How to Hit-Air: Choosing and Fitting your Lanyard
The Hit-Air Lanyard, a robust wire of Kevlar cord coated with urethane resin, is not just a component of the Hit-Air vest but a crucial safety feature. It connects your Hit-Air Vest to your saddle, providing you with the control and confidence you need during your rides and ensuring your safety in case of a fall.
Each vest comes with your choice of one of three different styles of lanyards:
- All-In-One Bungee Lanyard
- Bungee Lanyard with Metal Clip
- Bungee Lanyard with Over-The-Horn Loop
The All-In-One Bungee Lanyard is ideal for English riders. The saddle strap connects securely to the stirrup bars, and the length is adjustable to fit different saddle widths or per the rider’s preference. The Bungee part than snaps in easily to the saddle strap. If you have multiple saddles, you can have a saddle strap on each and one Bungee on your vest that you can snap in and out depending on which saddle you use.
Western riders favour the Bungee Lanyard with Over-The-Horn Loop, which can be easily attached over the horn of a Western saddle.
The Bungee Lanyard with Metal Clip is popular with Western and Endurance riders. Its single bungee strap is intended to clip to the saddle.
Riders with multiple saddles often purchase additional lanyards for each saddle. This ensures the lanyard remains set to the right length, providing a seamless transition between saddles and disciplines and giving you the peace of mind that you're always prepared.
Lanyard Fitting
The Bungee Lanyards are adjustable and must be set appropriately before use. A correctly adjusted lanyard should be long enough to allow the rider to move freely while mounted yet short enough to ensure that the air vest inflates fully before the rider hits the ground in case of a fall.