Kitemare: anchored self launch goes wrong

[Herman]

^^ Similar conclusion here also. Fortunately where I ride we generally have clean wind and I have not had any high wind failures with tether launching or landing, even if the kite has been bouncing quite alarmingly, (my delta kites that like to taco and spring up being the worst for this.)

Obviously a massive wind shift could screw up any launch, but that said, it seems to me that virtually all my failures have been caused by lulls with largish kites. It looks like in a lull the kite no longer has enough forward drive to stay balanced against line tension on its tip at the edge of the window, sometimes falling forward sometimes the more dangerous backwards into the window. As I use a heavy bag the worst I have encountered is just a bit of dragging and the awkwardness of recovering and resetting the kite with tight-ish lines, trying to avoid beach drag.

Usually if it is light wind I set the kite up with more trim out to make it less likely to fall forward, and push it farther back in the window when I set it to make it less likely to fall backwards……… but Murphy’s law still applies.

The real point of this post is to ask Kamikuza if he has found a good alternative for the dynabar pad or can you still get replacements, mine is looking pretty battered?

[bkkite]

^^ Similar conclusion here also. Fortunately where I ride we generally have clean wind and I have not had any high wind failures with tether launching or landing, even if the kite has been bouncing quite alarmingly, (my delta kites that like to taco and spring up being the worst for this.)

Obviously a massive wind shift could screw up any launch, but that said, it seems to me that virtually all my failures have been caused by lulls with largish kites. It looks like in a lull the kite no longer has enough forward drive to stay balanced against line tension on its tip at the edge of the window, sometimes falling forward sometimes the more dangerous backwards into the window. As I use a heavy bag the worst I have encountered is just a bit of dragging and the awkwardness of recovering and resetting the kite with tight-ish lines, trying to avoid beach drag.

Usually if it is light wind I set the kite up with more trim out to make it less likely to fall forward, and push it farther back in the window when I set it to make it less likely to fall backwards……… but Murphy’s law still applies.

The real point of this post is to ask Kamikuza if he has found a good alternative for the dynabar pad or can you still get replacements, mine is looking pretty battered?

Yeah, gusts are a good reason to think about a heavy bag instead of an anchor. Might have to look into that, a bag is quite light to travel with, and then you can potentially just fill it with sand (not on the marsh where i was, but there are plenty of beach spots around here).

[FLandOBX]

Good video, bkkite. Thanks for posting.

Power lines scare me. Did the weight of the bar pull the kite lines from the power line when you disconnected the kite? If not, how did you retrieve your bar?

I've had a few tethered launches gone bad over the years. The worst was a kite that powered up and pulled a small tree (my anchor) out of the ground and took it airborne into a marsh. I've also had sandbag tethers that have gone bad due to insufficient weight in the bag.

As others have said, I've learned to always run my hand along the top front line as I walk back from the kite to my tethered bar. It's easy and effective to pull the kite down with the top center line if the kite begins to rise prematurely. I've also learned to take an extra moment to check for line wraps around the kite tips and bar tips before I leave the kite. Most of the failed tethered launches I've witnessed and/or experienced were the result of a line wrap, which can send the kite into an arc from one side of the window to the other, or completely pull the tether from the ground.

Luckily, I've never (yet) had to visit Home Depot for a ladder and a saw!! Whatever it takes!!

[plummet]

Yeah, gusty inland is not a time to weather.... I would never tester on an anchor.

Side note. Why do average dudes post footage up of themselves being decidedly average?

[Hugh2]

Don't be harsh, Plummet, we can't all be superstars!

I had this happen on an anchored launch way back when, but the anchor held and my kite launched and tomahawked and snapped all four lines and I had to go fetch it from some bushes. Never did another anchor launch.

[Kamikuza]

The real point of this post is to ask Kamikuza if he has found a good alternative for the dynabar pad or can you still get replacements, mine is looking pretty battered?

I emailed a few stores that seemed to have stock, but got no replies. So I kinda forgot about it.

Mine is hanging in there, but it won't last forever. I've an old Dakine pad that might work, and if I lived somewhere with decent hardware and sewing supplies I might be able to make my own...but I'd rather have a proper one, especially with the knife pocket.