Weight - Weight - Weight

[TurcoLoco]

Always in this forum I find it more difficult to quickly andcorrectly evaluate reviews and personal experiences because there is a parameter missing. Weight of the rider, and hight would help, it should appear right next to his nickname, so we can "scale things" to our size.....My quiver is this....I did this with these equipments...
Right now I am trying to correctly evaluate how small an 6 foot 17.9 inch surfboard is really small for an 230 pound man...... Difficult......

[d0uglass]

Weight definitely matters. I made an online calculator where you can input your weight and the windspeed and it will recommend kite and board sizes, although currently the board sizes calcs are just for twintips.

http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com/2011/ ... lator.html

The part for board size is based on a constant proportion of body weight to board area, which is roughly length x width. It's probably more complicated for surfboards because the shape isn't exactly rectangular, and the volume matters, too, but let's try it to start.

Area of an elipse is 3.14 * (Length / 2) * (Width / 2)

For a 6' x 17.9" surfboard that is 3.14 * 36" * 8.95" = 1012" squared

If that board is perfect for a 180 lb guy, then the area = 5.62 times his weight.

For a 230 lb guy, 5.62 times his weight is 1293" squared.

For a surfboard to be 1293" squared, but the same proportion of length to width as the 6' surfboard, it would have to be 6'9" x 20.23"

So a 6' x 17.9" board to a 180 lb guy is the same as a 6'9" x 20.23" board to a 230 lb guy, assuming they're the same thickness.

You can also do the math the opposite way to see how small a surfboard the 180 lb guy would have to ride to make it the same as what it's like for the 230 lb guy on the 6' board. That turns out to be a 5'4" x 15.8" board.

[TurcoLoco]

Thanks for the math Douglas, the board in question is aimed at a normal 65-85 kg man, I am 44 pounds above the upper intended limit.
Now in real life things are somewhat different, lots of variables..., thats why its important to have an "admensional" reference, if we always new the SIZE (kg, Lb..) of who is speaking it would be so much better for a correct evaluation and the forum itself...

[eree]

i find obscuring far-spread among manufacturers and affiliated posters.
most of the kite brand websites provide almost none of the usable information regarding suitability of their product for the different rider weights.
almost everybody use comfortable, so called "average rider weight 75kg/165lbs", which must mean that half of the riders who tested the kite are under average weight and the other half must be over the average weight.
now, how much under this "average weight" riders do you see on the beach? i suppose most of them are female riders and youngsters. but all the surveys are showing that majority of the kiters are over 35 yo males. so unless surveys conducted in SE asia average weight must be at least 15kg higher.

i would understand if only one or two brands tried to full customers, but this is getting universal!
for example, there are only handful of board manufacturers who make tt boards bigger than 135cm.

my impression that almost all kite manufacturers are really concentrated on this false "average weight". in any case none of them bother to warn the customer about the suitability of the one kite or another for the heavier or the liter kiter.

[TurcoLoco]

Exactly Eree!!!
That is why here in the forum, if it is a FREE forum, we have to liberate ourselves of this!
We need the FULL picture, without the basic parameter of rider weight all stories told are nice stories to read.
As for age, manufacturers should respect us more, shure, in my case I was 85kg once... but now, married with kids, 105 kg, but with looooot's of money to spend!!!
The problem is that the BEST equipment is aimed at the "average" lone single cowboy rider....rsss ( a little envy here)

[Peter_Frank]

I dont agree about the average weight being so much "off" from reality...

The average male weight (neglecting kids and extremely old ones) is around 80kg in most parts of the world today it seems - but can be really difficult to find out as statistics are a bit obsolete most often, and sometimes kids and past 85 year olds are included giving an odd result.

In some countries a few kg higher (85 ?), and in other countries a bit lower than 80kg - so 75kg might also be correct in some regions in fact.

But looking at the whole kite scene at a typical kitebeach, even if we omit all female riders, there are a huge number lighter than 80kg, and some heavier - and some a lot heavier - so the average might end up around 75-80kg - seems very plausible if I take a look out on the different kitescenes I see.


Yes, a huge number of kitesurfers are male over 30 yep - but most kitesurfers are also quite athletic built and in okay physical shape, so not really heavy - and much better "trimmed" than most non-sportsmen that might have beer bellys and similar when aged a bit

Peter

[14ToeSide]

Turc,

I'm 6 ft 51/2 and tilt the scales @ 112 kgs with a size 14 shoe. How can I help u? I have been kiting since 1999. You are correct! You cannot read or listen to anyone who does not measure up to our SPECS!!! I kite strictly in the Ocean with current etc.

14 Toeside

[TheJoe]

5'5" and 180 (screw kilos's I'm American ) I'm a living breathing walking stump. Height don't mean crap weight does. But it does suck for me being so short because I'm very wide in the shoulders and have a thick chest. Handle passes are hard for me and I wear an xl short wetsuit and it is still too long! I want wetsuits that fit real people not manikins!!!

I all ways add my weight when I talk about gear and conditions those are very important too.

[TommyDuotone]

There is a "volume optimizer" calculator on the firewire website that's pretty cool. You put in two variables (weight & experience level) and then you get the ideal volume(within a range) of the board you should be riding. Next to each firewire size and model are the dimensions but more importantly the volume. That way it's easy to match what board is right for you. I found it especially helpful when trying to figure what size fish I should get.
Maybe go with the lower range on the volume since kiting might require less than surfing. Or, just input "advance" level and it will automatically decrease the volume range for you.


here you go...

http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/quive ... e_calc.php

[Bille]

I dont agree about the average weight being so much "off" from reality...

The average male weight (neglecting kids and extremely old ones) is around ...
...

Peter

DAMN !!
Whad Ya Have to go & say "That" for ?
I don't FEEL old !!

Bille