A question that I have heard very often from my students and customers: "Which is better: waist harness or a seat harness?" My answer ?: "It depends on what kind of kiter you are ..." What I mean by that is that everyone has their own preferences and that it depends on what you focus on when kiting.
It can be safely said that the harness is sometimes the most important thing when kiting and should be chosen with care and patience. Because the wrong harness can cost you a lot of time on the water and if it doesn't fit, it can even hurt a lot. And: it is one of the first utensils that I buy when I want to practice this sport.
Seat harnesses: only for beginners?
Seat harnesses are very popular with beginners and each of you will certainly have worn it on your first kite course. This is due to the fact that the harness hook sits further down on a seat harness and therefore the pulling point and the center of gravity are lower. This gives more stability and helps with water starts, for example.
In addition, kite schools have more leeway with the seat harness, because it does not have to fit perfectly. If the kite school no longer has a medium trapeze, a large trapeze can quickly be used for training.
In addition, a seat harness requires much less body tension when driving, which is also beneficial for beginners. Kiters with sensitive backs or back problems should also prefer to use a seat harness because this type of harness relieves the back. Allerdings schränkt ein Sitztrapez die Bewegungsfreiheit in den Beinen ein, was für fortgeschrittene Kiter die lieber „Airstyle“ oder „Freestyle“ machen durchaus hinderlich sein kann.
Unfortunately, seat harnesses are often declared as beginner harnesses (especially for kite instructors) and that is why most of them automatically switch to a waist harness after the kite course. Nonsense if you ask me ... "I'm much better now, do you think I can use a real trapeze now?" To be honest, it also depends on your physique. In this respect: no, you don't have to change. Just get the right advice and try it out if possible.
For example, I like to use a seat harness when foiling. In my experience, with a seat harness, I can go out with more pressure when foiling and change course more quickly. The harness hook is also located further down , which is more comfortable for power and depower. And: even kiters with shorter arms can get to the bar (easier) depowered.
- Beginner friendly
- gentle on the back
- Don't slide up
- Focus lower
- Harness hook below
- Freedom of movement restricted
- little choice compared to waist harnesses
- has no style
Hip harness: only for professionals?
Hip harnesses are the most common, as the name suggests, they sit on the hips and have no leg straps. Therefore they offer much more freedom of movement and are very popular with freestylers and wave kiters. However, it is even more important with the hip harness that it fits perfectly, otherwise it could be quite uncomfortable in overpowered sessions. When the trapeze slips under your armpits, it's not so funny anymore. Above all, it sticks to the ribs beforehand, and you can feel that for longer. With hip trapezoids, nothing really should press or slide - you just have to feel good. I had to try out several harnesses until I really found the right one.
The back of the waist harness sits on the back, which is why you generally stand or should stand more upright on the board. The upright posture with body tension brings optimal power transmission to the board. So you can set edges nicely even in overpowered areas and also hold edges.
For freestyle or wakestyle: the freedom of movement and with unhooked tricks, the way back to the harness hook is not that far. So you can take off and hang up (after a demanding trick) faster.
It also offers advantages when riding a switch and thus also in the wave. The trapezoid, and with it the hook, can slip with it and does not stay so firmly in the middle of the body. In the meantime, this has been optimized by other solutions.
Oh yes: of course you can also learn on waist harnesses, for example if the kite school doesn't have anything else. It just has to sit well.
- Freedom of movement
- large selection
- more body tension, thus better power transmission
- better for wave and freestylers
- can slide up, especially not an advantage at the beginning if you park the kite at the zenith a lot
- can cause back pain
- should be tested on the water, must really sit optimally
Hard- or softshell?
It all depends on your preferences. Do you want a comfortable trapeze or one that supports your back perfectly?
A soft harness is comfortable but does not support as well as a hard-shell harness and is relatively cheap. However, I rarely see very soft trapezoids and are usually quite old. Most trapezoids now have a certain stiffness and are also preformed.
Personally, I prefer something in between - not too hard, not too soft - that's where I found my perfect harness at Manera, namely the Eclipse. It fits my body shape exactly, so it has the right cut for me and fits perfectly !
Conclusion:
A harness has to do one thing: it just has to fit and feel good. Because it can refine your session unnoticed or noticeably destroy your session (and weeks afterwards). Take the time to test. Good surf shops or kite schools have a test pool that you can try on the water. What should you spend or invest? Here, too, there is from to, used to new. Personally, I think it's excessive to spend around 450.00 on a trapeze, but that's a different story.
I hope my article will help you further in your search for the perfect harness. And yes, this search can take a while.
Greetings from Lake Neusiedl,
Alex!