RRD 2010 bar and shoulder injury

[S\/EN]

Did Mike fly an Airrush or Cabrinha kite? Was he tall, dark blond, slight foreign accent? I know a very good kiter in Mill Valley by that name.

[Piotrp]

I went to see the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and he didn't recommend the surgery. I hope he's right. I'll be going through the 4 weeks of physical therapy. If this dislocation happened out in the ocean, chances are that I would've not made it. So, I appreciate your advice.

[consumer]

Sounds awesome that you went to an orthopod! Did he or she diagnose a labral tear?

My experience- I went to 5 orthopeds and 1 sports med doc- , each on separate occasions. everyone of them had a different opinion on whether I should do surgery or not or if I did whether I should do it open vs arthroscopic. I also had gotten an MRI where ever doctor seemed to give me a different diagnosis- labral tear, Bankhart lesion, bicepts tendinitis/ tear, capsular tear... and more.

After my near death experience it was obvious I didn't care what it was and that i just wanted it fixed! I went with Dr.Eppley ( cal football team orthopedic surgeon). He was the most optimistic and confident. I brought my MRI and he said " listen, I'd like to see the MRI today as well as on the procedure day, but it won't substitute for what I see when I go in- whatever is wrong I'll see and I'll repair it as necessary" sure enough every diagnosis was correct - I actually had everything each doc said I had- it's just when they found one problem they stopped looking for others.

Eppley fixed me up and sent me home with a DVD of the procedure, I didn't even need pain meds. Eppley is one reason why I'm becoming a doc

[windhorny]

Doctor Kolahi, calling doctor Kolahi.....Mr. Carrot Top is ready for his colonoscopy.

[Piotrp]

hi consumer - I definitely want to learn more about your experience, but don't want to change this threat into the medical discussion: could you drop me a note in my pers email, so I can ask you some specific questions? thanks

kite@windystuff.com

[jowall]

Hi Piotrp & Consumer,

I dislocated my shoulder on Monday at 3rd ave. I'd like to commiserate as well. Don't want to put my email on the web though, can you PM me? I can setup a conf call ;-)

I just had a terrible first experience with a Orthopod yesterday. An utter waste of time.

John

[jowall]

I guess I should post my experience, it's cathartic right?

I was having a great time Monday at 3rd Ave. I rarely ride there but wanted a place to push myself a bit harder. I was just barely powered on my 10. Clint loaned me what turned out a be a sweet LF board. After 2 tacks and making it comfortably upwind, I saw a beginner separated from him board. I decided to help out, but for some reason, instead of just putting his board on my thighs or forearms as usual, I decided to just hold his handle w/right arm and do a 1 handed water start. I popped out fine, start to slow down and fall back in the water, juiced the kite at the same time that the extra board touched back in the water and caught an edge. Now I'm water starting holding onto an anchor. Pop goes the shoulder!

1/2 mile back to the beach 1 handed, occasionally using the bad arm to correct the kite.

Thanks to Jeff & Steve for the help on the beach & ride to the ER. Now I'm thinking about the effects of an injury that will stick with me the rest of my life.

My Orthopedic guy gave me no diagnosis, just that I may have torn the labrum and said to come back if it popped out again. Very lame experience.

john

[AD72]

I dislocated my shoulder a couple years ago. Make sure you follow the doctor's instructions and if he told you - keep it in the sling. Follow through with the PT. I made a full recovery. I dislocated the other shoulder as a teenager and did not follow instructions and it took far longer to heal. That reminds me I need to keep building up the shoulder muscles.
Take care.

[GerritL2K]

Big props to Mike for his support. Kiters seem to be the most helpful and really watch out for each other, more than any other sport i have been involved in.

Regarding your RRD bar, clam cleats are by far the most reliable product for holding your depower line firmly and safely. They have been used in the sailing industry for as long as I can remember and most kite companies use them. The most important thing to do is to set your rope in the cleat and firmly pull on the line toward your canopy to make sure it is locked into the teeth before launching. When the kite is flying there is enough tension on the line to set your depower rope into the teeth however when launching a slack depower line it can slip out if not seated properly. When self launching there are so many possibilities that could have happened it is hard to narrow it down. It is possible that your rope was seated correctly and while dragging your lines to tension them and launch the kite a line could have ran across under your cleat lifting the depower rope enough to unlock it. I have never had a line locked into a clam cleat slip; once it is locked in it will not slip.

It is always the natural response to hold onto the bar when something goes wrong and i do it myself a lot of the time however letting go right away will usually depower the kite enough to gain control again or release from the kite.

I find that unless you are unhooking the 2010 bar is as effective as the 2011. The safety line is combined with the depower rope inside the back tube that runs thru the bar on the 2011 which keep everything clean. The top of the chicken loop is also molded to keep the loop stationary unhooked so you can re-hook very easily and it has a suicide leash attachment for quick recovery when letting the bar go. Considering the price of the 2010 is less it is not a bad choice for most people. When on the normal safety system the bars are equal. Both chicken loop release systems work perfectly and the depower rope and cleat systems are solid.

[Piotrp]

Garrit - the scenario you are describing is not unlikely (the line pulling out the rope). It is also possible that I didn't give the rope enough of a yank to make sure that it would not go anywhere. I really don't want to bad-mouth RRDs... even this threat participants mentioned that other brands suffer from the ills of their own.

If I'm not mistaken, I bought that kite/bar from you and I do regret that I didn't buy the 2011 bar that you offered.

I guess, I'm sour on this bar also because of the falling off "DD" (I mentioned that in my first posting) - that shouldn't have happened. It didn't lead to any tragedy - although, I almost lost my board and found it only next day - but in high winds it is very unpleasant to go unintentionally unhooked.