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Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 3:23 am
by Flight Time
Kamikuza wrote:
Flight Time wrote:Tying to compare bar sides to nautical lights is just plain silly. Kiters mostly don't kite at night, the bars spin and change direction plenty, and the colored ends of the bars would not indicate the direction one was travelling any better than the giant F-ing kite in the sky would.
Not for being visible of course - that would be silly... it is a common convention though.

99% of non-kiters see no connection between the giant fucking kite in the sky and the guy underneath it.
Fortunately, the guy underneath it is, well, underneath it. The bar in the guy's hands means absolutely nothing to non-kiters, be they boaters, aircraft pilots, swimmers, what have you. It especially means nothing to other kiters. The direction the kite is traveling in and whether the rider beneath it is on a collision course are the main points of focus. For me, taking that into consideration, I honestly don't think that I would notice if it was a color coded bar the guy was holding in his hands, or a lawn gnome.

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:39 am
by knotwindy
well then maybe we could make the bar colors match the giant fuckin' kite in the sky colors

so all kites now need to be red on the left (or is that right?) :lol:

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:54 am
by Flight Time
knotwindy wrote:well then maybe we could make the bar colors match the giant fuckin' kite in the sky colors

so all kites now need to be red on the left (or is that right?) :lol:
I think we need to put everything on a giant color randomizer. Even from the same manufacturer and model number. Everything is tie-dye! I give not a rat's ass, given that I'll only ever have two bars at any given time. As long as the bar isn't just solid black with black lines. Hell, even that would be ok, because I can tie a fucking piece or red ribbon on the left side, instead of complaining about it. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:05 am
by Kamikuza
Flight Time wrote:Fortunately, the guy underneath it is, well, underneath it. The bar in the guy's hands means absolutely nothing to non-kiters, be they boaters, aircraft pilots, swimmers, what have you. It especially means nothing to other kiters. The direction the kite is traveling in and whether the rider beneath it is on a collision course are the main points of focus. For me, taking that into consideration, I honestly don't think that I would notice if it was a color coded bar the guy was holding in his hands, or a lawn gnome.
That's not what I meant :)

Colour-coding as a visual identifier to others eg. lights on boats or planes, IS pointless on kite bars or lines; as you say, who can actually see it?

However, as it has been a convention for a while, my assumption is that as sailors were involved in the beginnings of the sport, or took it up, they carried over the same convention for left and right, out of convenience - colour-coding is for the user, the person setting up the bar and lines... with many people identifying red with left and green with right, why bother using other colours?

My other pointless point is that people don't connect the kite in the sky and the guy with the bar in his hands... and constantly clothes-line themselves as they insist on walking between the kite and the kiter.

So long as the colours for left and right are high-contrast to each other and the surroundings, it's all good. With all the brown, blues, greens, and greys around in the ocean, land, and sky, I think red is good option.

Big splash of white in the middle of black on the wrong side is still the best option in my opinion.

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:14 pm
by Slappysan
TheJoe wrote: P.S. Hard to see colors when your color blind.
Red / Black or Red / Blue is visible to every form of colour blindness, albeit doesn't jump out as much as if you see the colour.

Caution and the new Blade bar both use Yellow as their left line indicator and then Black or Blue for the right line, this set of colours is extremely easy to see with all forms of colour blindness.

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:59 pm
by tautologies
Red of the left makes sense to me. Naish has always had the red on the left hand. Same thing with the color coded kook proof lines..I cannot say how many near crashes and wave tumbles it has saved me to know exactly which part of the bar to pull.

Now it might not be that important to standardize..but it would be an advantage for rescuing and helping fellow kiters to have it somewhat standardized....

One thing that make no sense is to do the opposite. Anyone trying to give a hand will assume that nautical rules are being followed.

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:11 pm
by romkite
Kamikuza wrote:Colour-coding as a visual identifier to others eg. lights on boats or planes, IS pointless on kite bars or lines; as you say, who can actually see it?
Right. Maybe as the OP I wasn't very clear in the first place when comparing to navigation lights, hence the strange comments and comparison I could read. I meant red left, green right, as a legacy standard coming from the nautical world. Well, it seems it doesn't make much sense for most of us.

Anyway, I still think everyone should be able to understand why standards are good and why as customers we should put pressure on kite brands to apply. Because it makes our lives easier and even safer to some extent !

(And if on your own you still want to make it red right, please be careful when ou lend your kite to a
friend or some beginner on the beach)

[bad quoting edit]

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:34 am
by Dr Makani
gee - these lines are not electrical wires :lol:

peace

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:39 am
by polarstorm
Dr Makani wrote:gee - these lines are not electrical wires :lol:

peace
If you're colour blind in some way, you're done, that's about 8% of guys.

Re: Red on left side

Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:19 am
by edt
polarstorm wrote:
Dr Makani wrote:gee - these lines are not electrical wires :lol:

peace
If you're colour blind in some way, you're done, that's about 8% of guys.
8% of men are red/green color deficient, they can see the difference between red and green but not as well as normal people do, has to do with genetics. complete red/green colorblindness affects 0.003 % of the population. Red/green color deficient people can see the difference between the red and green navigation lights in a boat at night, and can tell the red and green apart on a stop light and will be able to use a typical red/green bar, though I prefer a red left / black (or white) right standard for bars, less garish.