As you are putting together your kitesurfing set of gear you will come to the question: Which kitesurfing harness to buy? Well, there are four types of harnesses available on the market these days. Here they are, in order of popularity:
1. Waist harnesses
2. Seat harnesses
3. Vest with built-in or matching harness
4. Shorts with built-in harness
1. Waist Harness
Honestly, the waist harness is difficult to even call a harness, as it is actually a big and wide belt with lots of cushioning and padding, that goes on your waist. This kind of harnesses is very easy to adjust and very forgiving, this is why it is the most popular in kitesurfing schools. And waist harnesses are generally less expensive due to their minimalistic design. The only disadvantage waist harnesses have is that they have this tendency to slide up on your body towards your chest and shoulders because the kite is up in the air and it always pulls your harness upward. See the picture below, on the right (Please focus on the harness)
This sliding creates a bit of inconvenience for a few reasons. First, it may be difficult to reach your control bar after you let it all the way out and your harness is sitting at your chest level. (This can be even dangerous since you can’t reach your steering wheel, so to speak. In this situation you may push the center line away and downwards with one hand and use another hand to grab the bar). Second, you will become unbalanced, since the attachment point of the kite will be shifted from your bellybutton (where the center of mass is) to your chest, and if the kite pulls, and pull it will, it will be easier for you to lose your balance and enter in an unwanted rotation, usually – face forward.
To fix this unbalanced situation you should keep an eye on your waist harness making sure that it stays on your waist. You will need to tighten the adjustment straps every now and then since they usually loosen up as you go through your session. Also, you may want to lean away from your kite more, so the kite will be pulling more in the direction that is perpendicular to your spinal cord.
2. Seat Harness
As an alternative, you can switch to a seat harness, which actually does look like a harness and has straps that go around your legs, preventing it from riding up. Seat harnesses do have a few extra straps to adjust and may look a bit more bulky, and could be more expensive, but that depends on the model. The word on a beach is that seat harnesses do not look as cool, and they restrict your range of motions when you need to bring your knees up to your chest while doing aerial stunts, but I am guessing those are not in the cards for you just yet.
3. Vest + Harness
The next popular option is vests with a built-in harness. This is like having two devices in one. A very nice solution if you are into wearing a safety vest in general. We go into more detail about vests in the DAY 2 of our PROGRAM. This option is more expensive and more custom when it comes to selecting a size. I personally cannon enjoy this option because I am tall, have a long torso and the manufacturers do not make safety vests for tall people, and I end up having the spreader bar up too high.
4. Shorts + Harness
And finally, shorts with built-in harness. An ultimate option if you are into two things: wearing shorts and seat harnesses. These look cool and you not gonna look dorky with the bulky seat harness over your shorts. A pricey option and rarely available since only a few manufacturers are making these. Size selection is a “must try ‘em on”, mostly because of the shorts part, as the harness part is fully adjustable just like on a stand-alone harness. Here is one nice video on style in kitesurfing –>>.
The Verdict
Seat harness is easier to start with and I would definitely recommend it for beginners. I personally love seat harnesses, have two of them in my quiver, and use them every time I can. Hands down it all comes to your personal preference, so, try it, rent it, borrow it, get it on your waist one way or another and see what suits YOU best.
Here is one tip for you to keep in mind when shopping for a new harness: wetsuit usually adds up one size, keep this in mind. And spreader bar may be of a different size on the next size harness. In other words you may end up having two harnesses: one for a warm climate (no wetsuit) and one for a colder weather (with wetsuit), especially if you choose to go with the option four – shorts with harness.
