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Safety gear I just bought...


Dingo

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Had a great win there. My 661 gear (pressure suit and helmet) is now 7 years old and still going strong, although starting to look a bit tatty in places.

Helmet has had some soft foam mods done as well, for comfort on those long buggy cruises. Visor siliconed into place as the retaining plastic screw into the middle bracket got broken in the post to QLD long ago.:grin: 

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Well I haven`t even sat in a Buggy yet. But knowing myself I dont want to start without good protection. I just know I´m going to kiss the ground "once or twice". LOL

But from what I´m reading I take it the gear I bought is not bad. Thanks

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27 minutes ago, Ingo Shroeter said:

Well I haven`t even sat in a Buggy yet. But knowing myself I dont want to start without good protection. I just know I´m going to kiss the ground "once or twice". LOL

But from what I´m reading I take it the gear I bought is not bad. Thanks

The gear looks good, very good in fact. I ride with about the same setup. Two things:  helmets are often considered "one and done" for truly hard impacts. Hard to know if a used helmet has already been wholloped. Second, a good many of us in the US ride in the buggy with something called an Automatic Quick Release or AQR. This is a mechanical interface in series between you and your buggy that has a shackle. Depending on whether you are riding with FB kites and a strop or with DP kites and a chicken loop the shackle setup will be a little different. Either way, the idea behind an AQR is when you start to get lifted out of the buggy in an OBE the kite will disengage from your harness automatically and you won't OBE. At times the OBE force can come on so quickly that you don't have time to disengage before you are lofted. High winds combined with small rapidly moving kites seem to be a combination for this quick reversal of fortunes. Lower winds with bigger kites gives you more time to do things manually.

I don't believe you are allowed to race with an AQR (could be wrong about that) so these aren't used by some of the best buggy pilots out there. I'm sort of a "gentleman farmer" buggy rider so I'll take whatever safety upgrades I can get. 

Good luck with your new sport!  Say goodbye to most of your money. 

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Hi @windstruck, Thanks very much for that advise!

Being a google junkie it didnt take me long to find a good article on "AQR" ( http://popeyethewelder.com/informational/automatic-quick-release ). Seems a smart thing to have and not real difficult to make. As far as the subject racing is concerned that doesnt bother me any as I dont think I´ll be doing that to soon. LOL

With a bit of luck I´ll be having my first go at flying a trainer kite on Sunday. I´ll leave the speed records to the experts for quiet a while I think.

As far as the money is concerned..... WHAT money??? LOL

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9 hours ago, windstruck said:

The gear looks good, very good in fact. I ride with about the same setup. Two things:  helmets are often considered "one and done" for truly hard impacts. Hard to know if a used helmet has already been wholloped. Second, a good many of us in the US ride in the buggy with something called an Automatic Quick Release or AQR. This is a mechanical interface in series between you and your buggy that has a shackle. Depending on whether you are riding with FB kites and a strop or with DP kites and a chicken loop the shackle setup will be a little different. Either way, the idea behind an AQR is when you start to get lifted out of the buggy in an OBE the kite will disengage from your harness automatically and you won't OBE. At times the OBE force can come on so quickly that you don't have time to disengage before you are lofted. High winds combined with small rapidly moving kites seem to be a combination for this quick reversal of fortunes. Lower winds with bigger kites gives you more time to do things manually.

I don't believe you are allowed to race with an AQR (could be wrong about that) so these aren't used by some of the best buggy pilots out there. I'm sort of a "gentleman farmer" buggy rider so I'll take whatever safety upgrades I can get. 

Good luck with your new sport!  Say goodbye to most of your money. 

@Jase Shepperd

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14 hours ago, Grants said:

Yeah time to increase safety I think especially after today's events some extra padding would of helped jase

Doug told me last night - if you're going to stack at GT - do it good is that the case @Jase Shepperd

Look after yourself mate! Hope your recover in time for Kingston SE!

All the best from Mez and igeighty 

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1 hour ago, Jase Shepperd said:

Done a good job guys

 Pelvis fractured in 2 places

L1-L5  vertebrae fractured (stable)

4 ribs on left fractured 

plus a bit of bark in places

Feeling pretty sore

 

And drove him self out about 20 km full on 4x4 sand and all bumpy rocks the track is trashed mighty big effort silly bugger more worried for me than himself  

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Wichard 70mm snap shackle.

s-l500.jpg.e9c134867c8312f3a7936bccdef5f322.jpg

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Wichard-2673-Quick-Release-Snap-Shackle-70mm-with-Swivel-Eye-/122130525063?epid=1384443821&hash=item1c6f8beb87:g:oZkAAOSwgmJXyOxU

I've never tried an automatic release system just the cones instead of the pull cord.

The large plastic square covered in webbing, is sewn to my harness to stop my tucked in shirt or jumper fouling in the quick release.

59981f3792df9_P1050301(768x1024).thumb.jpg.46a6231af02d0d21b3b5b594db19318c.jpg

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12 hours ago, Ingo Shroeter said:

Hi @windstruck, Thanks very much for that advise!

Being a google junkie it didnt take me long to find a good article on "AQR" ( http://popeyethewelder.com/informational/automatic-quick-release ). Seems a smart thing to have and not real difficult to make. As far as the subject racing is concerned that doesnt bother me any as I dont think I´ll be doing that to soon. LOL

With a bit of luck I´ll be having my first go at flying a trainer kite on Sunday. I´ll leave the speed records to the experts for quiet a while I think.

As far as the money is concerned..... WHAT money??? LOL

Popeye the Welder is a legend in this sport.  Take some time to peruse his website sometime.  Buggy porn.  At the top of his AQR article he mentioned Jeff Earl (BigKidKites).  Jeff lives a few hours from me and I got my AQR from him.  Jeff spent some time experimenting with various shackles to ensure he had one that would operate smoothly at the moment of truth.  I saw some mention of stainless steel in one of the posts in this thread.  That would be an absolute must-have I'd think.  It will get wet, sandy, and salty depending on where you ride and the last thing you want is for the sliding pin to be corroded to the point where it is essentially welded to its sheath.  Defeats the point.

One other thing to keep in mind is that you need a different sort of harness interface with an AQR.  You wont be using the standard hook.  Also, the mechanism takes up some space between you and the pulley that your strop line goes through, so if you are stropped in with handles the strop is going to need to be shorter as you can't easily lengthen your arms.  I use DP kites and hook the shackle directly around the chicken loop.  Good luck!

Super sorry to read about the OBE, pelvic fracture, etc.  Man, that sucks.  Get well soon!

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7 hours ago, Jase Shepperd said:

Done a good job guys

 Pelvis fractured in 2 places

L1-L5  vertebrae fractured (stable)

4 ribs on left fractured 

plus a bit of bark in places

Feeling pretty sore

 

 :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Get well soon!!

Will take some time to get back in the saddle after a stack like that!!

But the big question is, Did the GT survive?!!

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50 minutes ago, Chook said:

If any one needs a Ozone D ring harness I have one here. It's barely been used, as I had it for a spare and my son's use. $70.00 plus postage. 

If I knew exactly what that is I might be shouting "Yes, me". :laugh2:

Or are we talking about this one? 

 

Edited by Ingo Shroeter
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