So a rather silly question to some, but after a neck injury (and surgery) I find that EVERYTHING I do, I do with excessive forethought. I've been snow and waterkiting for a few years, and before hurting myself thought a landboard was in my future. Now not so much. A hard fall means more now than ever.
But to be fair to the sport, I still ride the snow and h20, and understand that you DO fall kiting, (i can take a bit of it...)so my question is not so much about if you can hurt yourself buggying, more about how easy it is to ride (drive?) conservitavely?
Any thoughts? Just stay off terra firma? Rig small? No seatbelts?
Scott

My opinion would be that if you choose your kite and conditions well, you can almost eliminate the possibility of hurting yourself in the buggy. Playing it safe might mean you have times when you are underpowered, but that would be the price of caution. Flying in smoother winds makes things more predictable for any discipline. Gusty winds are surprising and unpredictable. That is usually when you get yanked out of the buggy. In the buggy, your pivot point is just above your waist but below your chest. On the landboard your pivot point is at your feet. The landboard is starting out in a less leveraged more precarious position. On the other hand, to watch someone that knows what they are doing on a board makes it look completely balanced and effortless.

I guess to state the obvious, (from a noob perspective): it's a trade-off.

You switch the higher fall potential of a board for the (potentially) higher speed and rougher terrain of a buggy. If you intend to just cruise around soft beaches and soccer fields, you'd be safer in a buggy.

If you intend to race or freestyle over harder terrain...then you'll notice some of those buggy riders are considerably suited up - moreso than the average boarder.

Buggy over board
water over land

Thanks for the responses guys. So far, I'm hearing what my gut was telling me. Underpowered is fine for me, parks and mellow fields are also. No need to catch airs in a buggy, as we have enough days on the local lakes, not to mention the Gorge is just a few hours away....
I'm just looking for a way to get my wind fix on days that the lake isn't blowing, or snow hasn't filled in!
I'm checking into Bill's PL buggies that he's selling, if things go well you may just see more of me on the buggy forum.
Scott

sometimes...They are all completely different. They all have there good and bad aspects.

Certainly Land Kiting has less to overcome and is offers a much more safe start up. In the water you'll have many 'add-ons' to buy.

If I were you, I'd plan on participating in 'All Kite Sports'. They are very addictive and fun, just keep yourself safe inside your limitations.

I ruptured two disks in my neck last year (c5/6, c6/7) and did not opt for a surgical correction and still suffer pain depending upon what I'm doing (13 months later). Falling while kite landboaring or kite skiing weighed (and still weighs) heavily on my mind.

I think buggying is potentially safer but you don't have to rule boarding out if you take it slow and don't fly in over powered conditions. I don't buggy so I don't know which is harder to learn but there is definitely a learning curve to boarding which, IMO, involves more stepping off the board than falling off the board (or getting yanked) especially if underpowered.

One thing I have noticed though is that if I'm flying in conditions when I really need to look at the kite and its high up in the window, that bothers my neck a lot. On those mellow days when the kite is in the power zone and you don't need to keep an eye on it, I can fly for hours.

Static flying and standing behind my kids while they fly their kite bothers my neck a lot more than boarding.

I have had a few harder falls than I'd like since I hurt my neck and those scare the life out of me but so far they've just been falls with no worsening of the pre-existing neck condition.

Good luck to you.

What I heard from one person is that when landboarding you plan for the fall, not for the ride. It isnt a matter of if you are going to fall, its a matter of when and how hard.

Now, I have never boarded successfully, tried once didnt do so well. But I buggy when I get the chance. I would think that the buggy is much safer. Only rarely do you come out of the buggy, or flip it. But it does happen. Just not very often.

I'd personally say stick to the buggy, but that is just me.

I would say that if you are careful and stay on the safe side of power the buggy is less likely to cause injury. That being said from what I have seen the board has more minor injuries (wrists seem to be common) Buggies can produce some bigger injuries legs and shoulders. Water when there is an accident it is often very serious. I don't know of any deaths in KGB or buggy but there are a handful in kiteboarding every year. I also have an injury that threatens to rear its head again (knee) I weigh the risks and am careful to were safety gear to protect myself. The best bit of gear is your head it you don't think first and look around you and decide if the conditions are likely going to hurt you then don't go! Take a Camera with you and photograph your friends racing around on the gusty days that you think you may get hurt on.

I would think that with a lower center of gravity a buggy is not only more stable but if you do go over, the ground is already right next to you.....

But wait ragden didnt i see you in the water the other day?

Yep, For me it was the c5-c6 that went. Pressed so far into my spine I almost spent the rest of my life in a wheelchair.... Oddly enough, it went AFTER landing a jump. I caught my toeside edge in the water and "crashed." I put it in parenthesis because it was such a minor crash my head never got wet. The action of looking up while falling forward did it. I even heard it go "sqeak!" I tried to ride away and my legs wouldn't work so well. Spent alot of money trying to figure things out.
Tried several natural remedies, chiro, inversion, accu. and never regained total functionality. Ended up fusing my vertebrae. ~25k
I share this not to scare, but just inform. I also had some warning signs, but diddn't really understand fully the nature of spinal trauma and the risks we face. I'm actually considerng a neck brace that works with a full faced helmet, (there's a few out there), but I'm not certain they won't hinder our ability to look around as needed.
Anyhow, thanks for the words guys, it's been great to get back into this sport after a year off.
Scott
P.s. Get health insurance

To expand on Beamerbobs comment, your pivot point is around rib #8, and rib #9 on a libre hardcore.