i like dakine shorts with the sliding dyna bar in the waves with a smallish kite

I second the Doctor,

da Kine shorts with sliding dyna bar hook. Best harness ever. No twisting and chafing like a waist harness. Slingshot effect out of turns.
Kind to ageing backs.

+1 to dakine shorts and dynabar sliding rope. You don't even know you have it on. Waist harness kills my back.

I had a bad back for a while - blown disk and sciatica etc. I have a DynaBar and it made it heaps better on my back (waist harness).

In regards to your back - doing some stretching and getting the hockey ball into the sore spots has eliminated my pain and changed my life:

Start there. Good luck.

The mechanics of using waist harness for kiting is similar (not identical) to lifting a heavy object. At wave riding the spine is often rotated at a time when a sudden pull of the kite happens. This is very similar (again, not identical) to lifting heavy object with rotated spine. For a healthy spine and lower back these are strengthening exercises. For an injured spine / lower back they are inherently risky.

A good, comfortable seat harness is the start. How high the spreader bar you like is individual. That's where seat harnesses appear to differ a lot. If a degeneration / injury is lower, i.e. L5, L4..., then a lower spreader bar may suit better. IF the injury is higher, i.e. L1, L2, T12 higher spreader bar is better. (With any problem in the thoracic level with otherwise strong lower back waist harness is the go.)

With stuffed up lower back unhooking is very risky unless you use a large board and small kite, i.e. low or moderate pull, but even then sudden pulls against a twisted spine will still be risky.

If you don't unhook, then a sliding bar is the way. If you don't want to spend the money on something complicated, then make up one... it takes about 20-30 min. Check out my photos.

ChiroTrev said..
adjusting is the only way to restore movement

You gotta be joking mate.... there is a range of treatment modalities available (just search the net) for spinal degeneration, and chyro cracking a degenerated stiff spine is not on the list by any standard... if you check some medical research from the US and from two physio universities in Oz they have a very different opinion based on evidences....
Your "analysis" on a waist harness disregards the webbing of the harnesses and the fact that it distributes (hopefully evenly) the pull of the kite on a properly contoured back support.

Andrash said..

ChiroTrev said..
adjusting is the only way to restore movement

You gotta be joking mate.... there is a range of treatment modalities available (just search the net) for spinal degeneration, and chyro cracking a degenerated stiff spine is not on the list by any standard... if you check some medical research from the US and from two physio universities in Oz they have a very different opinion based on evidences....
Your "analysis" on a waist harness disregards the webbing of the harnesses and the fact that it distributes (hopefully evenly) the pull of the kite on a properly contoured back support.

Agreed. Especially 4, 7, 11, and 12. And 16...

edzardernst.com/2013/10/twenty-things-most-chiropractors-wont-tell-you/



To the OP - you'll probably hate the seat harness on a surfboard (I find toeside impossible), but the Dynabar would improve it.
I find that the Mystic Star hybrid harness is excellent for the directional, and moderate wind on the TT... but it pulls on the back more like a waist. It's comfortable with good form, and it stays down, unlike a regular waist, which accounts for the comfort, I think.
The Ocean Rodeo Session harness seems to put more of the load through the leg straps...

If you already have a waist harness, you could try the Mystic Strappies to convert it.

Without a doubt, stretching and light core exercises will help immensely. You don't need to pay for that.