Guru4tru

Yes!! A new dimension in indoor kite flying!!

Stick this up your nose Mother Nature...with your South Florida Summers!! You thought you had me beat!! HA!!

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Keep It Up!
Duane

Single Line Sand Anchor

I decided to knock some weight off my cart. I have my regular kite anchor, which consists of some 3’ and 18" steel stakes, a steel pipe with connectors on it, nylon straps and a 4 lb. sledge to hammer it all in place. With the box I carry it in it come up to 20 lbs. This is OK when I throw it on my cart, with all my other stuff, IF I’m pulling it across solid ground or shell rock, but when pulling it across uneven Florida “sugar sand” an extra 20 lbs. makes a big difference in my possible life expectancy! heehee!

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So, I went to Walmart and bought a reinforced canvas laundry bag for less then $10 (it was listed for $20 online):

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SpaceItUp Gearbox Sport Laundry Bag Yellow/Grey #7021576531A - Laundry Bags
$20.64
SpaceItUp Gearbox Sport Laundry Bag Yellow/Grey #7021576531A Sometimes you need more than a simple mesh or cotton laundry bag. That's where the Gearbox Sport Laundry Bag steps in. This heavyweight two-tone laundry bag features a draw-string closure and a full length shoulder strap to help easily get your dirty clothes from your room to the laundry room. Constructed of 600 denier polyester this bag will serve you well for years to come. Dimensions: 32"h x 15"w.

The cord was a cotton cord so I combined another nylon rope through it for strength.

I checked out the weight of a cubic yard of sand and I couldn’t believe it! The weight of a cubic yard of sand is “2400 lbs.”!

After straining my mind trying to figure out how to multiply and divide again, it came out that if I fill the bag up with 2‘ of sand it will weigh 384 lbs. (Pete and/or Jeepster might find an error in this, heehee!) and with it going in the hole I dig to get the sand, this should be more then enough weight to keep my SKYFORM60 in place without any problem. And being a bag, it can help carry other stuff to the site. (Note that with sand in the bag you gain a couple inches on the Dia.)

I’m feeling “Lighter” already!
(And a little safer too, because if things go to hell, which is possible in the sand as opposed to hard ground, people will be getting hit with a laundry bag instead of a bunch of steel spikes! heehee!)

Keep It Up!
Duane

Why doesn't the guy just take up Kite Surfing??

http://translogic.ao.../?ncid=webmail7

Keep It Up!
Duane

EDIT: Well...it might be good for those "no wind" days! heehee!

Yeah...well...Summer comes to South Florida. Half the year the Yankees hide inside because of the cold and half the year the South Floridians hide from the heat, rain and humidity! So, it’s “PROJECT TIME” for me!

My first project this summer is a new “KITE BOX”, because I have more Revs this year then last and I needed more room. I prefer a box to a bag so when I slam the truck doors on it I don’t have a heart attack, and it can get wet without having a mess! And I like to have everything in one place too, so I don’t have to remember anything (even if I could! heehee!).

Here it is! I really had a rough time with this thing.

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If you notice all the decorations on the lid, well...they weren’t planned. I had to put stuff all over the lid to cover up all the ugly holes that I drilled into it to put in the kite holding things and the “stash” compartment. But, it came out looking OK anyway.

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It presently holes 4 Revs., 8 line sets (in bags ea.), 4 kite stakes, 3 sets of handles, about 10 extra sets of rods, and a bunch of parts, bridles, suntan lotion, cigars etc., etc., in the stash compartment on the lid--under the kites. This is the stash compartment.

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The kite holders are 3/4" pieces cut off of 2" plastic coupling and you just over slide the end of the kite (without the bag) through one side and then into the other side and center it. Piece of cake!!

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Keep It Up!
Duane

Yes!! A National "Kite Manufacturer's Day!!"
(Let me note that “kite shops & kite sites” are included in this, but without the Mfgs. there would be no shops or sites possible!)

I’ve had a lot of discussions in the AKA and Kitelife about the pros and cons of the kiting world and many people have wished I was back down the “rabbit hole”. I have been “banned” from a forum for a while and some of my posts have been “deleted” in both forums because I have spoken my mind on these issues. But, I have learned a lot too in those discourses and have a better understanding of things than I did when I started. This is not to say that my opinions today are cast in concrete, because I’m still learning, but I have gained a better appreciation for the "kite manufacturers" and for my "Kite Flying".

There are things and people in our lives that are very important to us, but we often take them for granted. We don’t mean to, but it sometimes happens. That’s why we have days set aside to "remind us" of how important some people are to us. There’s Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Earth Day...just to name a few...and of course Groundhog Day! heehee!

There should really be a national “Kite Manufacturer’s Day”! Most people never even think about the Kite Manufacturers, they just go out and have fun! But yet, behind the scenes, there is a group of people who made their fun possible...a group that is hardly given a thought. They are the unseen warriors: designing the kite (which sometimes takes years and lots of talent & $$$ to do), working out the expensive and difficult legal processes of obtaining patents and trademarks, setting up production facilities and hiring good people to run and work in them, getting the kite out on the market through promotional work and sales and customer relations...and then...going to court and fighting all the basta-ds that are trying to copy their work and steal their product; which sometimes means traveling across the world to try to, at least, slow down the criminal activity...and just because there are laws, that doesn’t mean that anyone but “they” are about to enforce them...and enforcement is very expensive and the laws are very frustrating!

And YES!! I go out and fly my kites (single-dual-quad) and I have a “BLAST”...Kiting is my “LIFE”...and yet I usually never "actually" give the manufacturers a thought. And there is “No Way” that they could have ever gotten into manufacturing kites solely for the money! heehee! One can make more, and easier, money as an automobile repairman! They had to love "kiting" first!

I’d put this national “Kite Manufacturer’s Day” (priority-wise) right alongside “Memorial Day & Veteran’s Day” in my life, because, even as a disabled vet., I often take my freedom for granted...but yet, when I’m reminded...I truly am grateful for my freedom and also for those, and even myself, that were willing to make it possible for others...and...when reminded...I’m also truly grateful to the "Kite Manufacturers" for giving me something "Really Great" to do with my freedom!!

Thank You "Kite Manufactures"!!

Keep It Up!
Duane