Frankly you guys sound like you are worried about damaging the sport by anything that flies, even a parachute. You are probably true since paragliders and power kiters are not the same thing, but like the average concerned VENGEFUL Joe would know or care about that anyway... So I ask why worry anyway if the Joe won't care if he mixes up the sports, if he opens his mouth, and a politician doesn't know whats what, the vote is cast anyway, its not like you will educate every person who opens his mouth about the intricacies of the power kiting hobby\sport?

It's the effect of the blind leading the blind. You can't help after the fact when the blind pair got hit by a car. So if cars wheren't as popular we'd probably ban them :tumble: just like power kiting, noone knows much about them, so they are getting banned for not being understood and educated. But like I said, 90% of the people won't even care to be educated because they are not interested, all they can do is look at power kiting, see that it looks dangerous or etc and say it should be banned...

When a gathering of SoFKA guys found out we were banned from kite buggying at Fort Clinch State Park in FL, I sent a letter (originally was going to be handled by NAPKRA but they thought it was futile to mess with, and it was) to the head ranger. He cited quotes from an Australian site to illustrate why he didn't allow kite buggying on the state park beaches. It is a big world but it is also small now. What you do in one place can affect people across the globe.

Guns are inanimate objects that can do no harm by themselves but need a person to decide how they are used or not used.

Everyone should be able to decide what safety equipment they wear as long as someone else doesn't have to pay for any bad consequences. So if you don't have your own health insurance and then want free (to you) medical care to clean up your mess then you are out of bounds.

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob It is a big world but it is also small now. What you do in one place can affect people across the globe.

yes... The UK is the lead kiting nation in the english-speaking world and they have lots of bans, I'm not sure whether there are less ban over time or more.

@k.. (sorry can't remember spelling) you keep saying it's individual choice, and yes it is in some locations and/or conditions. But not in all. You keep saying it's an individual right to take on whatever risks we choose and well yes i agree with you, that's increasingly becoming a compelling aspect of our culture for many, and whenever possible yes people can take their own risks.

But when those risks impact others, then it becomes an important aspect of personal responsibility to manage those risks. I don't have medical insurance. Here in HK I have access to a full range of medical services for mere few US dollars a visit, and I can apply for assistance if I can't afford the fees. If I were uninsured and living in the US, out of responsiblity to my family I'd minimize my risks, because they'd pay my bills.

So as kiteflyers we need to manage the risks not only to ourselves, but to the environment, other kiteflyers, and the public. If the public view of kitesurfing represents a risk to the future of our sport, then that is a very important risk to manage.

Bittorrent is another thing, it's much more individual, and it's far closer to being a global phenomenon with lasting consequences than kiting is, so it writes its own rules on the internet and on society. Not a good example, imho.

I'd suggest one better, but I'm plumb out of words for once! :o

Y'all just need to come out here to Kansas and fly with me. You can fly till your little hearts content and never see another person let alone kiter!!!! And no bans to worry about. I even have permission to fly on two different small airports around here on runways they aren't using anymore!!!

Quote:

Originally posted by soccerflyer I even have permission to fly on two different small airports around here on runways they aren't using anymore!!!

now that's sweet... almost enough to make me move to kansas LOL!

no, but seriously, how big are these runways...???:o

Freaking huge!! You ever seen a runway? it is like I'd guess (bad at guessing distances) 40 foot accross and a couple miles long!!

It's WAY sweet. And the sucky thing is - I don't have wheels yet - just permission to use them.

I am taking donations though

Come on out. There is an empty runway waiting for a Kiter!! Not to mention thousands of acres of fields. Wind is a little gusty but not too bad.

Same thing I have- 6800 foot runway about 2 blocks away. The owner is a little unstable but the cops stop by and are really fascinated with what I am doing. Now if I could get a little more N/S wind and a little less E/W.....

Well.... I'm just stoked about the two pennies I found on the ground earlier. I'll donate those to your wheels fund soccerflyer ;P

Sweet thanks!!! :roll: That's $300.02 I have saved up now!!! Now if I can just get about 40,000 more people to give me a penny . . . . .

* REPOSTED*
Hey Earl, It's all good dude. That movin thing happens every now and then, I don't think they would censor us like that.

(Earl this isn't directed at you personally, but it is my last post on this thread, so I'm gonna make my case)
What we do for fun, is an activty that is all to easy to be legislated away. For the simple fact ,that the US is the most letigious nation on earth. Not to mention our numbers here are so small that we would not stand a chance in a court of law. This isn't G.B. , where it is huge. And if they can go and take videos like that to show a jury or a city council . Next they would show that(A$$hole ) from FLA that decided to fly in a HURRICANE! And then you have no where to ride......

I grew up in the 70's, my generation drained pools to ride skateboards in. Now skateboarding is damn near illegal.
Go ahead , ask any skater teenager, they will tell ya how f'd up it is to be a skater anymore if you have no skatepark.
No skatepark + hysteria induced bans= no where to ride.

If the idiot had used a paraglider I could care less
, but he used a powerkite.

What is the name of this forum?

We should think of our future , or it may be decided for us.

WG

Oh I dunno, I reckon the UK would give the US a run for it's money in the "Stupid ass namby-pampy #@%$#! laws that spoils everyone's fun" stakes ...

Kandrey, it's not about education, nowdays it's that quick perception of what is going on.
What are you saying? That we shouldn't worry about what anybody thinks about what we do? Maybe clothesline a few old ladys? Run over a pair of 3 yr. old twins while they are building a sand castle? jump off an incline with a powerkite and make it 100 ft off the incline, and a powerline breaks!!! down you go, your only 100 ft off the ground at this point. Do you really think a chute will come to canopy that quik? I say splat!
Then other men have to risk their lives, to go rescue the dumbass.


WG:puzzled:

Hurting people or coming close to doing so is a world away from some guy in Germany climbing a mountain with his camera person and jumping off. He was in a very rural, not crowded area and he was wearing a parachute. I really fail to see how that is going to effect anything, and I don't see the harm in my posting the vid.

About the skate bans. I don't think the bans are because kids were skating in their pools, it's because street skating hammers the property they grind on and because the kids parents sue the strip mall little Johnny broke his arm at.

I hope my views on this aren't taken personally by anyone here. I love kiting and would be very upset if I got baned from my favorite spots. It is something I worry about because there are soccer practices there and it does distract the player. So far the coaches have been cool and I go out of my way to keep them happy, sometimes at great expense to my pride.

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Earl Hurting people or coming close to doing so is a world away from some guy in Germany climbing a mountain with his camera person and jumping off. He was in a very rural, not crowded area and he was wearing a parachute. I really fail to see how that is going to effect anything, and I don't see the harm in my posting the vid.

actually I have no problems with those vids, nor really with anybody posting crazy kite-related stuff on here...

BUT:

Let's say we build up a sweet collection of educational and riveting kitemare videos stories here, then it gets used against us? Maybe I'm paranoid, but that's a scenario which could have a pretty bad outcome...

One of the difficulties is that as a community we take on very different levels of actual risk from pilot to pilot based on experience, kit, location, and local support, but those levels of risk get perceived in very different ways by other groups of people as well as ourselves... if that makes sense. Makes it hard to build a common picture.... hence discussions like this.... Yeah I know some of the ikitesurf crowd would call this frolicking with franny foil of the five fingers or something such (excuse my lack of explicit language here ), but whatever....

Quote:

whatever....

last word of the post, and it summarizes the thread so nicely :tumble::wee:

On the positive side. For all those people who might be snooping on this site to see how irresponsible we are... The fact that we are actually having a serious discussion about this, rather than just cheering on the latest idiotic kiter doing something dumb, Actually speaks well of us.

I fully agree that we all representatives of this sport, whether we want to be, or not. And that we all have a responsibility in policing ourselves and putting our best foot forward in the public eye. (see my response to the recent "seagull" blog in the "Kite Buggying" section of this forum)

That being said...

Daring or extreme behavior is not what has caused the most problems, or what we need to worry about. This entire sport is considered by most, to be "daring" and "extreme". It actually evolved out of people "doing something stupid" with kites!

No. What has the potential to cause the most problems is "negative public interaction" and "negative public image"

Let me explain... Take a look at mountainbiking... What caused huge numbers of trails to be closed to mountainbikers? Was it the extreme "Vancouver Freeride" scene, jumping off logs? No! It was the negative public image that mountainbikers began acquiring because some weren't respecting other trail users or the trails themselves. Running hikers off the trails, Scaring horses, willfully damaging trails. They began being viewed as intruders...unfriendly... bad for the trails... bad for the environment! The result....BANNED!!

That is where we to be careful. We need to all be positive representatives of our sport whenever we interact with the rest of the public.

Where I live, we are fortunate to have a large expanse of beach to play on. It also happens to be a section of beach where the public can drive on. Luckily, kiters around our area are a friendly bunch that goes out of their way to talk with any curious person that happens to stop to see what we're doing. (there are days when I think I spend more time talking to strangers about kiting, than actually kiting.) I even carry a little beat-up starter kite with me, just in case someone wants to give it a try. (Remember, every "convert" means one less potential enemy.)

We're also very careful in making sure that our activity is not interfering negatively with anyone else's enjoyment of the beach. Also, we try to promote the fact that we are a environmentally conscious sport (It's quiet... We're not scaring the wildlife... We're not polluting... No fuel, fumes, smoke... We don't tear up the dunes or the beach) Consequently, locally, we have a pretty positive reception from the public. (I actually had a Oregon State Patrol "pull me over" on my buggy just to tell me that he "clocked" me at 40mph and said "that looks soooo cool!!!!")

That level of public interaction (or lack thereof) is what will ultimately make or break us. Sure, it might take away from some of our flying-time - But that sure beats having no place to fly at all!