Power Kite Forum

Night Kiting!!

flyboy15 - 22-8-2009 at 04:11 PM

Hey guys,

This past season me and my friends tried some different techniques on the best way to go about night kiting after we read about it here online. We made a few attempts with different products to see what works best and we found this to be the ultimate answer.

The conditions need to be right for night kiting, good visibility, and a good amount of ambient light in the area so you dont go running into a stump or something.

We found these work well (LED glowstick, walmart) to light up the wingtips of the kite. This allows you to see the darker tips of the kite so you dont drag it on the ground by accident.

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And by the way... For those of you that have not night kited, it is one of the coolest experiences ever. Get some of your friends out at the field and throw some glowsticks on them too, its pretty awesome to see a few blinking sticks way away and two in the air. Almost UFO worthy lol

Keep kitin people!

dylanj423 - 22-8-2009 at 04:21 PM

i always wanted to get some led flashlights and point them at the kite canopy, from the bridlee connection points... i decideed against it because of the fact that my spot then was close to a freeway, and i could imagine the "ufo sightings"

flyboy15 - 22-8-2009 at 06:11 PM

haha yea for sure. We just take some paracord and tie these to the bridles right on the wingtips (the rest of the kite seemed easy to make out). The sticks toggle from flash and solid color so i'm sure some people get curious with the flashing

snobdr - 23-8-2009 at 08:28 PM

Knowing where the kite was wasnt a problem but seeing other kiters was. We were riding with a full moon but overcast, passerbys on the main road could still see us without lights on our kite.

flyboy15 - 24-8-2009 at 06:22 AM

yea we found the same problem. So like i said we clipped on flashing to their bag and another to their chest, and you couldnt miss em!

BeamerBob - 24-8-2009 at 06:45 AM

I ran the buggy on a beach once at night with no moon but there was a well lit mfg plant off to the west behind my kite. Winds were directly onshore. I set up in the dark so as not to mess up my night vision. It was incredibly cool rolling along the beach in the dark with just the silhouette of the kite up in the sky and no sound but the surf and the shells popping under my tires. I put many miles on my buggy that night before the wind dwindled. It was a secluded beach and I made a slow pass to check for debris and beach walkers. I could see people if they were walking on the beach, but I was alone the whole time.

PHREERIDER - 24-8-2009 at 07:32 AM

personal beacon like a small bike light easy off and on if anyone comes up. other than that lees is more. glow stick are good ID and easy on the eyes.

i recently noticed the fishing type of glow things very small (maybe LEDS) but water proof and small

fun in the dark!

sofa king - 13-11-2009 at 09:57 PM

went to a rave type event and flew my kite at at 3am with glowsticks taped to it, im sure some thought it was a ufo:bigok:

Have you tried EL Wire

Peek - 28-8-2010 at 05:42 AM

It's light, fairly cheap :thumbup:, portable and can run on batteries. All you have to do it figure out is how to rig it to you kite.
http://www.livewireent.com/

bigkid - 28-8-2010 at 07:17 AM

I have done this a few times with different ideas for light from battery powered to glow sticks and a dozen things in between. But found the best is to insert the glow sticks in the dirt outs, keeps them in place and you know where the tips are plus you don't end up with tape, safety pins, or wire holding these things on till they fall off.
Looks really cool at the beach when you can't see your hands cause its so dark :wow: