edt, that makes a lot of sense to me, and will bear that in mind ,

i did have time (maybe around 10 - 15 secs) to grab any line on my bar (preferably 5th line) and
i couldv wrapped it round my bar a good few times , i have had to self rescue before and used this method to reach the kite, also I release to 5th line quite a lot, am familiar with how the kite feels with only tension on 1 line.


Some horror stories there, guess im lucky to kite in uncrowded waters,

getting into the habit of putting the 'line cutter' between the teeth sounds like a good idea too,

cheers
keith

Just about everyone have been in this situation.
I would swim away from the kite...but keep my bar attached.

If I was already tangled I would pull on one line...it has to be more than one kite length, and then hold on as if you limbs depended on it....because they do.

Then roll the lines on your bar...keeping an eye on that one line. Once you get a few rounds arond your bar, your limbs are safer.

oh no!
another one self centered self analyze post.
and really, stop relying on the fellow kiters, most of them (selfish bastards like me and you) preoccupied more with their boots, board shorts and board stickers, than the look after other kiters problems.
you are not the first and not the last.

hmm, to be fair when i read that bit of my post back it does sound a bit self centred,

we actually have a very small close knit community, and always try to look out for each other on the water. what i was trying to highlight was the fact that situations can arise so quickly that they can go unoticed.

however, i agree, most kitesurfers (including you and me) are pretty sellfish...
will work on that !

though i dont wear board shorts...

nor boots.... (unless you mean wetsuit boots)

think i got a free sticker with the last bar i bought, you got me there...

keith

wow you bounced all the way to your kite?
I've gotten about half way before. i was to the side of my lines so i simple swam upwind retensioned my lines and relaunched like normal.

My worst nightmare is being wrapped up in my lines in monster surf. So I will do all sorts of crazy things like looping the kite while i'm under the water to stop it crashing while i get hammered by the washing machine.

i wiped out once and felt the lines around my legs , had to frantically try to get the lines away before the kite filled as it lay in the water ... wearing a bouyancy aid would have helped , got untangled just in time

I'm glad the OP brought up this topic as I believe it is not discussed nearly enough and when you find yourself in the situation it can be pretty scary. I have been kiting for 10 years, albeit only about 20 days each year. I feel comfortable in 30+ knots and decent surf/shorebreak. I caught an edge while riding a wave and before i knew it was tumbling in a wave with slack lines. I think things to contemplate are as follows:

Pull safety immediately - good first line of defense and will help save kite when it gets slammed in the waves

Check head and neck for lines first, limbs second - kite powers up and you are done for

Carry knife and don't be afraid to use it

I think often times as kiters we think that we can handle a condition because we didn't get hurt the first time we went out in those conditions. I will think twice before going out in waves that large again.

When I first started kiting in 2002 I had an experience that still leaves me thinking "what if." As a beginner I was out in conditions that were too heavy for my 16m and was getting t-baged pretty bad. Pulled me safety and kite was flagging pretty hard. Pulled in about 5 meters of line before gust hit and ripped line from my hand. I hadn't noticed that the line had wrapped around my ankle and ripped me out of the water by my leg. Fortunately line snapped or else I would have been a dead man. Don't put yourself in that situation. Be humble, be safe and leave pushing the limits to the pros.