Power Kite Forum

Do you mark your gear with ID.?

Bladerunner - 27-1-2013 at 02:08 PM

This stolen gear has me thinking .

When I started ( on the water ) we were taught to mark our kites and boards with ID. Not so much for theft but for the Coast Guard . I found it handy since I tend to forget things at the end of the day.

I stopped marking my kites because I thought it would effect resale + I no longer go out on the water here.

I wonder :

Do you mark your gear ?

Would the fact you are buying a used kite that has been marked reduce your valuation of the kite ?

erratic winds - 27-1-2013 at 03:19 PM

All my bags have their placards that state Name, Phone, and kite size on the bags. I have photos of all the kites serial#'s. I have thought about labeling the kite, but I've decided to just put my info on a scrap of ripstop and put it in the bladder zipper, that way to not affect the next owner(if there is one). This doesn't really help me if the kite gets away and recovered, more for if they get stolen...

cheezycheese - 27-1-2013 at 03:39 PM

I spray mine like a cat.... :frog:

Bigbear97e - 27-1-2013 at 04:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by cheezycheese
I spray mine like a cat.... :frog:

cheezy's way will work . . .Erratic wind has good ideas . . .Pics of serial #or tucking ID behind a bladder zipper or inside a twinskin shouldn't degrade the kite value . . IMHO, visible id markings on a kite would not diminish anything . . For me, a used kite is more about function than finish

shehatesmyhobbies - 27-1-2013 at 05:56 PM

I have not to this point execpt to put my business cards in the little pocket on the front of the Phantom bags. I may do something a little differently now. My stuff is insured, but would be hard to replace!

Kamikuza - 27-1-2013 at 06:04 PM

Photos of the serial numbers, stored online.

Theft isn't an issue here... we all leave our cars unlocked and sometimes completely open while we're on the water. The club has a 3 containers of people's gear, all unlocked and just lying around.

Now, getting scammed over the phone, the government ripping you off, big companies poisoning you... look out.

When I was a kid, the cops were promoting a system that used some kind of markers that could only be read under black light or something.

WELDNGOD - 27-1-2013 at 06:09 PM

The guys that I work with that go to Japan ,say you could leave your wallet on the curb and go to work.And if it wasn't there when you got off , it would be at the Police station..... WOW

Kamikuza - 27-1-2013 at 06:46 PM

Yes and no.

Wife left her wallet on top of the car and drove away. Old man found it in the street, took it to the cops... and demanded 10% of what was in the wallet. Which he's legally entitled to :o I said "Sure! that'll be 13 cents. Unless you include the credit cards; in that case, you owe us about $300." Cops didn't see it that way and insisted we give him something. We gave him a bunch of flowers from the gas station. And this was all after him going all "I know where you live - if you don't pay me..." :rolleyes:

A co-worker was going to a travel agent with all the money for a school trip overseas in his briefcase. He took the train... as he stood up, the guy next to him grabbed the briefcase and said "I found your bag. Let's go to the police station so you can pay me my reward." I can't remember how that turned out...

Otherwise. Yeah it's good.

... oh wait I forgot - y'all remember Whiplash Wang from MASH? :(

shehatesmyhobbies - 27-1-2013 at 06:55 PM

you can't leave anything unattended here, it just makes someone else think that, wow, can't believe someone left that there, Huh, finders keepers!

We lock all our vehicles so that no one just opens them up and takes what they want. I live 25 miles out in the country on a road with only 20 houses and it's still not safe to leave anything unlocked or just laying around!

RedSky - 27-1-2013 at 09:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kamikuza
Photos of the serial numbers, stored online.

Theft isn't an issue here... we all leave our cars unlocked and sometimes completely open while we're on the water. The club has a 3 containers of people's gear, all unlocked and just lying around.


I leave my pickup unlocked all day and night with the keys even when I'm on holiday but unfortunately I still return home to find it sitting there.

I've had a lovely 9m Cabrinha Crossbow kite pinched a while back. I wished I had spray painted it with the words 'This Kite Is Stolen!!'

DAKITEZ - 27-1-2013 at 10:44 PM

On a foil you could write it inside on one of the ribs or inside a dirt out also. This might even be better as a thief might not think to look in there and you can catch them in the act with it :)
On a arc write your info on a piece of paper and throw it inside or roll it up and slip it in one of the spars.

snowspider - 28-1-2013 at 07:05 PM

This w/e an Ice fisherman decided that he had found "someones lost gear" , my kite bag , spud and misc gear. Lucky for me I was coming off the ice cursing and there bungeed to an ice fishing gear sled was my stuff , he got a little pissy at first but settled down when he realized he wasn't going home with his treasure. I've an old hand drill that I'm going to use to drill a hole and screw a big eye bolt into the ice and lock my stuff from now on. Probably ought to make up a little sign "please do not remove I'll be back in a couple of minutes" It might make things safe from all but the worst a-holes.

djinnzfree - 1-2-2013 at 02:26 AM

On another forum they made a sticker for board. A kind of luggage tag with PKF logo could be a good thing! On one side your name / e-mail / phone and on the other side...

click here for exemple



:Ange09:

bigkid - 1-2-2013 at 07:51 AM

I ran into a guy at the beach a few years ago that had a pile of stuff chained to the beach while he was out surfing. He had 2 spikes that were about 2 feet long with a loop at the top of each spike. He would pound the spikes into the ground with a small hammer in opposite directions so the loops were next to each other and then used a cable with a lock to chain his stuff together and use a combo lock to secure the pile to the looped spikes.
This was one of those, why would you do this, moments as I was talking to him. Found out he watched one day as a car stopped at his stuff and gathered it all up and left before he could get out of the water. Now he worries about the person who has a chain or hook that someone can hook onto his stuff and tow it away.

Sad day at the beach when you cant play with out worrying about your stuff. My wife worries when I leave the back of the truck open and buggy down the beach while at SOBB or some other event. I tell her that these guys wouldn't do something as stupid as steal my stuff while I was gone, then she reminds me of the 3 kites that disappeared one day at an event. I tell her, I forgot to lock up the back end and I wont forget again.:embarrased:

Most of the time guys ask to try out the stuff, which is not a problem at all. But the buggies have disappeared down the beach as fast as I could take them off the rack a few times, they did buy the bugs at a later date which made up for it.:lol:

Still sucks when stuff disappears.

Bladerunner - 1-2-2013 at 04:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bigkid
.

Sad day at the beach when you cant play with out worrying about your stuff. My wife worries when I leave the back of the truck open and buggy down the beach while at SOBB or some other event. I tell her that these guys wouldn't do something as stupid as steal my stuff while I was gone, then she reminds me of the 3 kites that disappeared one day at an event. I tell her, I forgot to lock up the back end and I wont forget again.:embarrased:

.


I hope you got these back ? What event were they taken at?