I am a beginner kite buggier. I bought the buggy used from this forum. It is easier than my landboard and rolls over the wheat field when I can’t use the board. The wind is normally shifty inland where I fly but I was able to do a complete tack and get back to my car for the first time. The first thing I added after my first attempt at using the buggy was foot straps on the pegs. I noticed that when I have flown the kite too far behind me and get yanked the buggy stays with me, usually on top of me when I am face down. The buggy is light and it didn’t really hurt. So far I have only used a FB 4M kite. I am getting anxious to try to buggy with my DP kites (9M ranger, 7M sabre 2). What happens if you produce lift when flying? Is it better to have feet in straps? Do I need to make a seatbelt? Is it better to not be attached to the buggy at all and just float out? Any tips?

Jason

For a beginner, better to float away and leave the buggy where it is... Having a big heavy object attached to you when you go airborne can end very badly. Especially if you are still learning...

I agree with no seat-belts for now. Best to leave the buggy behind in an OBE. I'm all for the de-power kites as it sounds like you are learning to navigate well. You will learn to keep the power to the side and out in front and not to swoop the kite overhead too fast.

I think Zloty said it here and I agree that if you are going to strap in and jump with the buggy, you better have your buggy skill dialed in both forwards and *backwards*. When the Flexi guys fly off the ramp at NABX they are wearing lots of body armor and they do not always land on the bottoms of the wheels... Pretty brutal stuff.

People on the beach ask me all the time, pointing to the buggy "does that thing fly?", to which I respond, "never on purpose".

Angus is correct as usual.

You don't want to be jumping a buggy until you can ride forward, backward , 2 wheels and do transitions.

This thing you do, sending the kite too far back. STOP IT !!!! It's dangerous and how I have seen the most injuries. Doing that with your bigger kites will be much worse.

Work on your 180 / 360's , riding backwards and transitioning 1st if freestyle is your goal.

The crashes can be bad when strapped in.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner Work on your 180 / 360's , riding backwards and transitioning 1st if freestyle is your goal.

Good call on that; thanks

Belted in buggy crashes are never good. There are a few ppl on here who fly with belts or saftey straps/releases, but I'm with everyone else learn first then consider your options. IMHO the solution to your problem is to lean to keep your kite in places so that it won't jerk you out not strap yourself in more tightly.

a seat belt w/ a strop and harness is not for the beginner, I've been kiting for about 6 yrs,and recently flipped a buggy over,w/ resulted in this..


I have one more on the other side1
trust us we know what we are talking about




sorry to anyone who was eatin'!

any pics frpm before the stiches? :wee:

never really had a reason to photo my shoulder! so, no.

WG, that isn't bad, you had it fixed arthroscopic. Come to NABX and I will show you some Titanium.

Jason, everyone above is 100% right. Learn with out being tied to the kite or the buggy first, then work at being tied to the buggy. Stuff happen and it will be to late if you are not prepared for a major accident. I hope you never experience a bad OBE but some have the experience of real bad ones, and others know of them and don't do the things that lead them to the hospital.

I will pass on the "titanium brotherhood" the only titanium I want is on my TRAMPA!

Thanks for the advice. I don’t plan on adding a seatbelt anytime soon or trying to jump. Fri was nice here with 10-15 mph winds so I tried riding with my 9m ranger. It went well - the kite isn’t that fast and I never flew it in such a way to create lift. At one point it did generate quite a bit of power and I ended up sliding on a slight angle rather than rolling but I was able to control it. I was able to park and ride with this setup. Today was another fluky warm and windy day here. Too much wind for the ranger so I went back to the 4M FB. Not sure if it is a bad habit but I fly this kite on a bar and it seems like alot of the time as I fly the kite up and down I am frequently using one hand and then reaching over with my other arm to grab the bar. At one point there was a wind gust when I only had one hand on the bar and I semi-accidentally spun the kite once generating a big power surge - I used the power and made a turn with the lines twisted once. Tacked to the other end of the field and did the same thing intentionally (looping the kite in the turn) and I was on my way which seemed cool.

Jason