Kitesoul Magazine #10 English Edition

during extreme freestyle or
wave tricks.
“The privates"?
In spite of these clear advantages,
during the years Waist harnesses
seem to have been considered
better than Seat ones.
One of the reasons why seat
harnesses got a "bad reputation"
and a lot of people refuse
to consider them, is because
initially they came from Windsurf
Seat harnesses. Due to the
fact that the upward traction
in kitesurfing is completely different
from the horizontal one
in windsurfing, it became obvious
that a harness designed for
windsurfing could have caused
“damage” and be “painful” to
male inner thighs.
That's why anyone who used
non-optimised seat models has
only bad memories about them
and would not consider them at
all.
This issue has been tackled by
recently developed Seat models
with an improved design which
shifts the traction from your inner
thighs to the outer part of
them. So if you were to try one
of these new models you would
be surprised and pleased to
see how different they are from
what you remember and the
numerous advantages over the
Waist models. Furthermore the
comfort has been enhanced by
wider straps covered with comfortable
and cushioning materials.
Riding up hook?
For many years the riding up
hook issue on Waist harnesses
has caused many problems and
fractured ribs. If on one hand
there have been considerable
progresses over the years and
the riding up hook problem has
nearly been completely solved,
on the other hand there is no
doubt that even on this aspect
the Seat models are much better,
allowing the traction to be
always exactly in the same
point.
MUST TRY IT! WE ARE
ALL DIFFERENT!
The choice of a harness represents
a VERY personal aspect
as each of us is made morphologically
very differently from
anyone else.
Even if we were the same size
as another person we might
have a kyphotic or lordotic posture
making our perception of
comfort and of traction com-
pletely different depending on
the model. The market trend is
towards models made of materials
that adapt to different body
morphologies so to better fit
any user. However reality may
be different and in my opinion
we are still quite far from a good
"standard" level truly effective
and adaptable to all users.
That is why it is of FUNDAMEN-
TAL importance to test a harness
before buying it.
Unfortunately there are many
reasons why kiters DON'T try a
harness before they purchase
it: laziness, lack of supply in the
shops, trade fairs too far away.
Therefore the vast majority of
them buys a harness without
testing it first in the shop or in
the water. The purchasing order
is based on things like the
colour and the famous athlete
who uses that harness model.
Then, when the harness arrives
we realize that it doesn't fit well,
it's either too loose or too tight
or too soft or else it doesn't
support as we expected it to.
Testing may not always be simple
therefore, if you can, "steal"
your friends' harnesses, try
them in the water and focus on
the feelings you get and make a
comparison with your own har-