Naish Smartloop

Inept_Fun · Since 14 Apr 2005 1417 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

I always thought 2 negatives made a positive?

I wouldn't have posted anything in this thread normally, but after reading bambams post I just had to say something. He just makes it sound like this is the magical chickenloop that will solve all your kiting issues when its nothing more than two pieces of plastic with the trim strap inside of something rather than just dangling around.

pdxmonkeyboy · Mon Apr 13, 09 1:08 pm

news flash, its not the gear, its the rider.

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1738 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

Dgoldcamp,
I have experienced the same issues. just try riding towards your kite when you want to pull the sheeter. This will allow less tension on the front lines and then you can easily adjust depower amount. I haven't experienced any issues with the cleat not "grabbing" the line. It does look like the angle of the cleat could be a little more at an angle to allow for easier cleating.

here's some feedback on Naish's smart loop system. I'm not trying to compare products, but just trying to give you my experience with this product.
I have been riding on them for the past couple of months, on snow as well as in water.
Up here in Seattle, we tend to ride regardless of whether it's cold or raining. Wind can get pretty intense and smaller size kites get more action this time of the year.
sometimes kiters can get hit by strong squalls. it's best to avoid these altogether, but sometimes unavoidable and releasing your kite to the leash is the only option. now your out in the middle of the bay or river and your kite is tethered to the leash. you swim back to the bar and try to resolve your system and relaunch.
I like the smart loop for the ease of deploying the safety release, but also for it's ease at reassembly.
I have found only a few systems that will allow you to re-assemble the release system with one hand, or with minimal effort using two hands.
smart loop is also a push away system. this means the red plastic housing pushes away from you when trying to deploy your safety. some chicken loop systems are push away while others are pull pin release systems.
to me, things to consider when choosing a good chicken loop, would be how easy is it to deploy, say if you're underwater and cannot see anything.
do you have to look for a fabric loop or a release pin located only on one side of your bar?
many of you on nwkite could probably care less about things like that but for the less experienced, this is a feature that should be recommended to entry level kiteboarders.
So here's what I would like naish to improve on with this system...
As for sheeting, I have found it difficult at times to pull the sheeter strap in to depower the kite. I now will "chase" the kite to allow less tension in the front lines and then sheeting is somewhat effortless.
I would rather see a loop on the end of the sheeter line large enough to grab with two fingers rather than using the existing plastic mushroom handle seen on many bar sytems, including the smart loop.

stringy

jonah · Since 20 Jul 2006 169 Posts Hood River Stoked

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