I recently purchased a 5.5 Pepper to use with a landboard/buggy and hooked it up to my standard lines. It turns a bit sklow so was going to try the handles supplied but need some advise on setting up a safety/depower system as there wasn't one with the kite.
Do you run a line between the handles at the line attach pionts then attach a leash or do you use a leash on one rear line? :?

The best option is to attach a leash to both back lines if you want some easy relaunch.thats how it comes standard on my flexifoil bullet.It has a system in which a wrist leash from the right rear line connects to your right wrist and vice versa.as you can see in the pic half way down the page of the flexifoil handles. www.extremekites.co.uk/main.php?direc=co...mp;amp;content=index

laters
Southie

Hey Griz, welcome to the KGB forums....

Okay first things first.... Depower on handles.., I don't think so... Once you connect your handles to your lines you are directly attached to the fixed brible of your kite. A 5.5m Pepper is enough to lift you right off the ground in 12-15 knots, so you will feel all the power of your kite and be unable to 'depower' the kite except by flying it to the edge of the window, (carefully) or the zenith, (slowly). You know that... right?

For full safety I would advise getting hold of a pair of 'Kite Killers' that attach to your wrist and to either the bottom of each handle or to the the brake line leader. These will bring the kite down relatively un-powered if you let go of either a single or both handles.

Fitting a line between your handles, (known as a 'strop') is generally to allow you to hook on to a harness and save you arms from becoming 6 inches longer...? I don't think I have seen a set up with a 'Kite Killer' attached to a strop between 2 handles, it just doesn't sound safe to me, but maybe someone else will have a view...?

If you want to fit a strop to you handles to use with a harness, the method I recommend is getting about 1 metre of 5-10mm Dynemma cord from a local boating shop. Take a look at the TOP of your handles and you will notice the leader lines come through the handle and should finish with a knot. You can attach your Strop, (adjust it to a length that feels comfortable between 60-70cm usually), with a larks head between the handle & the knot. (See picture below)



You can then loop the strop through the hook of your spreader bar to take the strain off of your arms. Personally I prefer a Seat Harness, (I use a Cabrinha Impact Seat Harness myself), as it keeps the pull of the kite a little lower on your body than a Waist harness, but it is a personal thing you'll need to try out for yourself.

Hope this answers your question, but if not post again....

Thanks for the help guys. I will have to spend a bit of time in the shed setting things up for handles.
As far as line set up on a bar goes, do you hook the lines up as for a LEI, ie front lines to centre, rear lines to bar ends or vice a versa?
I looked at a thread on kiteforum.com which seemed to indicate putting the front lines to the end of the bar and running the rear lines through the centre of the bar hooked to the chicken loop. :?

Griz

What bar are you trying to attach your 5.5m Pepper to?

For a 5.5m kite you should be using a 60cm+ standard 4-line control bar that will have leader lines from each end of the bar and also the centre of the bar. With this bar you attach the main flying lines to the ends of the bar, and the brake lines to the centre leaders. (See an example of an Ozone foil bar below)



It is not recommended that you try fitting a standard kitesurfing depower bar to a fixed bridle kite, where the lines coming to the centre of the bar go through the bar to the chicken loop, allowing you to move the bar in-and-out along the central lines. Using a depower bar will not make your kite depower, it will only tension the brake line as you pull the bar in, which will give the kite some very interesting, (read: Dangerous) flying characteristics.

To be able to depower the kite in flight, it would need to be set up with a specially modified bridle that will change the kites Angle of Attack (AoA), generally by the use of a complex pulley system. Pulling the brake lines may give the appearance of increasing the power of the kite, but it may make the kite difficult to fly low in the window and impossible to fly back to the zenith. Having the brake lines set too tight on a fixed bridle kite has lead to some of the worst spankings I have ever received on the end of a kite..... Ouch..!!

Correct me if Im wrong but it sounds like you are trying to attach a fixed bridle kite to a kitesurfing bar and lines. I strongly advise against even trying this.

Where did you buy your PL Pepper?

Do Not Fly With A Kitesurfing Bar!!!!

I tried this with my 60cm cabrinha bar and the kite does fly but it has the most shit turning ever its like watching a sloth.I even tried a fixed chicken loop to the bar so i could not interfere with the back lines but turning is soooo crap.I rekon if ya had a bar 65cm and with a pulley system on the centre line then it will be all good.

later

Er.... No lei and depowerable kites have there line the otherway round to traction kites.

traction kites can be two (on small kites) or four lines. the two main (front) lines on the kite go to the bar ends (or handle tops) and are what you use to fly and control the kite.

The back/brake lines are generally used to collapse the kite and make it drop to the ground.
The back line should hang lose and are fixed to YOU through the centre of the bar or bottom of the handles i.e. "kite killers"
let go of the bar or handles and all tention gose to the back line and the kite drops to the ground. it is fix to you so it doesn't blow down wind and get wraped around a tree ,person or miles out to sea


lei (leading edge inflatebles) and other DEpowerable kites fly only on a bar with the front lines going through the center of the bar to a harness you wear. the back line go to the bar ends and are used to turn the kite. slide the bar up and down the front lines and you change the "angal of atack" i.e. more power or less power.

you can't swap a traction kite bars with depowerable kite bars.

what makes you think your kite is slow? the bigger the kite the slower it turns.

what other kites are you compareing it to??

oh yeah! the longer the bar the faster it will turn, but handles should be faster than a bar!


"my 2 cents.....

I had the kite rigged backwards :shock: (same as LEI) to an Airush bar. Not sure of bar length but could explain the crappy turning.
I am comparing turn to my LEIs and a 1.2 trainer. I realise bigger kites turn slower but my 16 boxer appeared to turn faster.
I am going to get a couple of kite killers and set up a strop between the handles.
Spig- brought kite from trademe
Southie- might try my pulley bar next time out
50 psi-thanks for your advise
:wink: 8)

cool! got it sorted!

i've never used an lei so can't conpare them, but powered up 9m phantom can turn around one wing tip! my 3.5mbullit (on a bar)cant.

may mean depowerables can just turn as faster? ( anyone?)

since you can fly an lei you should fined an 10-12m or so arc would be great for buggying
and high winds on water and snow and........everything :!: :twisted:


conrad