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Kitesurf harnesses
Welcome to Boardworx, and our large selection of kitesurf harnesses. We know how important a correctly fitted harness is - that's why we carry waist, hard shell and seat harnesses from top brands and spreader bars. Not sure which belt is right for you? Contact us and let our team help you find the perfect fit. Our kiting shop in the UK offers an extensive selection so that whatever kind of equipment you're looking for, Boardworx has it! Check out this page to get more information on what we have available.
We stock many Kitesurf harnesses from Mystic, with their innovative Mystic Stealth harness, to Ion and their Ion Curve and Ion Apex kite harness.
Should I wear a seat harness or a waist harness?
Kitesurfing seat harnesses
The kitesurfing harnesses are split into two versions: the seat and waist harnesses. The seat harness is sometimes called the shorts harness. ( Ion makes the B2 shorts harness, which is undoubtedly the best shorts harness out there for looks, design, comfort and strength) The seat harness is ideal for riders with back problems as it takes the load off the back and transfers it to your bottom. The drawback to a seat harness is when you are jumping, it is difficult to stop over rotations, whereas a waist harness allows you to twist your hips and have a little more control over the kiteboard. The seat harness also feels slightly more restrictive when bending forward to slip your feet into the straps when starting. The great advantage of a kitesurfing seat harness is that as there are leg straps, the kite harness will not ride up when jumping or learning.
Kitesurfing harness (waist)
Then there is the waist harness, which gives the kite rider more freedom. You have a lot more movement when jumping or doing transitions. The drawback to a kite surf waist harness is the harness can ride up if you need a good fit. Unfortunately, the cost of the harness is often linked to the ability of the harness to stay firmly in place. When fitting harnesses in the shop, we often find customers trying on different harnesses will find more expensive kite harnesses will not ride up. All good kitesurf harnesses will not ride up when the kite is over the top of you.
Brands like Manera, Ion or a brand like Mystic add extra features to their kitesurfing harnesses, like kitesurfing spreader bars like the mystic Stealth hook that slips into slots on the side of the waist harness to help lock it in place to help the hook not rise up your chest, help make the mystic harnesses performance orientated.
The kitesurfing waist harness is made from soft to hardbacks. The softback kitesurf harnesses are very comfortable, ideal if it is your first one, but when you load it up in extreme cases, it can be easier to point load your back. The hardback harness is often made from carbon or other exotic materials to spread the load across your back. So if you are a pro going out massively overpowered and looking for extreme jumping, and you need to spread the load evenly across your back the hard shell harnesses might be the way forward.
Then there are the hybrid kitesurf waist harnesses like the Halo from Maneria, which combines hard and soft components to the kite harness. They're comfortable, but with the design features to spread the load across your back.
Finally, you will need to decide on a type of spreader bar. You can have rope spreader bars, ideal if you are wave riding and need great freedom in your hips. The most common type of spreader bar is the fixed spreader bar. These come in different bar sizes, related to the size of the kitesurfing waist harness and your waist size.
There are men's and women-specific models, as everybody is different. Please call for advice about the waist size or its features.