Last Sunday I had an epic 4hr session, however due to constant rubbing of the depower line on one of my fingers it is now very sore. This is because when going upwind I tend to hold the bar with one hand, and in order to maintain control of the kite I have my hand in the middle of the bar with the depower line running between my fingers. It wasn't too painful riding but is now rubbed raw and quite painful and weepy.
So my question is... had anyone else encountered this problem? Is there a better way to hold the bar one handed? Funnily enough I only have the problem on one hand.
One possible fix I was thinking of was to modify the bar with a hose offcut fixed to the bar but that runs on the depower, hence saving my fingers. Any other suggestions?
Hi bramber
the solution to your problem is quite obvious: don't hold your bar with your fingers around the depower rope while riding at speed.... sudden up and down movements of the bar cause a lot of friction on your fingers, no surprise there. Just keep your hand close to the center of the bar but not Over the center of bar.
If you can't keep control of your kite with one hand slightly off center you probably need to work on kite control.
Christian
if you don't wish to change your hand position can you cut up a leather glove and use it as a sleeve over that area of the finger?
I do that when casting big lures using heavy braid and it stops any issues.
Cabrinha and the new north bar have the depower rope going through a comfy PU sheath that goes through the bar for when you get your next bar.
Some of the stuff posted on here seriously blows my mind. On a more serious note sometimes when i bat off too much my donkey d!ck gets rubbed raw. Any sugestions on how to solve this problem?
Fingerless gloves, and keep some lube in your fanny pack in case the friction is still causing problems.
I had the same problem.
I started wearing box cutter gloves.
Then I learned to keep my centre fingers slightly wider apart
Do you realise there's a thousand pole dancers laughing at this
Not good for our sport
Is there a knitting section
From this thread, I read
Worn Finger
Up & down friction
Leather / fingerless glove
Comfy PU seath
Lube/donkey dick
Spread them wider apart
Pole Dancers
Ages ago i remember seeing a heat shrink sleeve with a small tube for the depower - to prevent your finger catching...
Let it heal, just put some electrical tape on it for sessions until it does, and when it heals it probably won't happen again as it will heal stronger. I used to get it, or get it when I haven't kited for a while.
Ride with your kite lower to the water then you won't need your hand to be over the centre of the bar.
The slingshot bar has a little lip you can put your fingers around so they don't rub the center line.
but seriously you can just put your one hand on the top half of the bar near the middle so you dont need to split your fingers
Lots of helpful comments lmao.
I happen to have exactly the same problem as the OP. And I'd say my kite control is pretty good, yet I do not manage to keep the kite perfectly stable one handed unless I hold the bar between my fingers.
My quick fix solution is band aids/tape. It does the job for a session.