adams420 wrote:I totally agree with the SRR!!!
Kind of like riding a motorcycle, it's not a question of IF you are going to crash but instead a question of WHEN.
Same with flying a kite i think... it's not an issue of "you might one day have a problem" but instead an issue of "One of these days you WILL encounter a problem, and your preparedness might make all the difference in the world"
Something else i think is almost as important as the SRR... acute awareness of the current situation. I have yet to fly my kite, so i am not sure if my following idea is any good or not, but it makes sense to me.
Everyone practices flying their kite with one hand right? If you are coming onto the beach, and you know the weather is sketchy, why not already have a hand on the release? only makes sense to me... that way, if you even start to get lofted you can react instantly and maybe just get flicked across the beach like a booger and avoid the adventerous flight...
Same rule could apply to a crowded beach landing, or whatever else type of landing might get hairy...
And it would be easier than flying with one hand to put your board on because you could still easily keep an eye on your kite while landing one handed... I mean after all, it is all about kite control right???
i dunno, just trying to be helpful...
Welcome to the show...
Might as well get up to speed on the state of the art thinking you'll find here.
First off, this SRR training is not a complete waste of time, one should be intimately familiar with the gear and have a reasoned outlook on exactly what you can, and cannot do:
On that note, consider, you can hold a kite with one hand, but you cannot steer it right and left with one hand unless you have a stopper to keep your kite from de-powering....
This is a no, no for beach work.
You can steer your kite down one handed but only in more or less favorable conditions
This of course renders the one handed landing to a fair weather beach trick; read: style points will be awarded.
As far as DICEY goes one must make a choice
1. Stick with it and devote 110% to keeping the kite under control as you jockey it down.
This requires two hands on the bar and complete concentration
or
2. just pull it.
This is done deliberately, it is purely a premeditated act.
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The third option (halve your attention) is just not and option at all when it's DICEY
it is a fair weather beach move done for style points..
Practice all you want, but staying on the ground requires you pull the QR before you go airborne.
I'll say it again, "staying on the ground requires you pull the QR before you go airborne.
I ask you.
" IF YOU PLAN TO RELY ON PURE REFLEX," what are your chances you'll be still be on the ground when your hand gets the signal to flinch itself into action?
SRR is a non premeditated act--No, it's something you hope to accomplish within milliseconds after it goes bad and without thought...
and that's just how it is....and that, to be clear, is something meant to replace your need to think...(eh?)
Now, think it over, take your time....and I think you'll see a down side to purely SRR mentality...
Not anti SRR, far from it, just not buying the efficacy of it for beach work.
I think it's just another side effect of we kiters having Shit for Brains
Afflatus
There's no doubt, it's what you think !