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Ozone safety system foils thieves

Forum with lots of safety info - a must for newbees
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alden
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Ozone safety system foils thieves

Postby alden » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:21 am

Kite manufacturers give good advice when they recommend becoming very familiar with the safety systems on your gear. I was landboarding in a grass field in central New York state using an Ozone Frenzy FX 11m (a foil kite) and a Ground Industries Conflict 106 board. I had launched and was riding back and forth having a good time. On a tack back towards my original launch point I saw some young men/boys near my Ozone kite bag which was laying in the grass. One of the boys was standing directly over the bag. I yelled to them that it was my kite bag, just so there was no mistake. But to my surprise, the boys picked up the kitebag and ran. I was very alarmed by this. Sometimes I keep stuff in the bag like a wind meter, my car keys, a smaller kite, etc. I think these boys saw me launch and ride and knew it was my bag.
Immediately, I rounded up the board and jumped off, released the leashless re-ride safety system on the kite, released my chicken loop, quickly hog-tied my Ozone "brake" strap to my board, and sprinted after the boys. As I was running after the boys I looked back over my shoulder to see that my kite was still falling predictably out of the sky with no power, as I expected. Probably now to the boy's surprise, I doubt if this whole process took more than 5 seconds, and I again was yelling to them but this time at a full running sprint after them. I saw the kite fall to the ground and behave, still hog-tied to my board. I would have gone back to the kite if it was in trouble, but the Ozone de-power and leashless re-ride system was working very well. I shifted my attention to my run after my kitebag and the fleeing group of boys. My quick start and full sprint had me gaining on them. I'm 6'1"(185cm) tall and additionally with my helmet and some padding for land boarding, I probably looked formidable. The boys dropped my kitebag within a quarter mile and I retreived it with no loss and stopped pursuit. In the future I will put my kitebag in the car. I already lost my 5m kitebag to high winds while snowkiting. I didn't want to loose another. It's nice to see manufacturers put forethought and development into good working safety systems that perform when needed, in addition to good kite performance.

switch313
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Re: Ozone safety system foils thieves

Postby switch313 » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:31 pm

oh ithought you were going to say you fixed your qr to a post while taking a cigarrette and someone went to steal you kite and the dude couldnt figure the release, it worrys me slightly that you called yourself 'formidable'

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alden
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Posts: 94
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Cape Cod
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Re: Ozone safety system foils thieves

Postby alden » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:17 pm

I don't know any way around it. Unfortunately, if you pad up for land boarding you end up looking a bit like robo-cop.

I suppose since I was outnumbered, things could have escalated and got worse. Is that what you're talking about?


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