Jump to content
KiteLife Forum

Help please. Advice for getting an 8 year old nephew into kite sports. Birth day is commin up looking at Corss Kite air 1.3 or 1.5 m or BQ4 Fluxx, hand loops or Bar and safety leash?


Spikey

Recommended Posts

1 minute ago, Spikey said:

 

 

^Thanks he is my nephew and I certainly want him to want more but not get cocky like someone who gets an early win at poker tthen thinks he can handle it with the bad boys or 1 did a 2 foot surf now I can join the 20 year olds on the 10 footer :-)...

 

 

Step by step learn to handle step 1 be fore 2 and 2 before 3 not 1 easy lets try 10 ...   🙂

You are 100% right on target with level of caution and the bravery that comes with youth.. Your will be pleased with what you ordered.. 

The only thing for the back of your mind is as area on the kite increases, the capability of power goes up quickly. So my warning is learn the difference between sport and power sizes. A Sport kite 2 size is powerful but not nearly as powerful as a 2M Power kite. It's not always easy to tell what your are looking at so  learning those differences will keep you from getting more than you can handle.  This is the voice of experience speaking.  I went from a 2.2 sport size to power size too quickly and got very surprised.  I  bought a 2M and before it was even here made a deal for a 4M.  Fortunately I took it easy and learned to fly in proper conditions.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, riffclown said:

You are 100% right on target with level of caution and the bravery that comes with youth.. Your will be pleased with what you ordered.. 

The only thing for the back of your mind is as area on the kite increases, the capability of power goes up quickly. So my warning is learn the difference between sport and power sizes. A Sport kite 2 size is powerful but not nearly as powerful as a 2M Power kite. It's not always easy to tell what your are looking at so  learning those differences will keep you from getting more than you can handle.  This is the voice of experience speaking.  I went from a 2.2 sport size to power size too quickly and got very surprised.  I  bought a 2M and before it was even here made a deal for a 4M.  Fortunately I took it easy and learned to fly in proper conditions.  

 

 

Thanks is there some sort of formula or calculation to equate them, ie 1.5m sport = 1 m powerkite?

Also I tried to ask about wind socks and wind meters but it went a bit pear shaped and duplicated the,

 

 

Was wording how useful these would be to start with? 

Which is better and which is the priority to have?

Whats good and worth it?

 

What s over kill and whats kak

 

Whats needed and useful and bonus features, for both?

 

 

How big should a wind sock be and how high up?

 

 

And are the likes of ebay and Amazon wind socks and poles fine and more so are the like of £10-£12  Amazon/Ebay wind meters any use?

 

Etc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took care of the duplicates for you.. Wind socks and Wind meters are personal choices. I bought a Wind Meter early on and rarely use it unless the beach chairs are starting to fly.. I personally don't see a need for either but as I said, it's a personal choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Spikey said:

Thanks is there some sort of formula or calculation to equate them, ie 1.5m sport = 1 m powerkite?

Not really, other than pulling out a measuring tape. Maybe one particular 1.5m sport kite would be about 0.6m tall, giving 0.9 square meters area.

Not only that, surface area is only one part of the equation.  For similar designs the sail area might be a reasonable comparison, but the big kites have far more variation in shape, some bending almost completely into a C or U shape arcing a full 180 degrees, where sport sails are more like a ( shape, some staying nearly straight thanks to bridle configuration.  Those design differences further impact how tension works out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Edmond Dragut said:

Still getting this

 

 

permissions_gray_wash.svg
This Content Isn't Available Right Now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please give this post a full read. It contains the collective wisdom from powerkiters as well as stunt foil fliers.. I fly kites as big as 8.5 meters squared. They are very powerful and not to be "played" with.

 

As for the links @Edmond Dragut is posting, He is probably trying to show you videos like these..

 

Powerkites have the real capability of surprising and even injuring the flier. In the right conditions a stunt kite can also generate a bit of unexpected pull with similar results.

Keep in mind the kites in the videos are 3 METERS  SQUARED or larger power kites and not the small 1.3meter SPAN stunt kite you've ordered.  Handing a powerful kite to the uninitiated is not funny and hurts the sport overall.

Bottom line. Common sense and respect for the wind will work to mitigate most risks. If someone doesn't  have common sense or respect for the power of the wind, then they should not be flying power kites. It is your responsibility to teach and instill  the common sense and respect for the wind and wind window.  YOU fly the kite first before handing it over. that way you'll know how much pull it has.

Please don't let further response confuse you beyond these wisdoms..

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes riff is something like that with a twist, for some time a 8 years kid is flying a 1.4 Synapse on the top of the wind window, all good and nice but at one point after a turn is dropping in the power window and on that moment is swiped.

I am totally agree with you previous post "COMMON SENS" must to prevail, better to be safe than sorry  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, riffclown said:

Please give this post a full read. It contains the collective wisdom from powerkiters as well as stunt foil fliers.. I fly kites as big as 8.5 meters squared. They are very powerful and not to be "played" with.

 

As for the links @Edmond Dragut is posting, He is probably trying to show you videos like these..

 

Powerkites have the real capability of surprising and even injuring the flier. In the right conditions a stunt kite can also generate a bit of unexpected pull with similar results.

Keep in mind the kites in the videos are 3 METERS  SQUARED or larger power kites and not the small 1.3meter SPAN stunt kite you've ordered.  Handing a powerful kite to the uninitiated is not funny and hurts the sport overall.

Bottom line. Common sense and respect for the wind will work to mitigate most risks. If someone doesn't  have common sense or respect for the power of the wind, then they should not be flying power kites. It is your responsibility to teach and instill  the common sense and respect for the wind and wind window.  YOU fly the kite first before handing it over. that way you'll know how much pull it has.

Please don't let further response confuse you beyond these wisdoms..

 

Agree and part of wisdom is knowing to ask for help and advice from those with more experience and wisdom, till you know enough to give it to others yourself and the deep end where the bigger surf waves are is for those who built up the skill and strength to swim out there themself not to take shortcuts

3 hours ago, riffclown said:

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...