www.kite-surf.com

I did not use a kite leash last year, but from now on I'm going to use my kite leash every time and everywhere, wear a floatation vest, use a quick release system and although I'm using bindings, I'm going to wear a helmet.

Think about it: Do you want me to kite upwind of you or your family without a kite leash?
Loose kites can cause serious injury or death.

Kiteboarding Safety Forum for discussing safety issues in kiteboarding.

RIDE HARD & SAFER, TEN IDEAS FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
Dec. 4, 2002

Kiteboarding is an incredible new extreme sport that is sweeping around the World. The thrills and shear joy of flashing over the water and flinging yourself, spinning into the sky at will is addictive! Lot of power in this sport, it's part of the attraction and sometimes a threat as well.

Riders are slammed and injured sometimes for want of just a bit more care and knowledge. Consider working the following ten points and other good practices into your riding habits. They may help to keep both you and bystanders safer and help to maintain kiteboarding access for us all to enjoy this great sport.

These guidelines have grown out of the analysis of almost one hundred kiteboarding incidents and accidents. We are always learning new things about safe kiteboarding in this young sport so be aware of new techniques and updates to this list. NOTE: Even if these guidelines are followed serious injury can still occur in kiteboarding, so be careful out there.

1. NEVER LAUNCH OR RIDE WITHIN 200 FT. OR 60 M UPWIND OF BYSTANDERS OR HARD OBJECTS ...land, boats, rocks, walls, buildings, powerlines, roads or prominent vertical surfaces or steep slopes that may cause uplift. Depower your kite as early as possible if trouble threatens. Waiting may remove the option to do so safely. Riders have been injured and killed by ignoring these points. "DISTANCE IS YOUR FRIEND“ and may sometimes help to forgive bad luck & errors in judgment.

2. AVOID STORMS & SQUALLS. CHECK WEATHER RADAR, WIND & FORECASTS & BE AWARE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS WHILE RIDING. Storms & squalls have injured lots of kiteboarders & are a serious threat. Actual weather may differ from predicted conditions so stay alert. If you see squalls or storms, LAND, remove the lines & SECURE your kite IN ADVANCE of any change in wind or temperature. Riders have been injured by reacting too late or not at all. Consider using a warning horn at your local launch. Avoid offshore & onshore winds.

3. TAKE ADEQUATE PRO KITEBOARDING LESSONS FROM A GOOD SCHOOL carefully build experience in manageable conditions. Lessons cost but you should be kiteboarding faster, easier & safer for your investment. Also you could save your expensive gear & yourself from damage & our access to ride.

4. CAREFULLY PREFLIGHT YOUR GEAR, make sure lines are equal, in good condition, free of tangles/snags, are properly attached & no leaks are present. Repair gear before launching.

5. USE SAFETY GEAR ... a suitable helmet, impact vest, tested kite leash, reliable chicken loop quick releases (QR) & fixed harness line QR, gloves & hook knife(s). Practice mentally & physically reacting early to emergency situations, e.g. lofting & dragging, to try to reduce critical reaction time. Test & maintain your quick releases before each use to improve reliable performance.

6. BE CAREFUL IN & CONSIDER AVOIDING HIGHER WINDS while kiteboarding, that is potentially winds much greater than 18 kts or 20 mph. Kite forces & flight speeds can be much greater & conditions far less forgiving of errors in judgment & simple bad luck & have resulted in serious injuries.

7. CONSIDER LAUNCHING UNHOOKED from your bar for rapid release & kite leash activation if things go wrong. Consider hooking into your QR fixed harness line only once you are near the water & your kite is well low over the water in order to grab your board. Connect to your chicken loop offshore.

8. HAVE AN EXPERIENCED HELPER LAUNCH & LAND YOUR KITE who understands your instructions without error. If conditions permit, it may be safer to launch your kite near or from the water.

9. KEEP YOUR KITE LOW & NEVER BRING IT TO THE VERTICAL WHILE NEAR HARD OBJECTS OR LAND TO TRY TO AVOID LOFTING. GET OFFSHORE WITHOUT DELAY.

10. AVOID COMPLAINTS TO KEEP KITEBOARDING FREE & AT WILL. Jump to help kiteboarders. If you see someone doing something reckless, grab your friends & go talk with him. We are all in this sport together so pitch in & be ready to help to keep riders safe and to work to preserve access.

These ten points appear with other ideas in the "Safe Kiteboarding Guidelines." The Guidelines are located at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitesurf/files/KSR%20-%20KITEBOARDING%20SAFETY%20REFERENCES/

FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi

"We all know this but often don't accept or practice it. So for a short while, lets deal in REALITY, beyond denial, over confidence and blowing everything off with "I can handle it".

1. Riders must use kite depowering leashes that are attached to their body. If they cramp your style, find or build a better one, BUT use one starting the NEXT time you ride. Check your leash often and make sure it works properly, reliably and won't break. A depowering loop that you can manually grab at the end of your bar isn't reliable enough and will likely result in serious problems someday.

2. Use a safety release system for your chicken loop or centerline loop. Using a safety loop or snap shackle alone, may protect the rider but it sends your kite off fully powered for others to deal with successfully or tragically.

3. Follow the Safe Kiteboarding Guidelines and other safe and appropriate practices. This isn't the Boy Scouts, and this isn't a needless exercise, this is a great extreme sport that can be dangerous. To go at this sport without appropriate safety gear, caution, training and judgment will generate needless, avoidable accidents and incidents.

We need to advance safety in this sport if it is going to continue to be viable. Even with doing all of the above and more, there will be accidents and incidents. At least in following the above cautions, many needless problems will never occur.

Rick Iossi" found on www.kiteforum.com

KITEPROSHOP.com KITEBAR-SYSTEM (patent pending)

The Kitebar-System in 50, 55 or 60 cm bar length, allows you to do rotations and despin it without having any tangled lines afterwards while being attached to the kite with a safety leash. This system works with two quick releases to:
A. have the kite fully depowered in dangerous situations and
B. to get rid of it in even worse situations.

This system can be attached to all common harness hooks within seconds. Due to using two holes instead of one, the depower lines don’t have to be connected. Therefore one depower line can be used as safety leash for the kite. The depower works like on every other kitebar using only one depower line through it, but has an extreme large depower range which can be adjusted for different arm lengths using the small black ball.

To get more informations (Prices, Demo Movies, etc.) about this system go to: http://www.kiteproshop.com/specials/main_kpsbar_eng.html

Laurent Ness - Axelair's Security Article: Why using a snap-shackle?
Laurent Ness - Axelair's Security Guidelines

New quick release harness spreader bar is going to be produced in Germany (high quality production):

The production is going to start on Monday. Price is not set yet.

Advantages:
1.) Release in 1/10 sec (no search for small devices to pull).
2.) Automatic release when contact on hard surface exists (body drag on the beach). Good for beginners.
3.) Release works in extreme angles (180 degress in every direction).
4.) Release up to 500kg = 1100 lbs without using force.

Watch video of release (474kb)
If you have trouble to watch the video try right-clicking and save to your system.

What do you think of that system?
Best performance with kite leashes that prevent the kite from flying away that could endanger others downwind of the kite.

Contact information:

Developed by: Alexander Korb

Distribution:
Power Trading GmbH (German Naish and Prolimit Distribution)
Kaiserstr. 58-60
24143 Kiel
phone: +49 431 54 58 375
fax: +49 431 54 58 376
powertrading@t-online.de

Practise safe kiteboarding
I did not use a kite leash last year, but from now on I'm going to use my kite leash every time and everywhere, wear a floatation vest, use a quick release system and although I'm using bindings, I'm going to wear a helmet. Think about it: Do you want me to kite upwind of you or your family without a kite leash? Loose kites can cause serious injury or death. Kiteboarding Safety Forum for discussing safety issues in kiteboarding. RIDE HARD & SAFER, TEN IDEAS FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS Dec. 4, 2002 Kiteboarding is an incredible new extreme sport that is sweeping around the World. The thrills and shear joy of flashing over the water and flinging yourself, spinning into the sky at will is addictive! Lot of power in this sport, it's part of the attraction and sometimes a threat as well. Riders are slammed and injured sometimes for want of just a bit more care and knowledge. Consider working the following ten points and other good practices into your riding habits. They may help to keep both you and bystanders safer and help to maintain kiteboarding access for us all to enjoy this great sport. These guidelines have grown out of the analysis of almost one hundred kiteboarding incidents and accidents. We are always learning new things about safe kiteboarding in this young sport so be aware of new techniques and updates to this list. NOTE: Even if these guidelines are followed serious injury can still occur in kiteboarding, so be careful out there. 1. NEVER LAUNCH OR RIDE WITHIN 200 FT. OR 60 M UPWIND OF BYSTANDERS OR HARD OBJECTS ...land, boats, rocks, walls, buildings, powerlines, roads or prominent vertical surfaces or steep slopes that may cause uplift. Depower your kite as early as possible if trouble threatens. Waiting may remove the option to do so safely. Riders have been injured and killed by ignoring these points. "DISTANCE IS YOUR FRIEND“ and may sometimes help to forgive bad luck & errors in judgment. 2. AVOID STORMS & SQUALLS. CHECK WEATHER RADAR, WIND & FORECASTS & BE AWARE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS WHILE RIDING. Storms & squalls have injured lots of kiteboarders & are a serious threat. Actual weather may differ from predicted conditions so stay alert. If you see squalls or storms, LAND, remove the lines & SECURE your kite IN ADVANCE of any change in wind or temperature. Riders have been injured by reacting too late or not at all. Consider using a warning horn at your local launch. Avoid offshore & onshore winds. 3. TAKE ADEQUATE PRO KITEBOARDING LESSONS FROM A GOOD SCHOOL carefully build experience in manageable conditions. Lessons cost but you should be kiteboarding faster, easier & safer for your investment. Also you could save your expensive gear & yourself from damage & our access to ride. 4. CAREFULLY PREFLIGHT YOUR GEAR, make sure lines are equal, in good condition, free of tangles/snags, are properly attached & no leaks are present. Repair gear before launching. 5. USE SAFETY GEAR ... a suitable helmet, impact vest, tested kite leash, reliable chicken loop quick releases (QR) & fixed harness line QR, gloves & hook knife(s). Practice mentally & physically reacting early to emergency situations, e.g. lofting & dragging, to try to reduce critical reaction time. Test & maintain your quick releases before each use to improve reliable performance. 6. BE CAREFUL IN & CONSIDER AVOIDING HIGHER WINDS while kiteboarding, that is potentially winds much greater than 18 kts or 20 mph. Kite forces & flight speeds can be much greater & conditions far less forgiving of errors in judgment & simple bad luck & have resulted in serious injuries. 7. CONSIDER LAUNCHING UNHOOKED from your bar for rapid release & kite leash activation if things go wrong. Consider hooking into your QR fixed harness line only once you are near the water & your kite is well low over the water in order to grab your board. Connect to your chicken loop offshore. 8. HAVE AN EXPERIENCED HELPER LAUNCH & LAND YOUR KITE who understands your instructions without error. If conditions permit, it may be safer to launch your kite near or from the water. 9. KEEP YOUR KITE LOW & NEVER BRING IT TO THE VERTICAL WHILE NEAR HARD OBJECTS OR LAND TO TRY TO AVOID LOFTING. GET OFFSHORE WITHOUT DELAY. 10. AVOID COMPLAINTS TO KEEP KITEBOARDING FREE & AT WILL. Jump to help kiteboarders. If you see someone doing something reckless, grab your friends & go talk with him. We are all in this sport together so pitch in & be ready to help to keep riders safe and to work to preserve access. These ten points appear with other ideas in the "Safe Kiteboarding Guidelines." The Guidelines are located at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitesurf/files/KSR%20-%20KITEBOARDING%20SAFETY%20REFERENCES/ FKA, Inc. transcribed by: Rick Iossi "We all know this but often don't accept or practice it. So for a short while, lets deal in REALITY, beyond denial, over confidence and blowing everything off with "I can handle it". 1. Riders must use kite depowering leashes that are attached to their body. If they cramp your style, find or build a better one, BUT use one starting the NEXT time you ride. Check your leash often and make sure it works properly, reliably and won't break. A depowering loop that you can manually grab at the end of your bar isn't reliable enough and will likely result in serious problems someday. 2. Use a safety release system for your chicken loop or centerline loop. Using a safety loop or snap shackle alone, may protect the rider but it sends your kite off fully powered for others to deal with successfully or tragically. 3. Follow the Safe Kiteboarding Guidelines and other safe and appropriate practices. This isn't the Boy Scouts, and this isn't a needless exercise, this is a great extreme sport that can be dangerous. To go at this sport without appropriate safety gear, caution, training and judgment will generate needless, avoidable accidents and incidents. We need to advance safety in this sport if it is going to continue to be viable. Even with doing all of the above and more, there will be accidents and incidents. At least in following the above cautions, many needless problems will never occur. Rick Iossi" found on www.kiteforum.com KITEPROSHOP.com KITEBAR-SYSTEM (patent pending) The Kitebar-System in 50, 55 or 60 cm bar length, allows you to do rotations and despin it without having any tangled lines afterwards while being attached to the kite with a safety leash. This system works with two quick releases to: A. have the kite fully depowered in dangerous situations and B. to get rid of it in even worse situations. This system can be attached to all common harness hooks within seconds. Due to using two holes instead of one, the depower lines don’t have to be connected. Therefore one depower line can be used as safety leash for the kite. The depower works like on every other kitebar using only one depower line through it, but has an extreme large depower range which can be adjusted for different arm lengths using the small black ball. To get more informations (Prices, Demo Movies, etc.) about this system go to: http://www.kiteproshop.com/specials/main_kpsbar_eng.html Laurent Ness - Axelair's Security Article: Why using a snap-shackle? Laurent Ness - Axelair's Security Guidelines New quick release harness spreader bar is going to be produced in Germany (high quality production): The production is going to start on Monday. Price is not set yet. Advantages: 1.) Release in 1/10 sec (no search for small devices to pull). 2.) Automatic release when contact on hard surface exists (body drag on the beach). Good for beginners. 3.) Release works in extreme angles (180 degress in every direction). 4.) Release up to 500kg = 1100 lbs without using force. Watch video of release (474kb) If you have trouble to watch the video try right-clicking and save to your system. What do you think of that system? Best performance with kite leashes that prevent the kite from flying away that could endanger others downwind of the kite. Contact information: Developed by: Alexander Korb Distribution: Power Trading GmbH (German Naish and Prolimit Distribution) Kaiserstr. 58-60 24143 Kiel phone: +49 431 54 58 375 fax: +49 431 54 58 376 powertrading@t-online.de