Hello Folks,

I'm in recovery mode from an ACL reconstruction that I required after some kiteboarding. Since I'm not a big fan of the whole surgery thing I've decided that boarding should stop as a couple of other on the forum suffered similar injuries telling me it's not that uncommon. SOOOO... with that said Buggying! Is there any common injuries here? I mean I would think it would be safer considering you're sitting down, have a wide wheel base, and would always wear a brain bucket. Any input would be appreciated I know nothing is 100% safe but hoping to hear it's safer than the board.

OBE Out of Buggy Experience : One minute your cruzin' along and the next second your supermanned over the sand and crash in a crumpled heaped. That is when it happens the buggy lands on top of you like godzilla just threw it at you. Other than that , what could possibly go wrong.;-)

accidents are no joke. I've been on scene for injuries I would never with upon anyone. Do yourself and me a favor...DON'T BE 'THAT' GUY THAT PUTS HIS FRIENDS IN A POSITION TO HAVE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE, I've been there 3-times in 6 years! I would help anyone, but precautions should always be taken! I recomend full Face paragliding helmets and head to toe armor...

the clubs of buggiers out there should get together and hash out a first-aid cpr class, in case I'm the 'dummy' and I need help. then i'd know someone can help me if I get spanked...I would certainly help anyone near!

Accidents happen in any sport but a buggy puts you closer to the ground when an OBE happens. I had a foot slip off a peg last year at Superior because I had the front fork set too far out. I got a nasty sprain that took a few months of therapy to get better. I was doing about 30mph and tumbled about three times with helmet, knee and elbow pads I really got off easy with minimal playa peel.

My point is you can get hurt anywhere doing anything but buggying seems safer and more stable than a board. You can cruise like most of us or freestyle like "stupid"Dave, Will and others to show your wilder side.

BTW when talking about Dave and Will, that being closer to the ground on a buggy doesn't count.

Going from a board to a buggy can be a little safer, but not entirely. Just because you're in a seated position, have a wider wheel base, (compaired to a board) and don't have to balance sometimes doesen't mean squat. I've been riding since 91' and have been through some crashes that made me think "how the hell did that happen?" From just cruzing, to top speed, and of course, freestyling, (but freestyling doesen't count because you WILL eat it) crashing is the nature of the beast.
Just some of my injuries through years:

Cracked ribs, both sides and front and back
Broken thumb, left hand
Hair line fracture on right and left shins
Severe sprains, right and left ankles
Severe sprains, right and left wrists
Cracked collar bone, both sides at separate times
Road and Playa rash

Most of these were from freestyling, but I got hurt from just riding and screwing around. Sometimes a buggy isn't better than a board. But then again, if the horse bucks you, you just gotta get back on and ride.:tumble:

Yeah , I gotta say doin' 40+ on a land board is pretty much a religious experience!:wow: ( you prayin to the deity of your choice, that you don't go down). At least I ride on beach, playa, thats like Indian concrete or adobe isn't it. I lived in vegas as a kid so I grew up in the desert on a dirt bike man I wish this sport existed then. I would have been all over it. But that was the 70s, Damn I don't feel that old.

yea i got into kites after i left vegas total bummer, either way their is a considerable amount of risk no matter what sport your doing and personally i like the atb although never been in a buggy so i cant say if its safer then atb. but see how you feel about it.

lets see, I have had a half doz. obe this year, flipped the buggy twice. cartwheeled it once. It's the gusty time of year, can't wait for the warm east blows late in the afternoons(off the ocean)

Nus, I still landboard(after achilles injury) and I just favor the bad leg and pull it out of the bindings first. So far no probs. ,but I don't go aerial either. Kiteboarding is hell on the knees I would think i.e. hard off balance landings . I think you will find buggies to be fun as #@%$#!. even when I wreck ,I'm laughing like a ten year old the whole time.

as long as your still laughing thats good.

but then I lay there kind of quiet, as I take mental inventory of all my parts!:wow:

I have a similar story myself torn ACL landbording... switching to the buggy was the best thing for me. I've had a few OBE's, but so far nothing serious- just end up laughing and confused. I'm just interested in cruising and I have a larger race style buggy - nice and stable so I don't ever really worry about flipping it. My knee doesn't ever hurt after buggying, but it sometimes gets tired and a bit stiff. I'm sure that you'll love the buggy experience:D

how did you do it?

I'm like Archkiter and never hurt anything with the buggy, never even an OBE!! I tend to always go with a kite that suits the gusts rather then getting killed by them, and always where full face helmet and knee/elbow pads and sometimes armor shorts for tailbone/hips. I'm sure sooner or later I'll get nailed, but I'm into it for cruising.

I too have never had anything more than a few bumps and scuffs (arm hitting the rear wheel :-) I had my share of OBE's but nothing too scary I always come up smiling. I wear a full face mountain bike brain bucket arm/elbow guards again bike armour and motocross knee / shin guards with hyper-extension protection.

I have been buggying 7 years and have had two nasty OBE's where I was badly damaged.

1) Cracked ribs & bruised lung (hurts when breathing deeply).
2) Smashed shoulder (hurts) & kept me out of buggying a few weeks.

I kit up very heavily now to protect myself despite it being very uncomfortable in the heat. I have had quite a few OBE's and got away with just scraping a bit of skin off of my shins. Got a nasty friction burn once on the rear lower leg by tyre spinning very fast that I touched during an OBE but that didn't stop me buggying.

Common injuries I have seen with other buggies has also been ribs & shoulders.
I have seen guys come down on their heads. Even wearing a helmet they have been knocked out and suffering a bit of concussion.
I hate to think what would have happened had they not been wearing a lid.

Other OBE injuries I have seen:
Broken wrist bones
Broken coccyx (tail bone).

Luckily, I have been acident free...even though I have had some amazing OBEs, including one yesturday

I have some accidents from fellow kiters on my site here

http://pic7.piczo.com/Popeyethewelder/?g=34262128&cr=7

Frakkes is a hair raising one to check out

popeye you can include this:

dirtslide was in a kiting accident the other day. thats now two Canadians with a shorten'd finger. Who's next? :tumble:

***GRAPHIC MATERIAL - Rated M***
http://www.powerkitecanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=167

I'm just getting into kite landboarding and have a question for those landboarders (and former landboarders) who have torn their ACL or other similar injuries. I would like to know how the injury occurred? I figure there are plenty of ways to hurt yourself on one of these boards but if there is anything in particular to watch out for then I'd love to be aware of it.

Thanks in advance.

A fellow blew his out next to me jumping in too shallow of water. The board jammed into the sand as he was landing. That was on water but the exact same thing can happen with an ATB if it wedges coming down.

Anyone who rides without the proper protection is crazy. I wear a 661 outfit with bomber shorts and have saved my ass many times.

I'm thinkin' wiping out with one foot still in bindings and the board's cartwheeling.ouch:o

Quote:

Originally posted by kiteNH I'm just getting into kite landboarding and have a question for those landboarders (and former landboarders) who have torn their ACL or other similar injuries. I would like to know how the injury occurred? I figure there are plenty of ways to hurt yourself on one of these boards but if there is anything in particular to watch out for then I'd love to be aware of it. Thanks in advance.

For me I was just learning. I know how to snowboard and when on a snowboard I ride goofy. I knew on the landboard I would need to learn to go both goofy and regular, so I thought that I would try to learn both directions equally starting out. I was able to get going both directions OK, but it felt really weird in the regular direction. On this particular day, it was my third time out and first time giving it a try on the beach. The wind was really light, and I was sharing my fixed bridles with my friends and I was flying my fairly new Sabre. Now the Sabre was barely pulling, but it was flying. My friends and husband had been trying out the board first doing some downwind runs and then they wanted me to have a go. I wanted to use one of the fixed bridle kites for more pull, but I decided to stick with the Sabre. I got going in the good direction- to the right- stopped, and swung the kite back and got moving the the left, not much pull and the kite flew to the edge of the window too fast. Rather than falling on my butt, I decided to step off the board with my right leg.

Quote:

Originally posted by WELDNGOD I'm thinkin' wiping out with one foot still in bindings and the board's cartwheeling.ouch:o

This is exactly what happened!

It all happened so fast my right leg planted fully locked, hyperextended as I fell over it. I heard a loud pop. I laid there for a minute and then got up when my friends came over. I could walk but was limping a bit. I took a time out for an hour and then did some static kiting. My knee felt week and a bit wobbly but not painful. We left when the sun started to set and in the car my knee swelled up and became painful.

I wasn't diagnosed with a torn ACL and meniscus until a month later when it was still giving me some problems squatting down. After the surgery, the OS told me that I had one of the smallest notches at the knuckle end of my femur (where the ACL connects) that he had ever seen- this ment that very little force was required to shear the ligament in two.

I gave up the board after my knee healed (9 months later I was cleared to kite) and got a buggy. The board was too tempting, but too easy for another injury, so I sold it. I still may return to the board one day.

My suggestion to people starting off boarding... get a pair of crash shorts and don't be afraid to fall on your butt & and don't try to step off your board while moving.

Quote:

Originally posted by archkiter My suggestion to people starting off boarding... get a pair of crash shorts and don't be afraid to fall on your butt & and don't try to step off your board while moving.

That sounds like a good suggestion. So far the closest that I've come to serious injury has been somewhat similar......starting to fall over and trying to put my hand down. I only strained my shoulder and wrist but know that would be an easy way to snap a wrist on a harder fall.

I'd better get a pair of these crash shorts. I was going to stick with just knee and elbow pads (which I STILL haven't gotten around to ordering:no but anything that will help embrace the "crash and roll" mentality is probably worth it.

Thanks for the great response archkiter.

Quote:

Originally posted by ripsessionkites popeye you can include this: dirtslide was in a kiting accident the other day. thats now two Canadians with a shorten'd finger. Who's next? :tumble: ***GRAPHIC MATERIAL - Rated M*** http://www.powerkitecanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=167

Ouch ....pass this on to him, he's in the hall of pain

http://popeyethewelder.piczo.com/?g=45031029&cr=7

anyone else who wants including pass the details and pics onto me

Yeah , like rule number 2 is do not step off of a moving board. it's right after rule number 1 never launch a kite while on the board! Both can be tragic! that is some gruesome pics!

kite nh i board at nahant ma. i hurt my ankle bye jumping off before slowing down.plus i dont put all my pads on.ass pads, elbow pads.