Strop
From KiteWiki
In kiting terms, a strop is usually a piece of climbing rope, often about 5mm diameter that is connected between the tops of the control handles used for a fixed bridle foil kite. The loops shown in the picture below were tied using a bowlin knot.
The strop connects to loops or knots on pigtails at the top of the handles, often using a larks head knot.
It is possible to buy purpose made strops with the ends platted in loops (Ozone supply these) that fit to the loops o the tops of the handles. To fit them, the strop loop is passed through the handle loop and then over the top of the handle, and slid down and off the other end of the handle (with the power and brake lines disconnected).
It is important to get the length of the strop right to get the optimum control range from the kite. A strop should be adjusted in length so that when fitted to a harness using a captive system or a roller spreader bar, when one handle is pulled in as far as possible, the other should still be just comfortably within reach.
To avoid having un-necessary knots at the connection points that can get trapped in the pullies, some kite buggy pilots often specifically when buggy jumping, choose to use a continuous length of climbing rope as strop and both left and right power leaders. Stopper knots are tied inside the handles to keep the strop and leaders in place. This arrangement does not however allow the strop length to be easily changed.
Making a strop for Ozone handles
1 Ozone handles have loops to allow connection of an Ozone strop, but you can do just as well with 5mm or 6mm climbing cord. This arrangement has the advantage that there is no knot that can jam in your pulley as the knot sits on the other side of the handle loop:
2 Fold the loop:
3 Pass the rope through the first part of the loop and behind the loop:
4 Pass it back through the other part of the loop to make a larks head knot:
5 Straighten the cord and fold the larks head knot as below:
6 Tie a single overhand knot as a stopper knot:
7 Repeat for the other handle:
8 The completed strop:
