How to choose a Kiteboarding Harness
When choosing your kiteboarding gear, your harness is one of the most important pieces of gear. A harness kite that doesn’t fit you properly could result in back pain while you are riding or even back injuries that will stick with you for a while. You have only one back, so it is important to take care of it if you want to be able to kiteboard for a long time. There are so many different types of harness kite on the market, so it can be difficult to know which one would be best for you. The best trick is to demo as many types of harness as possible so you can feel what is best for you. There are two main types of harnesses.
SEAT HARNESS KITE
On a seat harness kite, you have some straps that go around your legs to prevent the harness from going up on your body. A seat harness is what I would recommend for any kiteboarder that already has some back pain. With the straps around your legs, you will feel the power of the kite more on your lower back and hips, and you can easily sit in the harness not to feel any power on your back. The only down side of a seat harness is that you have less freedom of movement, which can be a problem if you want to land specific tricks or ride strapless which involves a lot of toe side riding.
WAIST HARNESS KITE
A waist harness is the typical type of harness that most kiteboarders use. The main advantage of it is that you have a lot of freedom of movement with it. The harness will easily move around and accommodate for specific tricks that you want to land and you will be able to ride toe side comfortably. The main downside of it is that it will sometimes ride up on your body and sometimes even ride up onto your ribs. For that reason, you have to make sure that your harness fits you properly and that it will ride up as least as possible.