Sorry to hear about the prang but good to hear you're on the mend

Jumping with small F.B's how many more threads are we going to have like this? Oh look - I think I pooped a party :o

In the skydiving world when an accident of this nature occurs there is alot of discussion on how it happened so that others can learn and avoid an accident. I think it is important that you share as much as possible to help the rest of us. (If you are willing) So forgive me but some questions.....

What do you believe is the primary contributing factor to the accident?
Were the winds really unpredictable?
Do you feel a different kite have made a difference?
What was your manner of redirect?
What were the wind speeds?
What kind of surface were you on?
Where you on the board at the time of the accident?


Your opinion is respected and any additional information may prevent someone else from getting hurt. Hope you get better soon!!!

hearts out to you brother, heal up well. Listen to the Doc.

-Ken

So sorry to hear about your accident.

Is there something about the Blokarts that you don't enjoy? It isn't that adreneline rush of getting air ( and landing ) but I can tell you I would give anything to have a chance to enjoy riding the wind with my Father. Like others suggested a buggy would be a good compromise + still give you the added bonus of sharing wind with the " old man " + your PKF friends . Tridude and a number of others on here totally enjoy the water / buggy combo ?

Listen to these guys about not over doing things.

I can totally see the ace folding up like you describe. Don't beat yourself up too much about this one happening. I think you can blame a lot of it on the gear.
Heal Fast!
:bigok:

Kami, to CJ's defense, he is only about 100 lbs. he is maybe 5 ft tall. Dude has a lot of heart for this sport at such a young age! Not busting your chops Kami, just giving you a little more info on the kid!

We all know what the Ace can do with no warning, it happened to me once almost identical to his mishap. I am a heck of a lot bigger than he is!

Know you don't mean any harm! :roll:

yeah, that is alot of sail for the little guy to hold down. We had the pleasure of flying w/ him at Wildwood , the kid has got the stoke for sure.


Hope ya stay in the sport CJ:bigok:

Holy sh** CJ so sorry to hear about your accident. Eat well and think positive heal your body. You're a smart guy, use the time to study and design safety gear , we are all at risk for serious injury. See you at WBB in the spring you can run with the low and fast guys!

No worries SHMH, I wasn't raggin' on the dude ... just saying that this example reinforces my belief that jumping with F.B. kites on a hard surface is a bad idea

I hear ya! I learned my lesson!

Quote:

Originally posted by Kamikuza my belief that jumping with F.B. kites on a hard surface is a bad idea

I'm w/ ya on that Bro'
I gotta admit I have and do ,jump w/ my fixed bridle kites. However ,I do it up in the dry,soft sand at my local spot. I would never do it on hard terra firma.

yeah to answer most of you questions i wasnt trying to jump it just picked me up i dont reall know how to jump either i wanted to learn at WWBB but there wasnt enough wind either way if i stick witht he sport or not im probly gonna ask for a pumpie and a new spreader bar for christmas i might get that 06 waroo 12m i also found a naish torch on sale at kiteboarding.com
but idk it all depends on how i feel and my biggest mistake was going out that day because the winds were like a record high for philadelphia there was alot of damage from it on the news aparent the wind reaches 64mph at points that day probly a big mistake and after i had got to the field i scudded across the wet field the ilanded it rested and then got it back up to take back to the car and that when it lifted me

CJ, get well and try to have a positive attitude. You'll be more cautious in the future. From what you describe... I agree... the mistake was being out there with that lifty kite in those wind conditions. Many of us misjudged the wind speed or the gusty conditions at one time or another... some of us got lucky and ended up with a good scare that kept us safe... others... are sharing their stories... to keep us safe. I know it's not fun to be the example in this kind of situations. Hope everything will go well for you and we'll see you back in the spring.

p.s. What hospital are you at and how long do you expect to be there?

We appreciate your willingness to share. It sounds like the abnormally high winds are the biggest culprit. I hope you heal quickly....at least you have your age working for you as opposed to against you like most of the rest of us old farts!!!

Keep us posted on your quick recovery!!

i am currently at childrens hospital of Philadelphia my room is big and i have two nurses during the day one in the afternoon one at night, the food is pretty good and the painkillers come every six hours
i hope to be going home tomorrow afternoon after physical therapy i dont know if ill be back on board by wwbb spring maybe with a npw but i wont be playing lacrosse this spring

i will definitly not give up on the sport and hopefully i can make a fast recovery

thanks to everyone for the stickers for my brace im going to be sure to wear my hq kites atb shirt to school monday

i will keep everyone posted and ill probably be on here alot with all the down time ill have

Hang tough, big guy. You have a whole community of fans (and fanatics) rooting for you. Hope you will be back soon, even if it is starting small.

Ah, if you get lobbed there's not much you can do ... one reason I like handles is that I just let go I basically hold on with my finger tips and at the slightest over-powering, I drop the handles. Don't often have to now, as I've got the feeling for what'll lob me and what won't. Probably :D

After being all downer on jumping with my F.B's, I gotta admit I do it too - you can't help it eh the landings are enough to put you off it in a hurry though ... especially, when I've already had back surgery to clear a compressed disc off the nerves :o

Hope you mend quickly CJ. It was great meeting you at Wildwood and like everyone else has mentioned I hope you stick with the sport. I'm not trying to give you a hard time but as Txshooter38 said it can help others. I think it needs to be mentioned that whether your on land or water,,,whether you fly arcs, tubes, open cell,,,,,,, depower or fixed bridle, if you go out in conditions that are far beyond what a particular size kite should be flown in you will always end up in a hospital. A 5m tube in 64mph will do the same thing. It doesn't matter that your over water. I don't even want to think about a 12m tube in 64. Again, I'm not trying to bust your chops but hopefully others can learn from this. That same 5m ace can be plenty fun for light guys like you and me in 14mph. In 64 its a death wish. Just my 2c.

Mend all the broken parts my friend and we'll see you at the next Wildwood

And think if all the girls who's attention you're gonna get outta this!

Just pointing out the silver lining

Heal fast and strong dude. I sometimes dream at night that we'll all have a big ass PKF gathering somewhere and fly together. That means you too!

Sorry to hear bout your loft CJ. Keep us posted on your recovery. Hope your ready in time for WWBB '11.
Lucky your still young

I'm about an hour from you and went to the fields yesterday around 3pm. Was NOT a good day for windsports.
WINDS were SCARY! Would be 5-10mph for a minute or two, then gust to 30-40 for 10-15 seconds. Over and over. Had the 2.6 Viper up for a few minutes and got frustrated going from overpowered to falling out of the sky.
So then I tried the Kitewing with Coyotes and would go 100' and then stand around for minutes waiting for a gust. No fun.
I think the soccer moms were all laughing at the old goon and his crazy flying machines.

Heel fast and get well. More stickers here if wanted. I'll start with "KiteFix". U2U with address.

Fair winds and easy rest.

rest well, then keep moving.

keep up with the weather, find a good local meter station with full data.

Once again you are man enough to be the one to point out you probably shouldn't have taken that kite out in those winds.
I'm happy to hear you won't turn away from the sport. The risks will always be there but patients and logic can reduce them a lot.
:Ange09:

to answer some of you questions i was on grass/hard dirt in a soccer field
my kite was a 5m ace (bad decision)
and i had a strop on my harness

my doctors keep coming in talking to me about kiteboarding saying to my mom that i should think about quitting the sport and moving to golf

GOLF! i dont want to play golf and besides golf is dangerous too tiger woods almost got killed by his wife with a golf club

and to Macboy: im getting some atentiion from the ladies and my girlfriend thinks im crazy especially cuz i told her im not quitting

and most of all what i learned from this ordeal:

1. pansch ace 5m= not so good idea (and the i told you sos begin)
2. gusty winds plus lifty ace= death wish
3. winds 30mph gusting up to 65= did your brain stop working?
4. life is like flying a kite when the wind dies down dont give up wait a while and itll be back up in no time

C.J. glad to see you are staying with the sport! Keep up the good spirits. I love the Tiger Woods reference!

You could have been hurt doing anything else whether it be riding a bike, skateboard, even just crossing the street.
In all aspects of life there are risks, might as well be kiting!

yeah, that golf is a real adrenaline rush huh? I've never seen anyone break kite handles over their knee or throw them as far as they can because they are mad about having a bad kiting day. Heal up and heed the lessons you've learned.

Glad to hear things are going well, your brain wasn't injured, tough lessons to learn. The good thing is you are young and will heal much quicker than some of us. And you have to listen to mom and dad remind you of this for the rest of your life, so you won't soon forget.
The last words out of my wife's mouth when I go out to buggy now is "Be careful, You better be able to drive home". I was unable to drive for almost 2 months before I snuck out, shouldn't have even done that. Been 5 months since I last slept in my bed for more than a couple of hours at a time, live in the recliner most of the time.
Keep smiling things will get better soon enough.

I've gotta ask how you can compound fracture vertebrae and not mess up your spinal cord? What did you back land on?

Ya, Like beamer bob said, I've seen golfers throw their clubs in the pond, once saw a guy ram his putter into a $15,000(?) green, but no matter how many times I crashed, or crashed my kite, I always fold it carefully at the end of the day! When my doc asked what I do for relaxation, golf?(I have great B.P. for a guy my age) I just laughed and said I go fly a kite! :wee:

yeah i have compression fractures in my L1 T8 and T9 vertebrae i landed on my feet causing my vertebrae to compress and fracture. if it gets any worse i could hurt my spinal cord but now i have my brace it covers my chest stomach and back im gonna put a nice got winds sticker on it (i allready put them on my mom and dads cars)

Hey, Golf is a great hobby for when the wind ain't blowing!