Agree with Todd. Lots of great info here guys/gals. To beat a dead horse if I may.
1) Safety gear. A helmet is a must, not an option. Be it Dirt, street, bicycle get one if you don't already have one. Impact armor (chest, elbows, knees, gloves.)
2)Practice
3)practice
4)practice, see where this is going.
5) You've learned this one already. Always respect the wind. Do yourself a favor and learn about the weather. Learn what your local conditions do before the wind goes bad.

Your confidence will return. Maybe not as quickly as you would like. Took me almost a year after breaking three ribs in my buggy.
Don't let anyone push you beyond what you feel comfortable flying in. Yes you may have to endure some good natured ribbing, but you will ride and enjoy it, not be scared S**tless.

Be safe, have fun, leave tracks.

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Don't let anyone push you beyond what you feel comfortable flying in. Yes you may have to endure some good natured ribbing, but you will ride and enjoy it, not be scared S**tless.

+1

I was in exactly the same boat as you're in now. The second or third time I had the kite out I sprang my ankle and twisted my knee really good, on a 3m Beamer none the less. I had just purchased my 9.5m Montana and was very close to selling it. It took me a couple months to regain the confidence to fly my kites again but the thing that helped the most... getting in a buggy. Flying static was pretty stressful on my body, scudding on grass is fun the first few times but just awkward and painful after that. The kite in generating all this energy and your arms, back, legs, feet, and joints are taking the brunt of that energy. Once I got in the buggy and put that energy to use it was a whole new world. Honestly, I don't see the point in static flying anything over 3 meters unless you're trying to jump. You may also try to find a beach, the sand makes scudding SOOOO much more forgiving.

Don't throw in the towel just yet, get some wheels under you in some form first.

Not that this will help you regain confidence, but I only fly wearing "skate" type flat soled shoes. Makes scudding, even incidental scudding a lot easier. I found that wearing regular tennis shoes, scudding especially during lift offs became a little difficult and on grass fields, caught clumps of grass and caused me to end up on my face. Just another little tid bit!

I don't intentionally jump any more unless I am on a beach, so the shoe fits the purpose.

Thanks again for the great advice and help. My plan for now is to get in the buggy and try to get off the grass and go for some hardpack or pavement which should let the buggy roll easier and i will start out with the 2.0 and see if i can work it to get some movement. When I hurt myself, I was static flying and it feels like everytime the kite pulls me harder than i can control i get scared of it and then the fun goes downhill from there. Practice on letting go is harder than it seems but is more importaint then getting hurt. As posted earlier, it is probably a good thing i got hurt and i am lucky that i healed without any real problem because it showed me a whole new respect for safety and understanding for power kites. It could have gone real wrong. The thing i notice is smaller kites with lighter wind makes for no power which all seems safer but no movement. Average winds for my area are 8 to 10 mph. Ill keep you all posted and thanks again for the support.....

yikes ! be careful on pavement! You don't slide.....

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Originally posted by WELDNGOD Tx, you watch that twister!

You are right....it is a beast! The mistake I made was thinking that I could hold down the 5m because it wasn't a "lifty" kite. I parked it at the zenith and got lifted about 8 feet. Not that high but high enough to get my attention.

It scared me and I am glad it did. I flew it pretty good even though I was pretty freaked out and after a good distance drift downwind I landed with the kite generally above me.

It still hurt b/c when the gust was gone there wasn't much of any lift left for my 205lbs.

I am certain the Twister would have landed me in the morgue in that wind.

Some very excellent info here but have overlooked one issue that at times is hard to do.

DO NOT KITE BY YOURSELF how many times have we all been told this, yet we continue to do so.

And yes I have been yarded heaps when out by myself but luckily nothing serious just bruised pride and some lost skin.

Know your weather size for gust use numbers judging plants can be extremely deceiving put a small strop between the top of your handles and your kitekillers will not tangle u just pickum back up and start flying again there should also not be very much length between your wrist and the kk attachment point I teach people to drop the kite on command constantly and sit down my wife rolls around in the grass getting drug all over the place giggling up a storm once she figured this out she will put up her kite static in winds I wouldn't find it fun unless I was in a buggy she wears kk all the time
That's all I have to say about that now for a hartstopping anticdote
My 9 yr brother inlaw came to the park with me one day my over protective wife was not with us on this occasion and after flying the big stuff for a little while we put away the depower and got out the 2.5 sami it was to windy for him to fly alone so I decided I would hold on to him this method failed because he could not keep the kite in the air yet he was starting to control the kite well and was leaning in to the power good and I was standing close by when he crashed I went to help him relaunch and that's when it happenen I launched he made a few passes and then a full pass and gust through the window from lower right to upper left he was yarded out like superman and flying through the air somehow he managed to get his feet back underhim and as soon as his tipy toes touched before I could yell it he let go because we had practiced so much it piped him petty good but then all the power was gone I was terrified and glad to see he was ok but in less than thirty seconds the color had come back to his face and there is nothing on earth that could have wiped that goofy grin of his face
So get out there and have fun +1 for the helmet I wear only dot approved for Kiting :bigok:

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Originally posted by nocando Some very excellent info here but have overlooked one issue that at times is hard to do. DO NOT KITE BY YOURSELF how many times have we all been told this, yet we continue to do so. And yes I have been yarded heaps when out by myself but luckily nothing serious just bruised pride and some lost skin.

+1 on this I was going to mention it but i guess it slipped my mind. oh well good catch nocando.

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Originally posted by nocando Some very excellent info here but have overlooked one issue that at times is hard to do. DO NOT KITE BY YOURSELF how many times have we all been told this, yet we continue to do so. And yes I have been yarded heaps when out by myself but luckily nothing serious just bruised pride and some lost skin.

I completely agree ,however......

I don't have any other option. I'm it... the only....lone kiter in this area. They got lots of kitesurfers down at VA beach,but all they do is kite board on the ocean. prolly kill themselves with a foil on the beach. They are "surfers" w/ kites. I bet they don't ever go out and just FLY their kite.

I try to keep my celly on me, and let someone know that I'm goin. When I broke my shoulder buggying, I was ALONE! It really sucked packing all that gear up and pulling a 130 lb buggy a mile and a half ,back to the road. The worst part was picking it upright and lifting it onto the rack on my truck! Sure wish someone would have been there.

Have to agree with weldngod,in a perfect world we would always have a kiting buddy, but reality is that kiters are few and far between, if I had only kited with a buddy I would not have been kiting much. That said use common sense ,self reliance and a good depower kite and just start racking up hours.

I just recently got back into buggy after 6 or 7 years off. Last week was my first time and I was a little scared too. I remembered the rules, always launch to the side of the wind window pointing to the outside and unhooked, (I use handles for buggying with line for harness) let it rise slowly. then hook in. I always unhooked my handles anytime I was doing something scary, like around people, cruising down wind, going around objects so I could just, Let go if I had too, remember though that the kite is also your only break....and I think i only ever let go once in 12 years of active buggying before I took a break...but it gave me confidence to know that I could, just let go....

Last week in Wildwood I used a 2.8 meter, but in mid to high teen winds, it was to quick for me, so I went with the larger 4meter and adjusted the bottom lines out to the end to depower the thing a bit and once in the air, kept it higher. once my confidence was built up, I began launching, while hooked up, to the side, and sitting in the buggy. Just make sure you are pointed the right way. That way I was not pulled on the ground, I would simply, just go.....

Another thing that I found very helpful in my confidence is that I really worked in the past on tight turns, going backwards, 180 and 360 spins. This really helps you out when you are in a bind....to be able to control going backwards, so if you do get into trouble, and start going backwards, no trouble....just go with it, and spin out. The other thing I found that really helped me after being off for so long was my skills from kite surfing, being able to fly with out looking at your kite, by feel and that is something that just comes from experience, but you can get it even from a dual line sport kite or small foil, by practicing, out of your buggy in light winds, with your eyes away or shut and just fly. This is something I used to teach when I was a kite surf instructor, because you do have to look away from the kite to see where you are going, or make an adjustment, light your cig.....lol, whatever. Hope that helps.