Do you all think there are too many kite accident videos on youtube.....I mean people are doing some pretty stupid things...I think it always funny to watch Darwin's theories in action but I wonder how good it is for us and what we do..

discuss

with out the idiots how would we know what not to do.

thank you all idiots

Sadly, the posting of those crash videos had ALREADY affected our sport. While NAPKRA was searching for insurance. (our ins co canceled us, for this exact reason) We ran into road block after road block. All of them were related to the same thing. After the video of the kite surfer, that crashed into a wall during a hurricane, went national. The insurance companies created a rider excluding kite powered anything. After nine months of searching we were finally able to obtain insurance at 5 TIMES the rate we originally had.

YES, crash videos have adversely affected our sport!!!

I'd have to agree with bison. It's definately an issue. In my opinion part of the problem is accessability. For a couple hundred bucks you can get a old inflatable or other off eBay and go make national headlines. No other sport to the best of my knowledge is so easily accessable. Mountain climbing, auto racing, etc. etc. all require a substantial investment in both time and money which deters the moron joyriders. If you don't know how to use the equipment you won't make it 5 feet up the mountain.............not so with kiting................just tie line to kite and hold on.........instant hero. I'm sure this will stir the pot but I think it's a shame that Darwin didn't win out over the fellow in florida. He should have been removed from the gene pool.

Just my 2 cents.

Hey guys! I cannot begin to explain how much video I watched on youtube before I really started flying and buggying hard. While it does do some good to watch the videos, there are definitely tons of bad "publicity that goes on youtube that hurts our sport. I myself do not find it one bit funny to try and launch a kite in 45 mph winds that will yank your arms off!

i wholeheartedly agree with all of the above--id like to add that before i began, i watched a bunch of these idiots and it really helped me to always remain careful and aware at all times--even more so now that i've been kiting awhile..... so hats off to the idiots!!!personally, if i did do something that dumb, i'd be embarrassed to put it on the net.......and the idiot in fla flying in the hurricane---what an ahole!! i read on his site that he doesnt even regret doing it and that h'ed do it again! if he does try--a darwin award will be there for his stupid a@@

most of the idiots have at least passed the first check point

1. You have to have big b@llz to fly those kites.

I seriously doubt they have passed 2, 3, and 4 though

I would say it helps safety, but it hurts more than it helps. I have introduced several people to the sport. I make it a point to show good videos and bad videos so that people are interested but also have an understanding of what can go wrong if you are stupid. Too bad the insurance companies watch them too

My theory ...

Increasing population numbers, raised standards of living and technological advances mean that there are more stupid people living longer with better & cheaper video cameras in their hands and easier means of disseminating that info ie. the interweb.

As a percentage ,there are just as many stupids as always, it's just that we're getting to see so many more of them ...

Yes there are more and more vids showing up of numpties underestimating power kites, ive actually learnt stuff from them like, make sure i redirect after a jump, know my wind limits, be extra careful in gusty conditions, be uber careful jumping in gusty conditions etc. but it is funny to watch sometimes.

need to capitalize on idiot vids: "America's Most Funniest Home Kitemare Videos"

Looky there Ula Mae. "That young fella flying a big ole kite without a helmet broke his neck" That sure was funny, not too mention he tore up his $1200 kite. Yessir, Cletus, that was a real knee slapper and did you see the three bystanders get knocked down and tore up by that runaway kite? It don't get any funnier do it?

KK is dead on with the expanding fragile gene pool we are nurturing. we just have better historical record which is frighteningly made and viewed by the open public.

industrial/farming machinery 100years ago would literally eat people without much consequence. its still an issue of safety at every level at any time.

fun and fearless

Sadly... I enjoy watching those videos... makes me smile. It's entertainment! You can get the same kind of bad publicity with any other type of extreme sport as well. It's just what KK said... the stupid people have always been out there, they're just now able to show the world how stupid they really are....

Stupid buggiers cost you money, limits or bans the places you can buggy, and shows the public we don't give a #@%$#!e about their safety or ours.

Quote:

No other sport to the best of my knowledge is so easily accessable. Mountain climbing, auto racing, etc. etc. all require a substantial investment in both time and money which deters the moron joyriders. If you don't know how to use the equipment you won't make it 5 feet up the mountain.............not so with kiting................just tie line to kite and hold on.........instant hero.

The one "sport" I can think of is the sub-$1000 dollar pocket bikes.


Buy-In: $300+ (less if you go with slightly slower models)
Top Speed: 40+ mph (some in excess of 60mph)
Licensing: NONE
Rear View Mirror: No
Horn: No
Weight (Lbs): 99 /108 (assume those are dry/wet weights)
Legal On Public Roads: NO
Ridden on Public Roads: All the time.

The towns in my area have had a lot of problems with these, as they are generally invisible to most other motorists. Last year, it reached a peak with a rash of p-bike related deaths.

Yes, NOS systems are available for most Pocket Bikes.

This is sadly waaaay to common.


ATB,
Sam

i'll bet they would be fun on the beach though.........

OK, no one is going to stop videos of kiting, or police e-Bay into adding a "certified flyer" credential check on kiting equipment purchasing.

There are plenty of other sports that you can kill yourself and others with a small investment.

Rock climbing shoes/rope/harness and a dozen quick draws only set you back about $250. (Did I ever tell you about a guy I met rappelling on a orange extension cord, with a car seat-belt harness complete with push-button buckle. Q: "Hey what happens if you push that button?" A: "Don't worry, that's my emergency release!" )

Mountain bikers routinely get killed / maimed on inexpensive equipment all the time.

Used kiting equipment $250

Used SCUBA tanks (hello?) $19.95

Used Hang Glider $300 (low hours + new wires!)

Heck, sadly 3 guys died of heart-attacks two weekends ago at the Detroit Marathon. Even more sad, now people are wondering if 'running' is 'too dangerous'.

You may be surprised that in climbing / riding / kiting / diving, lawsuits against land owners come from the participants themselves or their families. That's right, a kiter gets killed riding solo in January, and his widow sues the town of Statford Conn.

Quote:

"A few days after professional skier Stoil Popow was killed while kite-surfing in the rough winter waters off of Connecticut's Long Island Sound in 2004, his widow told the Connecticut Post that she had "begged" her husband not to go out "because it's January." Nonetheless, in November 2007, she filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court, charging that her husband's tragic demise was actually caused by the town of Stratford, Conn., which was negligent in not posting warning signs along the stretch of beach used by Popow (of "hazardous and unsafe conditions") and for not having lifeguards on duty." http://www.trutv.com/weird/self-imposed-bodily-harm/2007/12-...

Let's be clear. The real problem is insurance companies, lawyers, and people that sue public beaches, and landowners because they or their loved ones get hurt / killed doing something considered 'extreme'. They profit by infringing upon our freedom. They are irresponsible burdens on society, and we end up paying for it.

We should counter sue for infringing on our freedom.

No wonder people call watching movies an 'experience', and feel like so exited about going to theme parks that 'let' you go fast (after wait hours in line) on a roller coaster.

Most people wouldn't know a true adventure if it hit them in the head. They'd never get off the couch to do it, because they couldn't find the right person to 'asS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K- permission.

eeesh, I better stop typing and get my w/e started...

Quote:

Let's be clear. The real problem is insurance companies, lawyers, and people that sue public beaches, and landowners because they or their loved ones get hurt / killed doing something considered 'extreme'. They profit by infringing upon our freedom. They are irresponsible burdens on society, and we end up paying for it.

Hear Hear!

Many valid points rx7. Of course the deeper we dig the worse it all gets. Insurance companies, lawyers, etc. exist as a component of the monetary system and the perpetuation thereof as so much of society does as well. All of it is enough to get one to have a negative attitude. I for one am not. I'm going flying, anyone care to join me:wee:. Buggy hard and be safe.

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Originally posted by kteguru Many valid points rx7. Of course the deeper we dig the worse it all gets. Insurance companies, lawyers, etc. exist as a component of the monetary system and the perpetuation thereof as so much of society does as well. All of it is enough to get one to have a negative attitude. I for one am not. I'm going flying, anyone care to join me:wee:. Buggy hard and be safe.

im with you--lets go

Quote:

Originally posted by william_rx7 No wonder people call watching movies an 'experience', and feel like so exited about going to theme parks that 'let' you go fast (after wait hours in line) on a roller coaster.

Theme parks are adventure for the unadventurous.

Philip

I have to agree with all of this. Ever since I ordered my kite over a month ago, I have been showing every person I can about the sport. Trying to get people interested starts out good; but, then they go onto youtube and watch some videos. That's usually where it ends for them. I will get a phone call back from them later that day, which will start out the same. "You're an idiot" or "You're gonna kill yourself".

One co-worker was like: " My brother-in-law bought one of those pieces of #@%$#!. I watched him pump this thing up for like half hour or more, then he jumped on this board and away he went. Ten minutes later I watched him pack up because he said that it was too windy that day and he would end up hurt if he continued. The trees were hardly even moving. What a waste of time, you can't even go out when its windy so whats the point."

I quickly pointed out to him that it was more than likely that he was probably a beginner like I would be, so therefore he hadn't had his flying skills up enough to fly to the conditions. I see nothing wrong with packing it in if he realized he felt uncomfortable with the conditions. The good videos really get me pumped that I have a kite on order, the bad videos have made me see that when I do get my kite I will need to have patience and go out when the wind is safe. I know that when I do go out at a lower wind speed it will only increase my ability to learn to control the kite, and learn to practice good habits like testing my safeties routinely.

I feel that any sport is only as dangerous as you let it be. If I go out in gale winds and end up hurt or worse then its my own stupidity! I hate how when people don't use common sense and end up hurt or worse, then they go out to set blame on the company or land owners. They may have provided you with the means to go out and do what you were doing but you chose to go out there knowing damn well that it was too dangerous or out of your skill range. Safety equipment such as helmets could have gone a long way to prevent some of the injuries people suffered.

Its just like where I work. We have a safety team installed that teaches us of all the hazards on site. Sometimes they take their jobs too far and we get irritated. They make sure we are wearing all our protective gear at all times, and following proper procedures. If someone got hurt and wasn't wearing that gear or following procedures, he would be looking to blame someone; when, if he just followed the safe work procedures it's very likely nothing would have gone wrong. Safety is there to protect people, usually developed by learning from past mistakes. If we use if wisely we can seriously reduce the risk of getting hurt.

I apologize for the long rant. I just needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for reading. :embarrased:

One phrase..."reality TV" everyone want to be a star. Get ride of that and all the stupid YT vids will die off......bet no one ever thinks soccer is a "grade 1" sport (one being the worst for injury such as diving, hang gliding, base jumping etc) but it is....