I was thinking the other day:puzzled: What got me into all this:tumble: For me it was a hobby change. I use to fly remote control planes. But you know, they don't fly well in wind and it seemed every time I went to fly my planes it was windy. So I started looking online at kites! Then I found power kites!:singing: That was it for me. I have alway's loved kites anyway. But when I found out you could jump off the ground with one it was on! Now I am hooked. And it really doesn't matter how many kites you have Imo Because when your out there with fellow kiters You have it all!!

Thanks PKF & Members

I had gotten turned on to kites seeing Corey and his Kites on T.V.

Shortly after I had a series of Folks pass away. I was getting depressed and needed to do something. Seems kiting was just the " pill " :singing: I've been happy ever since !!!

Good for you BR. It could not have happend to a better person. Imo. OH) You have to be careful of what you watch on tv.

My mom got me a stuntkite as a kid and loved how you could control what the kite did in the air. It was a cheap little Gayla, but it did buzz around pretty quickly and turn fast. Videogames were my main 'hobby' back then so I didn't pay much attention to kiting. Fast forward to ~2003 when I got a newer, bigger (36" wingspan omg! :tumble: ) stunt kite but didn't really fly too often for some reason. Then FF a little more to when HDTVs first came out and HDchannels were offered on cable. I saw people kiteboarding on water on HDNet and I was like 'Wait wait.. I've flown 2 line kites, and I've wake/snow/skate/longboarded. I can do this..'

I started researching and found out they gave lessons at South Padre Island,TX. My parents live about 40 mins away from SPI, so last June during a long weekend visit I took the beginner lesson. The $300 price tag did sting a little, but I figured if I got into kiting, the lesson would pay off in the long run and it definitely has.

The instructor and I went to the North Flats, and he first pulled out a small trainer kite. I'd never flown a 2-line foil kite, but my previous stunt kite experience helped me breeze through learning the controls. Winds were ~25mph and feeling how much power that little foil had was incredible. Then a bit later in the lesson, he jacked me into a 9m C-kite and I was like 'hooooly sshhhhhhh******%%%%%'. I wasn't completely ready for how much power there would be and it pulled me off my feet into the water! Later, the instructor showed me how to body drag and that sealed the deal. Feeling the pull of the kite and feeling the water rushing underneath me faster and faster with each figure 8 through the powerzone was the best ever.

Kiteboarding was all I could think about after that, and still is.

I bought a stunter way back when and loved it but never really got bit by the bug (though I did get bit by the lines - still hace scars to remember it by). Last September as I was walking our dog across the field I now fly in I saw a guy that I knew in a roundabout way flying a big yellow Titan. My eyes were saucers and I knew I had to try it. Got my first 3 meter and somehow it divided into a Rage and a Blaze. Then those reproduced (should have kept them separated while I wasn't watching over them) and I was blessed with a Brooza and an Ace and the cross breeding continued. The first kite wasn't the greatest but I new I had to give a real brand name a chance and that got me hooked (the Rage).

My wife and I were on a Cruise on the Baltic Sea and were killing a free afternoon in Warnermude, Germany on the coast. We stumbled into a kite shop on the beach and the fellow there new a bit of English. Having been a glider pilot I was fascinated by the power kites and bought a little Elliot Sigma Fun 2-line power kite.
Back home in NY City I'd fly it in Central ParS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s Great Lawn or down in the park along the Hudson River.
When we moved from NY to coastal Georgia and I saw the wide open un-crowded beaches, the Ripstop was calling my name...
We had talked about getting a sailboat one day, and the wife has owned one before, so the idea of a kite and buggy investment was a lot more palatable.

One weekend about a year ago, a lady-friend asked me if I wanted to go to the park and fly kites and have a picnic. I accepted, and off we went to buy a little blue butterfly kite with a spool of string about 500 feet long. I got it up in the air and let it nearly all the way out of it's spool. It was entertaining to see how far it went out there, but I wanted to see if there was more to kites. I returned home and did a google search on "huge kite", literally just to see how big they got. In the process of searching, I discovered these power kites, and the fact that people zoomed along the ground with them, and even in the water!!!!:o

I was hooked from just the idea, never even flown a two line kite, hadn't ridden a board since I fell off a skateboard when I was in third grade (I'm 30). The first kite I bought was my HQ Symphony 1.8, and I can remember saying "$75 for a kite!!?" HA!!

The first time I got the real bug was when I took that little kite out in 15mph or so winds. I was amazed at the pull (yes, yes, I know, but it was my first kite, really- how was I supposed to know ), and the speed. Thus the obsession began, and so it continues. I am so glad I found this stuff, I love everything about it.

My start was a little different from the rest. In 1984 I actually got paid to sit on the beach all day and babysit
big lifters. Was hired by Doug Hagaman who was working for Catch the Wind Kites at the time.

Learned a lot from this guy. Our power kite of choice were the 6 foot flexis. Got hooked on T.O.L. Team, and North Shore Radicals. The first sparless foil I ever flew was our 300 square foot stunt chute, a retired parachut.

It has been all down hill from there.

I wish my story was as interesting as your's but def not.

I got started just about 6 months ago when I opened a copy of weed world magazine to check out the new info... One of the writers wrote an article about his first experience kiting with his experienced friends. It was about 2 pages and quite lengthy. Needless to say I pointed at the pages and said "I'm so doing this!"

After checking it out online, reading tons of forums, and viewing some videos I was hooked, line and sinker! :frog:
Bought my first kite (used) and an MBS comp16 board (used also) the week after I read the article...

I finally registered to this forum after looking thru at least 15 other forums cus I realized the best questions, answers, and friendliest most informative people are found here!!!

I noticed a few of you guys/gals from these forums at others as well... Now I see why you frequent this one more often! I check the others but posting in them is... eh bland :wink2:

~End of Hijack!~

When I was 9 I asked for a stunt kite. I got a stingray for chistmas
Next christmas = mountainboard
Later that year I went to the beach w/ a huge wind and proceeded to do a mile downwinder... with a stunt kite
Next fathers day got my dad the 1.8 beamer...
you can guess the rest

June 2007 I quit smoking and summer was coming up and i needed to keep busy after work and i was getting bored with the gym with same ol routine. So I went to Target and bought my first kite a "Dragon" single line kite. that last about 2 weeks i get bored very easy. So i did a search on Rev Kites. and Of course they looked very cool.....then i clicked on a kite link by accident and it was some guy getting dragged around and jumping on a FLexi Blade....my nervous system just about shut down i never seen such a thing. So LOL i ended up with a Prism Stylus 1.2 LOL I wanted to start very very very slow.....I'm sorta afraid of heights so i didn't wanna have anything to do with jumping......just yet:D so i played with that 2 liner the whole summer learning the window. And got my first quad line Power Kite in Sept 07 "HQ Crossfire 2.4" 2 weeks later after buying the kite i broken my first bone and gotten my first set of stitches ( got dragged over glass) Soooooo M home recovering and decided i need BIGGER got myself the "Crossfire 4.0" was all downhill from there till i wanted MORE and March this year got myself my first Depower and a board and have been hooked ever since!!!!!!!

I've flown single line kites since I was a young kid (my neighbor used to sell kites at flea markets so he always had tons available that he'd sell to us local kids for $1) so I've always loved flying.

In 1993 I was in Newport, RI and came across several people practicing pairs and team sport kite flying for the upcoming Newport Kite Festival and I knew right away that I wanted to do that so I bought my first sport kite and started flying the very next day and still love tricking those all over the sky though I mostly pull them out on no / low wind days now.

I've been a die hard mogul skier since I was young but when my first son was born in 1999 that put an end to my weekend jaunts to the mountains.

I live on conservation land with 2 ponds in my backyard so I started looking at power kites in 2000 so I could ski in my backyard and still be around for breakfast, lunch and dinner for my new family. It seemed power kiting was more or less in its infancy around then and I was too nervous to try to learn on my own. So other than making requests for info on Rec.kites, I never pursued the sport.

Come 2005 and in the span of two weeks somone posted a kitesurfing vid and the Skimbat promo vid on the GWTW forum and I knew right away I wanted in.

Weeks of reading all I could on the FF forum and several google searches eventually pointed me to a powerkite store not 30 minutes from my house so I signed up to take a skiing lesson and was hooked instantly.

Bought my first blade the very next week and bought my JOJOs a few months later from Troy Gunn who was one of the persons I was corresponding with on Rec.kites in 1999 about the kites I wound up buying 6 years later.

Winter of 2006 was mild so I bought my landboard.

I've been in love with the wind since I was a kid. With sport kite flying it became almost a spiritual obsession for me and now with the power side added I'm a full on wind junky enthusiast.

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc I've flown single line kites since I was a young kid (my neighbor used to sell kites at flea markets so he always had tons available that he'd sell to us local kids for $1) so I've always loved flying. In 1993 I was in Newport, RI and came across several people practicing pairs and team sport kite flying for the upcoming Newport Kite Festival and I knew right away that I wanted to do that so I bought my first sport kite and started flying the very next day and still love tricking those all over the sky though I mostly pull them out on no / low wind days now. I've been a die hard mogul skier since I was young but when my first son was born in 1999 that put an end to my weekend jaunts to the mountains. I live on conservation land with 2 ponds in my backyard so I started looking at power kites in 2000 so I could ski in my backyard and still be around for breakfast, lunch and dinner for my new family. It seemed power kiting was more or less in its infancy around then and I was too nervous to try to learn on my own. So other than making requests for info on Rec.kites, I never pursued the sport. Come 2005 and in the span of two weeks somone posted a kitesurfing vid and the Skimbat promo vid on the GWTW forum and I knew right away I wanted in. Weeks of reading all I could on the FF forum and several google searches eventually pointed me to a powerkite store not 30 minutes from my house so I signed up to take a skiing lesson and was hooked instantly. Bought my first blade the very next week and bought my JOJOs a few months later from Troy Gunn who was one of the persons I was corresponding with on Rec.kites in 1999 about the kites I wound up buying 6 years later. Winter of 2006 was mild so I bought my landboard. I've been in love with the wind since I was a kid. With sport kite flying it became almost a spiritual obsession for me and now with the power side added I'm a full on wind junky enthusiast.

Hey B-Roc I was trying to U2U you and it kept saying error on my end. Just curious where is the Kite shop 30 min from your house?.....if you don't mind me asking. I would love to go to an acutal power kite shop and look around

Quote:

Originally posted by dgkid78 Hey B-Roc I was trying to U2U you and it kept saying error on my end. Just curious where is the Kite shop 30 min from your house?.....if you don't mind me asking. I would love to go to an acutal power kite shop and look around

http://www.powerlinesports.com/shop/pc/home.asp used to be located in Amesbury and then he moved to Seabrook, NH and now he has sold a partial interest in the store and it is located somewhere in southern NH but I haven't been to the newest location so I"m not entirely sure where it is.

Originally his inventory was more of a split between surf and ski and board but now its heavily focused on surf so I haven't go up there in probably 2 years.

I forgot to mention that http://www.funwithwind.com/store/dynamicIndex.asp is located in a mill on Canal Street in Lawrence and while I got my start through Powerline, FWW is now more geared to the type of kiting I do and closer to where I live.

Jim at FWW has a huge store with kites of all kinds but he loves his power kites and buggys. Since he's primarily internet sales, he's not open nights or weekends and he doesn't always have on hand what he lists as in stock but he also has lots of goodies in the store that aren't on the web.

Nice guy and worth checking out and supporting if you can as he is passionate, brick and mortar and heavily invested in the sport.

thanks alot for info:D

good topic!!!

i was 10 and had a "big brother" who worked for a local cable tv show. he and i went one day to film Ray Bethel. After watching him that day, i picked up my first sport kite ... the passion grew from there. A few years later with a dozen Top Of The Line sport kites, i broke a line and went down to one of three kiteshops. When I was in the shop, i was talking with a customer about sport kites, the owner saw me helping the customer and offered me a summer time job, and it turned into a full time job. After the shop changed owners I went on a short trip to Victoria where I saw Gordie kitebuggying at Clover Point, that sparked my interest in buggies. Worked one more year at the shop with the new owner who knew nothing, and left on a trip to WSIKF and saw Jeff Howard kitesurfing.
Decided to open my own e-shop, carried sport kites and traction foils ... than slowly discovered the market for sport kites was dropping and went to open a kite shop in Richmond and only carried land and water kites, and than moved from retailer to distributor ... here we are today.

GREAT Stories guy's! acampbell Was on a cruise when he found kites, Rip was 10 and got a job at a kite shop, Dgkid Quit smoking,Started kiting, ikemiester mountian board and a beach, Z28,Real interesting story, Found kites in a weed world magazine. csa, Got started baby sitting, dylanj423, Was on a date.(you need to thank or spank that girl).Mcboy,Walking the dog. Burritobandit, Good ol mom. Bladerunner, watches to much tv. :D(he is a star now)And I had to much wind to fly planes and now cant get enough to fly a kite! Great guys thanks alot put a big on my face reading these.

I used to fly those black garbage bag gala kites when I was a kid. I was always mesmerized by the flappy sound of the thing hovering in the air. I only flew a few times, as a city kid. Ten years later I launched one in a storm and was so hypnotized by the launch speed that I just let the spool all the way out and watched the thing fly away into the storm. That was fun. Jump ahead...flexiblade and I went and bought gala two line stunters and I sucked at it. He had better skills but I just did not get it. Then I found myself buggin to do it again and bought a small two line stunter from an over priced kite shop....50 bucks for kite...unheard of..ridiculous...whatever..I spent some time trying to do it one day and still couldn't get...but then the next day I was launching it and the wind kicked up and I got it to fly straight up, directly into a huge flock of crows disrupting there flight path.... I felt so connected with the sky..I only had one thought...I NEED A BIGGER KITE....so I went back to the kite shop and saw a 7 meter foil and started looking into power kites...now a $200 dollar kite sounds cheap...plus the first time I got yanked off my feet and the wind knocked out of me I was hooked....

oh and my middle name is in fact Gale

beach catamaran got be too much... up and down the beach. we moved to a different part of the beach and the beach just got bigger so a solo ride on a prindle 16 at the widest part of the beach for launch and return to above high line with cats tracks still was a load. the kite gear was just lighter. that's about it.

Quote:

Originally posted by ripsessionkites good topic!!! iI went on a short trip to Victoria where I saw Gordie kitebuggying at Clover Point, that sparked my interest in buggies. .

Clover Point? Do you know Steve Brown? He used to buggy and fly JOJOs but over the past 10 years or so just sport kites. Hes a famed founding member of the Clover Point Lawn Darters

Do you hang with them? If so tell him Brian O from GWTW sends his regards.

Hey art - yeah I remember those plastic two liners - we hooked a pair of fuzzy dice to the back of one to help stabilize it - looked like the kite had balls. It wasn't till two years later that art invited me to go kiting spur of the moment to Berkeley - that's when I picked up the blackhole foil. After that I was watching the trees and listening to the leaves for any chance to fly. The hook was permanently sunk in, and deeply I might add, when I got my 4m Blade III off of E-bay and learned to powerkite the hard way, one bruise and scrape at a time. Wouldn't give it up for the world.

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc Quote: Originally posted by ripsessionkites good topic!!! iI went on a short trip to Victoria where I saw Gordie kitebuggying at Clover Point, that sparked my interest in buggies. . Clover Point? Do you know Steve Brown? He used to buggy and fly JOJOs but over the past 10 years or so just sport kites. Hes a famed founding member of the Clover Point Lawn Darters Do you hang with them? If so tell him Brian O from GWTW sends his regards.

small world ... yes i know Steve Brown. he and gordie are on vancouver island, about 2hr ferry ride over. so i dont see them much. i met steve brown many years ago at the Parksville Kite Festival.

I flew homemade kites from about 7 years old and then got multiple bat kites over the years. My parents helped me over the financial burden of starting out. They got me an HQ symphony in about 2001 I think. That was fun for years and I flew whenever the wind allowed. Then came that HUGE 3m Beamer III from Angus. Well it looked big to me. That was it. I think I bought 5 more kites in the next year, and now you guys hear from me probably way too often. Buggy should be on the way this week, so the saga continues.

I was looking for a hobby that might be as good or better than surfing.

I saw a short clip of some kiteboarders on Maui (circa 2001 or 2002??). I went to Maui on a family vacation the following year and went to a kiteshop to see about lessons. They were too expensive so I decided to pass.

...couple years later I decided to try paragliding instead. Long story short, I ended up crashing and nearly killing myself (Corral Canyon in Malibu - same place where that other paraglider died a few weeks ago). Decided after that, that I would try kitesurfing. Took a 10 hour lesson plan and was hooked!

But, since I could only go to the beach once a week, I decided to research the land portion. Got a Beamer II 3.6 and a PL folding buggy and started going to my local park.

....Now I'm able to kite about 5-7 days a week and hopelessly hooked!

My story isn't as exciting as your guys'! haha I was basically browsing digg.com and came across a video of this guy kite landboarding and catching some killer air. He was jumping a gap over a road. Right then and there I was like "i'm getting into that." And that was it :P