Trainer kites are fun & useful

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

Why I think foil trainer kites are useful:

- They don't explode when you slam them into the ground at 100mph
- THey don't hurt somebody when you slam the kite into them at 100mph
- They don't hurt somebody when you let go of them (they depower)
- Teaches you how to fly a kite unhooked
- They cost around $100
- They are very durable
- They steer similar to a full size kite, though much faster
- They are fun
- You can use them to skate kite with
- 2 lines is a good place to start for simiplicity before 4 lines
- If you can fly one in figure eights with your eyes closed you are ready to try big kites (with lessons)

Lessons are usually around $100 an hour, and if you don't know how to fly a trainer they will generally start you there, so might as well start with a trainer kite. I'd recommend at least a 2m kite as they will give you more power. A 3m is going to be extremely powerful which can be good and bad (30mph winds a 3m will probably be too much.)

killforfood · Since 04 Aug 2008 3 Posts New Member

pkh,

I wrote a responce to Kit Me's thread before I realized it was locked so I'll just post my responce here. By the way, thanks for sticking up for us newb toy kite fliers.

This is only my second post on this forum and even I know forum suicide when I see it.
Allow me a few words of advice to newbies like me to avoid instant forum death.
1. When first joining a forum, show respect to long time members, they’ve earned it.
2. Assume they all know more than you since they probably do.
3. After your 100th post they might let you teach them a thing or two.

By the way last week at Beverly Beach my “TOY” 3m drug me down the beach like a rag doll. I weigh 260lbs and all you could see behind me were long S-curve heel drags. The Kite Company wind meter showed top wind speeds for the day of over 30mph!!!

Joel.

Wind Slither · Since 04 Mar 2005 2626 Posts The 503 METAL

Ode to my B4 (4m foil)

I've taken it out on the water with a twin tip on nukin days, I rekon it equals a 6m C inflatable in power. Not the easiest to turn but so stable.

Same for snowkiting.

But where I really love it is for landboarding. I stripped off the lower bridle and the harness loop. Bar is so light now. Rigs in 30 seconds and I'm riding. Awesome range.

Fun and useful indeed!
Thumb's Up

Diggy · Since 25 Nov 2006 342 Posts Gorge to Coast Obsessed

I like that I can comfortably hand anyone interested in a taste of kiting my 2M trainer kite and they can be flying it and learning within a few minutes.

If they are comfortable and want more they can put up my 4M trainer which is more than enough to teach some lessons on wind power and respect even in light sub 20mph wind.

If they destroy it somehow, they only owe me a replacement or about a hundred bucks and not a few hundred.

So, if your ever out and want to try a trainer I ussually have a 2M and 4M in the trunk of my car. Just ask and I'll get them for you and get you started.

And KFF, Welcome to the Forum!

brass · Since 15 Jul 2006 152 Posts Stoked

-They don't intimidate a first time user by requiring said user to be hooked in.

pdxmonkeyboy · Tue Aug 05, 08 10:29 am

A two line trainer is a great place to start for all the reasons PKH has stated. They are good cheap fun and the 3M can be pretty damn serious when the winds start cranking up.

For anyone lurking on the forum or just learning, I think you will find that many of the regular contributing members here are more than willing to answer questions or offer advice assitance on any and all things kiteboarding.

We are also those same people giving directions on the water, helping you relaunch your kite, grabbing your board, or dragging you to the beach when all things go wrong.

Perhaps we are just closed minded arrogant assholes that litter the local kite launches but there have been quite a few times when I have given beginners some advice or helped rescue them and they seemed pretty damn grateful and happy to get the advice.

What some people don't realize is that many of us have been doing this for quite some time, and have seen the sport explode with both positive and negative consequences. As people who have embraced the lifestyle of kiteboarding, we are fairly adamant about making sure that people don't put OUR access to the water at risk. This means acting like a jackass, hurting yourself, endangering spectators and other kiters, etc at the various launches. NOBODY benefits from headlines that read "kiteboarder lofted into pile of logs", "kiteboarder killed at area beach"

Long before the RR was handing out tickets and posting no trespassing signs at Lyle and the highway patrol was posting no parking signs at the SS; some of the members here were learning on old kites and shitty boards. We did it sure, but for the most part, we got our asses kicked as well. It was exilerating and fun but also exceedingly dangerous at times. Many of us have been involved in or witnessed some serious carnage.

With the advancement of the sport, many but not all of the risks have been reduced. As such, it makes sense to guide people that are learning towards those advancements. Sure, you can learn on old shitty gear, getting yarded, relaunching from hiddenburgs, getting lofted off the beach because you can't depower. There are plenty of people that learned that way, but you won't find many people advicing you that that is the prefered method.
But if you join the forum and start telling people that certain things are safe or that there are better ways to do things when experience has proven otherwise; people are going to call you out on it.

D-Dub · Since 19 Jun 2007 30 Posts Bend Â

I agree that trainers offer the best intro to kiting, but a quick story of experience.....

I lent my 3m slingy trainer to a friend who wanted to try kiting. He went to a grass field in 20mph winds. Long story short, he lost his footing in a gust, landed on his face, and ended up in the ER with a hole bitten through his tongue and a concussion.

My friend is fit, 180lbs, in his 20s, formerly the captain of a D1 tennis team, and an expert skier, so this can happen to anyone.

If I had been with him this may or may not have occurred. My conclusion from this accident is trainers must be treated with respect and caution just like any other kite.

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

JP looping the B3... Doesn't look as cool anymore, but it was still crazy!
http://wakayamaent.com/adam/PERSONAL/Misc/B3_loop.mp4 (click to play - takes a few seconds to load)

They also make excellent parachutes and as Slither said, you can sometimes ride them!

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4911 Posts Portland Unstrapped

FUn with Trainer toys!

Grabbed a friends 2.5 m trainer and the groundboard for a nukin 30+ thanksgiving day manzo downwinder. hooked on the safety to my wrist (didn't want to lose the kite and have to get em a new one)

Begin crusing down beach - note kite parked at 12 and some sticks and logs in the pic - crashtanic gusts - cruising becomes maching landspeed record - frequency of logs through periphery increases - super g becomes slalom course

- kelp ball wipes me out (no problem I'm padded in nerf) - wrist leash does its thing - 40 kiteloops and 80yrds dragged by my wrist laided out on my back before kite blasts down into the petrified forest - just a sprained ankle - toys taken away for while.

Reaper356 · Since 10 Dec 2006 781 Posts Salem / LC Oregon Opinionated

Worst kiting injury was a sprained ankle from not paying attention to my 2.5 m foil! Mad