Planker

I used to do all my own race waxing, and in my opinion everything is subjective. It all depends on how happy/unhappy you are with the speed you are getting. I wax my board/skis whenever they feel slow to ME, however if you see any discoloration on the base of your board (usually spots of white) it is time to wax. toko and swix are both good quality, all purpose is great if you aren't looking for max speed, however if you want to spend a few extra bucks there are waxes for different temps (I went out boarding with some friends the other day who had used a general purpose wax, while I used a temp correct wax and my board was noticeably faster). Zardox is *ok* it works great for MAYBE a day, depending on how you ride and how fast you like your board to be you could be applying zardox a couple times a day, while conventional wax will last a few days at least. always clean your base before you apply wax. over time you can wax dirt into the base leading to significant speed reduction. and lastly, all this info is from someone who raced and was looking for the TOP speed possible (ie: you really don't need to go as intense as i described, but it will make your board ride like a champ

thanks for the help folks, sounds like I didn't have enough wind, cus when I would lean back hard, I would end up falling at most any drop in wind speed. Also, as basic as it sounds looking where I want to go I think will help a lot. cstowell - I guess I need to update my info, I'm living in cali now, but if you are looking for a good place there is a meadow between 88 and 50 on 89 (near south lake) you can't miss it, it's huge and the wind was pretty consistant in direction if not speed the day I was out.

went out for my first day of kite snowboarding, lots of fun except the walk back to the car. I'm pretty good with my kite, but I've never done any sort of kiteboarding and I couldn't go upwind to save my life. If you drew a line perpendicular to the wind direction, about how many degrees off that line would you want to head upwind? any other suggestions are appriciated as well. thanks

not me personally, but yesterday my friend broke his back (not paralized, but in for a long recovery)

Well, I'm glad I wasn't there (cus I'd feel responsible) but one of my best friends broke his back kiting with a blade II 4.9 yesterday on the northern coast of california (bodega bay). He's not going to be paralyized, and should eventually recover, but he's in a lot of pain and in for a long hospital stay. Not trying to discourage people from kiting at all, in fact, please start. just saying be mindful of conditions. We've been flying for over 4 years now pretty regularly and for some reason flying happened in 30+ winds on the land (we fly up to 25 pretty regularly, but...) Be safe and send healing thoughts towards northern california. thanks, Pat

there could be something better out there, but you can't go wrong with a blade. also, as long as you don't weigh like 90 pounds or something I personally would recomend 3 meters and LARGER for your first kite, just fly in lower winds. those tiny kites 3 meters and smaller seem to give less soft landings, and when you don't know how to control your landings seems like a larger kite that provides softer landing would be good to start with, plus you can grow into it then. just be wise about what winds you fly in. I stated with a blade II 4.0 and outgrew it within 6 months (wished I'd gone with the 4.9) but I'm really out to go huge. Planker

"tricks" have deffinately come into play, 360s 720s supermans are always fun. been working on backflips, but thus far have only landed on my head (though in dunes this isn't a huge deal, just have to work at getting sand out of hair for a week) Also, didn't think about the fact that a lot of people who are into this sport are a bit older than I am (possibly due to the financial requiernments, but who knows) progressing to boarding is deff an interesting prospect, hadn't really thoght too much about that, mostly considering getting into kite surfing. Anyways though, thanks for the input, my curiosity is basically taken care of. Come to america, we'll go fly Pat/Planker

My only goal when I fly is to jump huge, 5-6 feet feels like a mere hop to me. I understand the inherent dangers to jumping on land, but as long as you hang on and don't fly in gusty conditions you are not that likely to get hurt (espcially if you fly on sand) Every day I go out I am hoping to jump 30 some odd feet, but it's usually only 10ish (which is getting a little boaring btw) I weigh 135 lbs and don't really have fun with my 4.0 blade II until the winds reach 20 now. Lately I've been flying my friends 7.8 that thing is fun! I'm thinking a 10.whatever blade III is the way to go for me at this point. I have never even come close to being seriously injured flying my kite or anyone elses. worst thing that ever has happened to me is getting a few scrapes and bruises from being drug along the ground. Point of this entire message is that I want to know how many people are like me out there (always wanting to go bigger) and how many people are not, and why for both? Thanks, Pat/Planker

Weighing in at a wee 135 lbs I am able to get some nice jumps. out the other day and was consistantly jumping (so my friend said) 4-5 feet over his head (that's with feet strait down, not pulled up) he is approx 6 feet tall. Every day I go out I am hoping for the 30 foot jump, thus far approx 15 is my max, weak really...

I'm wondering if you have to have a kite specific pump for inflatable kites, or if you can use pretty much any pump with any kite. Thanks, Pat/Planker101

might have found a decent deal on an inflatable, but I've never owned one before and don't know if they have bridal lines or not (the kite I'm looking at doesn't appear to) I'm wondering how you attach your flying lines to the kite. (been flying blade II's) Thanks, Pat/Planker101

I think what you really need is not so much a lighter kite, but more farting segals. this is the obvious solution....as far as I'm concerned anyways

I agree with wally, sounds like you might be flying it in winds that are too low. Lates, Planker

Had my kite somewhere in the range of a month now and had my best day yet today. wind was great for jumping. My best jump of the day was supposedly 7-8 feet off the ground (feet of course) but what really impressed me was how long I was in the air. I had time to think, "wow, I'm high" then, "dang, I'm still up here" then, "uh-oh, hope I land ok" then, "I'm comming down now, think I'll roll this one out" It was awesome had some other small jumps 3-6 feet, but nothing so long. Can't wait for some more days with wind like that. Lates, Planks

I've been pondering trying some tricks now that I am getting more comfortable in the air. for me personally backflips would be far easier, a lot of people don't realize this, but backflips are NATURALLY easier. Your body is better weighted to do backflips than to do frontflips, most people are just scared of backflips for some reason. I can do both front and back on land unassisted, so I figure transfering it to the kite should be no problem (ie: assisted) anyways, nice to hear that others have pioneered the area

I don't personally own one of these but two of my close friends do, so I have the oportunity to fly them somewhat regularly. between the three of us that fly we have a decent range of kites from a smaller sky tiger to the blade II 7.8 and I must say that the 7.8 comes in very handy on those low wind days, I'd say that the 7.8 is a good buy for the low wind days or for those who are carrying a few more stones than the rest of us (I personally can only fly the larger guys in low winds, 9 stone, but my friends who own them can fly um up to about 15 without complaining and I've been with um with it up to 20, though they went to the 4.9 at that point) lates, Planker

I recently got a 4.0m blade II, though I probably won't be too much help as I only weight 9 stone, but I was out in about 15 mph wind to start today, got about a 4-5 foot jump, then wind picked up a bit and I got proly about a 6 footer, then the wind got a bit high for my weight, got one more jump in, proly 7-8, though my friend missed that one so not sure, wind was going about 20-25 at that point, I'm sure i could have gotten some huge air, but I decided to play it safe and call it quites. With your weight and a 4.0m I'd say you'd need at least 20 for some decent stuff, though once again being 3 stone less I'm probably not a great judge. As for the 9 stone guy looking to fly the 7.8m, be careful. Two of my buds have 7.8's and they deff pull a bit much for me in anything above 10mph (I'm 9 stone as well) Lates, Pat/Planker

the best thing you can do is take your friends out, and invite random people (if you arn't too scared of them damaging your kite or yourself getting sued) I personally only invite older people who look to weigh 150 or more cus I want the least risk of them getting injured. That is the reson I have a ktie, peole inviting me to fly. I've only had my kite maybe a week now and already taken out, umm, 7 people and invited about 10 that "want to come out some other time, but can't just now" Every one I have taken out loves it, sounds like my room mate might buy one of his own. Anyways just keep exposing people to it, Pat/Planker

by the way, I fully expect to injure myself jumping eventually, was just discouraging my friends from trying to jump by telling them that injuries are inevitable, though I've been fortunate enough to avoid them thus far. I figured I shouldn't encourage it though. Also, I like the idea of measuring jump by the handle change for the most part, though it's really hard to tell how many feet the handles moved. You just have to judge for yourself, when people tell me how high I went I always take into account whether or not I had my legs up or at full dangle. jumping is life

Only the lamest measure by the head, in my honest opinion. Fu*k those A$$holes that measure by the head. Sorry bout the language, but that just pisses me off. Lates

Flying is so much more fun when it is YOUR kite Just got a 4.0m blade II and took it out today with a friend and my room mate, neither of which had flown before. My friend didn't really pick it up too well, but my room mate is a natural, first time he took it up he was able to steer beautifully. Both of them didn't let go though, even when being drug. That made me happy. I had tons o fun flying myself as well. Got a few good jumps, largest of which felt massive, but friends said it was only about 8 feet high and 15-20 feet long. Lots of fun shoe skiing though Anyways just had to post about my first flight with my first kite. Lates, Pat/planker

well, I've never owned a pair of kite killers, but I kinda want some, thinking of fabricating my own.... I'm somewhat new to flying, just got my first kite; been flying my friends kites until now. I've never actually had the need for kite killers, though the highest winds I've flown in are between 20-25 with a 4.9, so nothing CRAZY. Also though, I have no problem being dragged, I've become somewhat adept at flying a kite while being drug on my back, at least adept at braking it or otherwise downing it. Still worried that one day I might have to let go, but until then.... lots of dragging. Lates, Pat/Planker

Can anyone tell me what a strop is, what it does, and how you use it? Thanks in advance, Pat/Planker