wears out really fast, they need to use a better belt material, I'm already needing to buy another converter.
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w8n4wind



Joined: 12 Nov 2008
Posts: 278
Location: canada

PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ok, good. its not just me.
the shop was telling that pretty much everyone is going for fixed bars, i cant see it. its gotta feel awkward.
i did end up finding a dakine t6 in another shop today. just a basic bar that just slides on webbing. simple, and the webbing is easy to replace.
but.. it has to be physically 50% larger than my old harness.. whats up with that? why all the excess bulkiness? i dont get it.

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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1158

PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the waves, the harness is used mostly to go upwind, therefore when leaning forward and turning hips forward, it sure helps that the hook moves to the side. Now what would be nice is to make the bar go back to the center upon unhooking!
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beaglebuddy



Joined: 10 Feb 2012
Posts: 1120

PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 2:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

manuel wrote:
Now what would be nice is to make the bar go back to the center upon unhooking!

I was thinking the same thing.
Kiting hooks seem to have all kinds of cool sliding, twisting, spinning, emergency releasing features but not so much for windsurfing.
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beaglebuddy



Joined: 10 Feb 2012
Posts: 1120

PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFCqfMQvNUA
This dynabar looks cool, they say it can be made to return to center and can be used for windsurfing. The hook bend looks a little tight but I'm not sure. The shape of the hook looks ok, not so hammerhead shaped like a typical kite hook.
Anyone?
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Everyone I know whose harness came with a sliding bar found some way to fix (in both senses of the word) it. It's probably fine in long, straight, stable reaches on flat water, where time spent finding the hook again is not important, but that's not how we sail.
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