Hey I'm up in the tundra of North Dakota, and I'm starting to see that sometimes the peak winds around here are happeneing at all times of the day, whether the sun is up or not. Has anyone had any experience night kiting? or any suggestions for making it possible? I could use some guidance.

I have only heard of one suggestion and that is to put glow sticks/chem lights into the cells of the kite (wingtips or what u prefer). The problem i see with that here is that its -20 degrees F out lol , So Im guessing the chem lights will stop working like they do if u put them in the freezer.

My idea was something called "flexalight" ultra thin lightweight literally neon wire that uses a few AA's to run. Tape or tie that to the wingtips maybe...

I open to any suggestions

I've done this before. One of the most amazing experiences I've ever had snowkiting.

We did it with a full moon out. Quite a bit of cloud cover, but the ambient light was enough that we could still see. I dont know if the chem lights would work. If there is enough snow, light won't be a huge issue. You could probably get a light attached to your helmet, or something similiar, but I'm not sure how necessary it would be.

If there is enough light to see the ground 20-30 feet in front of you, you might be just fine to kite. Setup is a little interesting, but otherwise a lot of fun.

Best of luck!

I used to ponder fixing little, but strong, LED lights where the bridle lines meet... aim the flashlight at the kite, and light up the canopy from the fliers perspective.

I didnt because I thought I might cause an accident at the major roads that are near my old kiting spot... or at least a UFO sighting:alien:

I actually did try the chem lights... but I tried it with the small bracelet-type thingies. I could hardly see them from 25m away.

Good luck, and keep us posted

I've never done it but I'd go with small LED's. I don't think that they'd be bright enough to illuminate the canopy. Instead I'd put them at the corners of the kite. I'd go with 1 red, 1 green and 2 white lights so you can mark the trailing edge with white and the leading right edge and leading left edge with the red and green so that you can keep track of its orientation.

Also, if you're out at night in -20 F then you must REALLY love to kite. I don't know if you can find anyone else crazy enough to go out in that weather, but I don't think I'd want to be out, alone at night in that cold in case anything went wrong.

Haha thanks everyone for the tips and keep them coming too. I'm going to try a few out and see how it goes. And yes it does get frigid here (lowest around -40'sF and i heard over -50 once), but when good wind comes around, noting but gear problems stops us. Now not even lack of daylight .

I will let you all know what seemed to work for me. And whatever it is it will be completely cold weather tested!

They sell light up wire kits for flying rc helis at night. the kit for a t-rex 450 would work well ( I was going to try this) I think they sell for about $50 or so.

Make sure there are no snowmobilers around if you are out. If they are around you will need a way to illuminate you, your kite and your lines when setting up and packing up. It would be a nightmare if they passed between you and your kite when the lines were on the ground.

The other thing we (us Idaho kiters) have to worry about is barbwire fences... I personally haven't gotten to the point of knowing where they are yet so I dont' go night kiting... YET :P. But I think eventually as long as you know the area quite well and don't go alone . We go backcountry snowkiting so it's a ways from the road so it could get dangerous!

I've tossed chem lights in cells at night. They are not as bright as I expected and they fall out of the cells easily. Had better luck tying them off on the bridle toggles to illuminate the bottom of the canopy from below.

But you are right about the cold knocking out the chem lights. At the Treasure Island Kite Fest last week in FL, I saw some pretty cool looking LED sets on some Revs, so yeah, stuff is out there that will do the trick.

I've tried really bright keychains LEDs ziptied to the bridles with the leds pointed at the kite, and it was no where near as bright as I thought it would be. After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the ambient (yet very dim) light from the streetlamps were actually better.

You could look at using very lightweight electroluminescent filament. Mounting the battery housing and fastening the filament to the kite would be the key challenges.

What about small laser pointers attached to the leaderlines with a pattern that spreads the beam all over the kite? A pattern something like this:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/211933582/green_laser_poin...

100's of sessions at night ,

LEDS cheap pak at the drug store about 15-20 hrs loop it inside or on c-kites in with the pig tails

needs to be secure and bag it so the don' t get wet

just a little reference you don't need much

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc Make sure there are no snowmobilers around if you are out. If they are around you will need a way to illuminate you, your kite and your lines when setting up and packing up. It would be a nightmare if they passed between you and your kite when the lines were on the ground.

good point, that would be incredibly dangerous!

I've found something being sold as "kite lights" on eBay - out of somewhere in the UK but I've always either been away when the auction ended or they went for more than I wanted to "experiment" with.

They were about the size of a few nickels and attached to the inner cell walls by magnet. Looks like the cat's meow.

I have used finger lights (small led lights) for night flying on my revs,they are cheap and work well.Google ...glow products... look for laser light rings.

You could always try the christmas light netting, a 20-25 meter extension cord, and either a battery pak or a small gas generator on a heat shielded backpack.
:eekdrull:

finger lights where the first generation of light i used ,..moisture and sand got to them fairly quick and glow stick on me .

really perfect but the switch is a little fragile. if you bag them with tiny bags it should extend theiir usefulness...i think igot around 20 hrs out of a few of them

i put them in latex glove fingers and knot it off right on the front pigtails... pointed right at you

for your viewing enjoyment

the aluminum , one AAA (rechargeable) are the most durable and water resistant

certainly nowhere near the illumination of LEDs and you can get 4-5 sessions from one battery charge

it's the mini mag lite ..the red cross pack model. the weight is about the same as the others the illumination fades slowly and is weak for a long time but it all i need and if the moon is good i won't use anything

they where in the first picture... very handy, fits in the back of your glove and ready when a cluster Vuck moment arrives

I just use a chem light on the board, i know where kite is at all time......aj

Spendy and oh so geeky, but hey.... everyone needs a good reason to turn to a life of crime.

:wee:

https://www.blackcratergear.com/index.html

Also a big fan of the Inova micro-lights.

ATB,
Sam

A lot of our flying is at night. Best lights we've used so far are Planet Bike Super Flashes. They're not cheap @ $17 @ Pricepoint but they're small, run for 100hrs on a 2 AAA, Water proof and stupid bright. They can flash or be steady and in the kite you can see them from about half a mile out.

Best lights we've ever used. We used to use the finger lights which were great for lighting the kite for yourself but not so good for being seen from a distance.

You can use them as flashlights for cryin out loud.

You won't find a better kite light for the money.

As I anticipate the transition to standard time and lament the loss of my Friday night flights (get off work at 5 and pick up son at 7), I found this thread. I was just wondering if anybody has anything new to add.

Also, the park is posted to close at dusk, but of course there are no such signs for the neighboring school. Has anybody had experience in flying public school property (soccer fields) after dark? Parking lot lights seem to penetrate the field pretty well. I wouldn’t push the issue if confronted and I am not there late at night, 6:45 at the latest. Any insight is helpful. The property is within 5 minutes of my son’s gym.

Wolfwolfee used to post quite often about his niteflights iirc... Quite amazing reads. You should probably look em up...

I've never used these for kiting, but I do keep one on my keychain and one in the junk drawer.

They are like the mini mag lights that PHREE mentioned, only much brighter. Should stand up to snowkiting water, but maybe not kitesurfing water.... Anyway, I like them a lot, very bright and not that expensive for what the light they produce.

http://www.amazon.com/Fenix-E01-Compact-LED-Flashlight/dp/B0...

Too bad there isn't some sort of glow in the dark sail coating for kites and lines , that would give a good 5 to 6 hours of bright glow after spending a half hour in the day light. (kite manufactures are you listening???) But since we don't have that I wonder if just adding a very bright lamp to your helmet would do the trick. When you are flying the kite you would be able to see it when you look for it and also partially light the way that you are travelling. Might be easier than trying to mount things to a kite or lines.

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc Make sure there are no snowmobilers around if you are out. If they are around you will need a way to illuminate you, your kite and your lines when setting up and packing up. It would be a nightmare if they passed between you and your kite when the lines were on the ground.

We learned this lesson the HARD way last year in the day time ! :wow:

Snowmobile riders haven't a clue about our lines. It's our job to protect THEM !

If I remember Wolfee didn't think you needed lights. Your eyes adjust ?

Just found this site might prove promising:

http://www.glowfast.com/home.php?cat=244

Quote:

Originally posted by shaggs2riches just adding a very bright lamp to your helmet would do the trick.

Yeh, I have a good headlamp that I use for just about everything. Very functional and simple. But lighting the kite just seems so much cooler. I will take a good look at the other site you posted. Thanks.

I have found that riding with a headlight gives you tunnel vision and makes it easier to hit objects just outside the beam unless you happen to be looking at it at the time (this can be at the time of impact too )

I only ride in the city so there is tons of ambient light on 'pink nights' (overcast nights in the city) even to sort out messed up lines if needed. There can be enough light to reflect off your kite so you can see it. Other riders shadows (kites and riders) can be seen. You can see a horizon and any hard bumps or ridges in the snow.

You can actually see more at night than with the flat lighting during the day in these conditions.

I will use a headlamp to pack it in quicker after I am done but I let my eyes adjust during my setup time. Clipping a few of those multi color bicycle LEDs to the straps inside my Synergies sure does look cool though. Can you say UFO

When I ride at night I have these mini lights that take watch batterries. Found them at Petsmart as a "Pet Locator". For $5.99 for 2 it is a great find. Clip one on each of your bridle points for orientation. And to light the kite I picked up some scuba lights that look like glow sticks. Tape those to the inside of my Charger on each wingtip on the tension straps that run through the kite that are inside each inflate zipper position. This illuminates the kite pretty well. If you want that extra bit of light you can do the same thing at the depower zipper in middle.

The most important part is illuminating yourself. This keeps you out of danger of being ran over by other kiters or snow mobiles!

Just remembered the little headlights that they cell for cycling. Really bright LED lights that are small and lightweight. They mount to handlebars via a urethane band that wraps around the handlebar that would probably attach to the kite/adjustment straps on an arc or a fb bridle. Glow sticks or another bike headlight on the rider.