Injuries?

OBE Out of Buggy Experience : One minute your cruzin' along and the next second your supermanned over the sand and crash in a crumpled heaped. That is when it happens the buggy lands on top of you like godzilla just threw it at you. Other than that , what could possibly go wrong.;-)

Accidents happen in any sport but a buggy puts you closer to the ground when an OBE happens. I had a foot slip off a peg last year at Superior because I had the front fork set too far out. I got a nasty sprain that took a few months of therapy to get better. I was doing about 30mph and tumbled about three times with helmet, knee and elbow pads I really got off easy with minimal playa peel.

My point is you can get hurt anywhere doing anything but buggying seems safer and more stable than a board. You can cruise like most of us or freestyle like "stupid"Dave, Will and others to show your wilder side.

BTW when talking about Dave and Will, that being closer to the ground on a buggy doesn't count.

Yeah , I gotta say doin' 40+ on a land board is pretty much a religious experience!:wow: ( you prayin to the deity of your choice, that you don't go down). At least I ride on beach, playa, thats like Indian concrete or adobe isn't it. I lived in vegas as a kid so I grew up in the desert on a dirt bike man I wish this sport existed then. I would have been all over it. But that was the 70s, Damn I don't feel that old.

lets see, I have had a half doz. obe this year, flipped the buggy twice. cartwheeled it once. It's the gusty time of year, can't wait for the warm east blows late in the afternoons(off the ocean)

I'm just getting into kite landboarding and have a question for those landboarders (and former landboarders) who have torn their ACL or other similar injuries. I would like to know how the injury occurred? I figure there are plenty of ways to hurt yourself on one of these boards but if there is anything in particular to watch out for then I'd love to be aware of it.

Thanks in advance.

Body Armor

Quote:

Originally posted by kiteNH I'm just getting into kite landboarding and have a question for those landboarders (and former landboarders) who have torn their ACL or other similar injuries. I would like to know how the injury occurred? I figure there are plenty of ways to hurt yourself on one of these boards but if there is anything in particular to watch out for then I'd love to be aware of it. Thanks in advance.

For me I was just learning. I know how to snowboard and when on a snowboard I ride goofy. I knew on the landboard I would need to learn to go both goofy and regular, so I thought that I would try to learn both directions equally starting out. I was able to get going both directions OK, but it felt really weird in the regular direction. On this particular day, it was my third time out and first time giving it a try on the beach. The wind was really light, and I was sharing my fixed bridles with my friends and I was flying my fairly new Sabre. Now the Sabre was barely pulling, but it was flying. My friends and husband had been trying out the board first doing some downwind runs and then they wanted me to have a go. I wanted to use one of the fixed bridle kites for more pull, but I decided to stick with the Sabre. I got going in the good direction- to the right- stopped, and swung the kite back and got moving the the left, not much pull and the kite flew to the edge of the window too fast. Rather than falling on my butt, I decided to step off the board with my right leg.

Quote:

Originally posted by WELDNGOD I'm thinkin' wiping out with one foot still in bindings and the board's cartwheeling.ouch:o

This is exactly what happened!

It all happened so fast my right leg planted fully locked, hyperextended as I fell over it. I heard a loud pop. I laid there for a minute and then got up when my friends came over. I could walk but was limping a bit. I took a time out for an hour and then did some static kiting. My knee felt week and a bit wobbly but not painful. We left when the sun started to set and in the car my knee swelled up and became painful.

I wasn't diagnosed with a torn ACL and meniscus until a month later when it was still giving me some problems squatting down. After the surgery, the OS told me that I had one of the smallest notches at the knuckle end of my femur (where the ACL connects) that he had ever seen- this ment that very little force was required to shear the ligament in two.

I gave up the board after my knee healed (9 months later I was cleared to kite) and got a buggy. The board was too tempting, but too easy for another injury, so I sold it. I still may return to the board one day.

My suggestion to people starting off boarding... get a pair of crash shorts and don't be afraid to fall on your butt & and don't try to step off your board while moving.

Quote:

Originally posted by archkiter My suggestion to people starting off boarding... get a pair of crash shorts and don't be afraid to fall on your butt & and don't try to step off your board while moving.

That sounds like a good suggestion. So far the closest that I've come to serious injury has been somewhat similar......starting to fall over and trying to put my hand down. I only strained my shoulder and wrist but know that would be an easy way to snap a wrist on a harder fall.

I'd better get a pair of these crash shorts. I was going to stick with just knee and elbow pads (which I STILL haven't gotten around to ordering:no but anything that will help embrace the "crash and roll" mentality is probably worth it.

Thanks for the great response archkiter.