Handles v Bars, what are the pros and cons?

popeyethewelder.com/facebook questions

 

2012

 

  • Dimitri Melnik – No cons against handles on 4-line kites in a buggy. Its the best solution 🙂
  • Andrew AutoBuddy Jones – Handles aren’t the best on a depower kite they don’t seem to work as well
  • Mark Sherlock – Handles for fb, bar for dp. And never do it the other way round :o)
  • Giacomo Cafaggi – handles for sensibility and feeling the kite, bars for safety
  • David Olsen – In a buggy a FB will be very difficult with a bar. Handles are the way to go.
  • Alan Vidow – I believe you get more fine control with handles.
  • Marc ten Brink – if you have a bar you can pick your nose but for more sensible control you defenitly need handles (and a handkerchief)
  • Carlos Fandango – I like the feel of handles, but 40+mph wind, I feel much safer with a 4m Acess on a bar
  • Andrew AutoBuddy Jones – I suppose it depends on what kiting  you do doesn’t it.
  • Brian Holgate – I agree with the group. Handles seem to be the ideal set up on a buggy. The feeling of the kite seems to transfer to the rider better that way. I really feel connected to the kite.
  • Andrew AutoBuddy Jones – However in the bike I feel a lot more comfortable with the bar.
  • Kent Kingston –There are pro’s and con’s for each, but it really boils down to what type of kite you are using.  With Depower, the only safe way to use the depowerable system and the safety system is with the proper control bar.  I would never recommend using a depower with handles, plus there would be virtually no way to use the depowerable features properly with handles.  FB is a totally different animal.  Handles always give you the maximum control with FB kites.  A control bar can be easier for “park N ride” type of flying but you do lose the ability to fine-tune the kite for different wind conditions and riding styles as well as lose the quickness in the turns.
  • Brian Holgate – I agree!
  • Wayne Carkeek – handles should be bared , bars should be handled
  • Ken Shaw –I think you just can’t beat a bar for cruising. I feel like I can sit back, make a sandwich, have some lunch and light a smoke afterward with the free hand.
    I still like the aggressiveness one can achieve with handles but then again, most of the desert terrain I run is like the pucker brush at Elmer’s. The quick handling and instant power of a slightly overpowered FB is superior for that application.  With a de-power, I feel like I can’t build speed quickly enough to make a short cut upwind when I have to. I’ve tried running the brush with a Crossfire 3m, Beamer 5m and Panch Blaze I 10m on a homemade turbo bar and found I like the handles far better.
  • Thierry Delacour – As a beginner, although I really like the feeling of a bar, I find the handles safer as I can drop everything in case of wrong manipulation (and I often screw-up with the kite) !
  • Simon Burgess – bars for only lazy kite surf type kites , real buggies use handles and race kites.
  • David Lees – Depends on the kind of kiting you do. I use handles in the buggy with my Blades. I need the fast response that I can’t get from a bar when running the dunes.  I use a bar when kite skiing back home.
  • John Jones – i buggy, and use depower and fixed bridle, obviously you cant depower with handles, but i have on occassion used my turbo bar, which despite people slating it its really quite good, easy to run in the buggy,