Kite Beater

[Shawn Henderson]

Wanted: 11M or 12M I can rough up. I don’t want to ruin new equipment or spend a ton of $ just yet. I’m thinking inflatable (maybe I will try the water too), non "C" (too difficult for newbs) 2006 or newer (for de-power potential and safety?) Please let me know if my criteria are bogus. I need to get some winter cross training in to prep for next springs poleboarding.

Thanks, Shawn

[Leo Chan]

Shawn, you should get a foil kite if you want to try kiting. It is a lot easier to deal with. Once you learn how to control the foil kite, then you can try the inflatables. It would take you one or two seasons on the snow before you should try it on liquid. Either way, I got an inflatable and an old foil you can try. Let me know if you want to check them out.

Do you have a trainer kite? You'll need that too.

[Shawn Henderson]

Thanks Leo. Yeah, I need to start slowly. Jim Southwick was kind enough to lend his 3M trainer foil for me to try. I would Like the reverse launch and other benefits of a foil, but I don't want to have to buy an inflatable too if I decide to get wet. I think I would like to take up your offer to try some of your equipment. That might give me a better idea of what I should be looking for.

[Leo Chan]

yeah, just come to the next snwkite event. hopefully soon.

[bordy]

Just come take a lesson with me, We provide the gear and will educate you toward what gear will work best for you and your goals. Plus you will learn to kite not get punished or hurt trying to "figure it out" There is lots of info here.. www.Kiteutah.com

[Leo Chan]

Just come take a lesson with me, We provide the gear and will educate you toward what gear will work best for you and your goals. Plus you will learn to kite not get punished or hurt trying to "figure it out" There is lots of info here.. http://www.Kiteutah.com

Definitely agree. A lesson with Billy will shorten your learning curve a lot and save you loads of frustrations.

[salvador]

i got 12m o6 waroo

[bordy]

no you don't sal vicky wants it remember

[salvador]

ok .i save for victoria

[Shawn Henderson]

No worries, I got bit by an impulse. 09 Waroo 11m-ez Hope I dont regret it.

[bordy]

No worries, I got bit by an impulse. 09 Waroo 11m-ez Hope I dont regret it.

I don't understand why anyone would buy a new kite with out knowing how to kite??? Would you buy a airplane with out knowing how to fly one, the trainer kite is just like a simulator and the pull of that surprised you? wait untill your 11 gives a little tug, there a reason we can jump 40 feet high, cuz there is enough power to do so....

Ask any kiter what happend to their first kite. It's not easy and safe like wind surfing

You could have droped 300 and learned worry free, and injury free with a pro, on some one elses gear.

[Leo Chan]

It's not easy and safe like wind surfing

To say the least. . . Shawn, you really should learn how to fly a kite with a bigger kite and body drag before you attempt to use your 11 Waroo. Even at low wind, a looping kite could send you to the hospital by dragging your body through the ground. You could ended up with a destroyed kite and injured body. There is a reason why Jim, Sarah and me are only kiting on snow. . .

[Mark Johnson]

It's not easy and safe like wind surfing

Shawn, you really should learn how to fly a kite with a bigger kite .

Don't you mean smaller?

[Shawn Henderson]

Billy, I appreciate your passion for the sport and your desire to make sure people do it right. It would suck for a stupid newb like me to give the sport a black eye by not learning the right way. Kites in the wrong hands can be extremely dangerous (potentially including myself of course.) I understand that all it would take is one bad accident with an innocent bystander and the right to use a location could be in jeopardy. I imagine you probably have seen someone on more than one occasion show up at a launch and ask how to connect the lines and pump up the kite, then wonder why no one wants to help them launch it. And no I don’t think a 3m trainer is enough of a stepping stone to get me on a 11m. True I am not ready for the 11m yet, but I hope to be someday.

The reality is I ran into a new kite while looking for used ones. It listed at about $100 more than the used ones I was considering. I don’t know if it was a price mistake, a glut of inventory, a price war, a close out or what. Regardless I jumped at it. I orderd with the expectation it might not ship, or come in different than advertised (I work for a bank and can get a charge back without much hassle.) It makes me feel a little safer to think that new, modern kite gear would work better than second hand, sight unseen Ebay or whatever a motivated seller might want to get rid of. I wouldn’t want to buy a used parachute and similarly I am sure a bad kite can quickly cause a very bad day. Since I don’t know enough about kites to be able to choose a used kite wisely I went for a safer bet. Regardless it did arrive. By some miracle it was a real kite, pump, bar, leash and lines. So far as I can tell nothing shady. I would share the link, but the price has moved up again so I guess it was good I moved when I did.

And Leo, I have seen people practice body dragging in the water, but do you body drag on the snow on purpose as part of the learning process? Sounds like it would be more fun to watch than to do. Of course some involuntary body dragging I would expect.

[Leo Chan]

It's not easy and safe like wind surfing

Shawn, you really should learn how to fly a kite with a bigger kite .

Don't you mean smaller?

Smaller than the one he has, but bigger, like in the 5 meter range foil. The small kite can only give you so much pulling force, you could underestimate the power of the bigger kite. I think it would be instructive to have a 5 meter foil to try to fly with. Without the feel of the 4-line setup, it is hard to get a real feel of how to control the kite.

Shawn, regardless if it is on the snow or on the water, the first few session involve you getting dragged around by your kite. Being dragged around by a kite at the 11 meter range is not fun, nor safe. With all the crashing and beating, you will damage your first kite in your first season, no doubt. Given that your knowledge of wind is still limited, you could get yourself in serious trouble with a kite the size you have. In windsurfing, when you let go of the rig, you r motion stop. In kiting, you let go and the kite could get into a loop and power up. Not knowing the safety features of the bar control, you could get yourself in bigger trouble than you could afford.

I strongly suggest that you take a lesson. We don't need another BMW guy saga. . .