So...despite everyones advice on here to take on a smaller kite to begin, what do I go and do? Buy a blade 3 4.9m and go and fly it in 25mph winds (large tree brancha were moving) on my first go :D I must have a death wish!

Was EPIC for the first few minutes..small movements through the window and I was flying around like superman...was amazing! So then I thought hmm let's try a pendulum jump...literally the second I redirected, it pulled my shoulder right out of the socket!! Good job the kite killers were there to save the day

Was F'ing painful lol - luckily my dad was there and managed to pop it back into the socket on the second attempt

72 hours have gone - should I fly it again? :D or maybe I might just take it easy with my 4m ozone samurai instead - might be wise!

"should I fly it again"

hmm... despite advice , and now realized by your own experience....

shabz at some point YOUR own judgement is gonna save you pain and maybe your life. this is where you apply the advice, your experience to answer the question.

you should be glad your dad was there ...i think.

Well, I give you credit for sharing the news. Glad it was a relatively mild injury. You were wearing your helmet, right?

Try your 4m in 6-10 mph first. Learn to fly it with your eyes closed. Really.

indeed, credit for sharing and ASKING. he could've called that guy on craigs list, yeah.

Quote:

Originally posted by thanson2001ok Well, I give you credit for sharing the news. Glad it was a relatively mild injury. You were wearing your helmet, right? Try your 4m in 6-10 mph first. Learn to fly it with your eyes closed. Really.

+1


Never underestimate ANY kite. I got spanked by a 3.5 in 15ish winds after learning on a 5.6 in the same wind.

HAZHA DARWINIZM hards at work.

didn't you read how anything under 5m will drop you like a rock?
have you EVER seen a youtube video of a pendulum jump with a 4.9 go well?
\\

I'd quote all kinds of information but I'm sure you've heard it.

Sorry about your injury, thats sucks... But I find it very (literally lol) funny that you had a post entitled "will a blade kill a noob"

Omg....

Failures are the best lessons.. Glad youre ok!

I'll save further beratement, but it could have been ALOT worse.

you should prob let your tendons heal or you could be looking at sustained injury. I'd say wait another week and a half and let that be a lesson.

You could have gotten lofted.... ugh. wear pads.

Seriously glad you are O.K.

Could have been a lot worse.

As for flying again soon, I am no doctor, but I would think that the muscles in your shoulder will be tender and want to pop right back out again with any stress what so ever for the next couple of weeks. JMO

Live to fly another day!

Glad you're ok and +1 for posting, but a Blade 3 4.9 in 25mph winds?!?....just be glad all you got was a dislocated shoulder!

...when you ask if you should fly it again...please tell me you're not talking about in the same kind of winds!

SHABZ stay in it with less breeze.

conditions selection ....an important part of kiting

WIND SPEED
CONSISTENCY
for any kite and skill level.

you took a GIANT step ! maybe some smaller ones are in order. shoulder should be pain free before you reload it.

And what if you had done the "pendulum jump" and found yourself 20+ ft off the ground? What then?

Glad you are not seriously injured or worse. The Blade has a legacy of broken noobs in it's wake. And alot of them had advice before and after they bought their kite . They did not listen to the voices of experience, and they have paid for it dearly.

You need to get yourself a fun kite for high winds. Smaller kites( 3m and less) are a hoot in high winds.

Fly Safe WG

Lesson has been well and truly learned...maybe the hard way :D

Am gunna stick to flying the Samurai, and in lower winds for now! Blade is going into the closet until I've got a bit of fly time on the Samurai!...I think I've realised it's a whole different ball game than flying the stacked Super 10 foils I had before

This discussion has me wanting an 8.5 now. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

google "blade 4.9" and "widow maker!" :shocked2:

If you were younger, your dad maybe would've spanked you...(which may be a LOT more preferable to needing a shoulder reinserted!) :puzzled:

Well, at least you've found out (the hard way) that a "Flexifoil Blade doesn't kill a noob" but definately will "deslocate shoulders", :/

The 4.9m will probably be best avoided above 10mph (at least until you developed some expertise in controlling it ).
And trust me, it WILL PULL YOU. Even after that, I trust the top end will be around 20mph less.

Nonetheless, glad you came back in one piece. Just remember you experienced next time winds are going 25mph+ (or large tree branches are moving)

Regards
João

Shabz
Get a good depower kite sized properly and you will avoid a lot of injuries, sidelining and fly alot more and alot safer.

Might be a good Idea to go to your doctor and have it checked. It doesn't take a whole lot to mess up the 4 tendons in the rotator cuff. Besure dude, I've dislocated my shoulder really bad twice, I have been there

Quote:

Originally posted by g-force junkie Shabz Get a good depower kite sized properly and you will avoid a lot of injuries, sidelining and fly alot more and alot safer.

+1

u got off lucky with the shoulder--flying that 4.9 in 25 is a death wish for anybody, let alone a noob--hopefully you have learned a valuable lesson here, if not, then i'll say goodbye to you now.....and regarding helmets, they are great, but even a helmet wont help you if you do really stupid stuff like that......not trying to get down on you, just letting u know you are extremely lucky to still be in one piece--blades arent for noobs.....

i was buggying with a 1.4 PKD Buster (smallest Buster i have is a 0.7m and it flies very well). was too much working so I grabbed a 1.8m PKD Century.
an old fella walked up and stood pretty close to the one end my riding path and obviously wanted to chit chat.
so i pulled up nice and slow and hopped out of the buggy with kite high and said hello as i was making preps for landing the kite somewhere.
i had the kite high and was signing it back and forth a little to keep it high in the air. as i was moving towards a landing spot i picked out a gust hit and i got lofted straight up.
t'was only a couple feet but it surprised the he[[ out of me...a 18.m lifting me..come on now.
the wind was falling off too as i was planning on unrolling a 3.8 Reactor very soon.
never be too careful.
i heard the 2m Pansh Ace has wrecked a lot of people.

Quote:

Originally posted by revpaul i heard the 2m Pansh Ace has wrecked a lot of people.

I believe it to be "the most dangerous kite in the world". I launched mine in a25+ ,just to see what it would do.WOW!

I landed about 40 ft away from where I was , my feet were about 10 ft off the ground. As soon as I landed I let go and wrapped that sucker up. I see no "good" use for it.

Sorry to veer, but in time dude...IN TIME!!! You will freaking LOVE that kite @ 20mph!!! Depending on your weight that may be the money spot for ya... I fly my 8.5m vip up to low 20s.... Its all about knowing your kite and knowing your winds... Did I take my blade out in 20 + gusts the first day? First month? No!

Do I now :embarrased:
...well....


If my winds are 15 gusting 20... Yes the blade is up and im having a riot.... If its 10 gusting 30... The blade is not up! Lol! Its all experience, and if pushing it is your thing, thats great (its my thing too) but ya gotta take it slow so you can correct small mistakes, before they become big mistakes.

Start in low winds, stay in low winds until you just feel they kite... You dont look at it, hell you dont think about it.... When your kite is as your pinky... You are ready to go bigger

Why wont my winds go down.... I wanna fly my blade now

Quote:

Originally posted by WELDNGOD Quote: Originally posted by revpaul i heard the 2m Pansh Ace has wrecked a lot of people. I believe it to be "the most dangerous kite in the world". I launched mine in a25+ ,just to see what it would do.WOW! I landed about 40 ft away from where I was , my feet were about 10 ft off the ground. As soon as I landed I let go and wrapped that sucker up. I see no "good" use for it.

supermannnnn!!!!!!!!!
my nephews were flying a 2m (pinky) Legend. it wasn't their first time with that kite but they were still pretty new to kites (and small...less than 70lbs-80lbs). oddly.. it was hardly windy enough to easily keep that kite in the air.
i don't remember what i was doing other than that i wasn't watching them full-time (other adults were).
i remember seeing something odd out of the corner of my eye and turned to see one little fella mid-supermanning with ear-to-ear smile and no way he's letting go. i know fear/in-experience usually makes one apply death grip in this situation but i wouldn't put money on that he would have let go one way or the other. i'd say he was fully horizontal about 5-6 feet above ground and got at least 10 feet distance.
kids....

Many are talking about the Blade like its some fire breathing beast. I must cast a different view of the kite. It is one of the most controllable and well designed kites I've ever flown. Yes it has lift and yes it turns fast. But flown in the right winds, even the larger Blades can be SO rewarding to fly within your skill limits. I had a 6.5m and many times my then 12 year old son at about 90 lbs flew it without incident. You just have to use some discipline in what winds you fly it in to find this softer kinder, nice handling side of it. The pilot (and his good sense) is part of the performance and safety equation.

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob Many are talking about the Blade like its some fire breathing beast. I must cast a different view of the kite. It is one of the most controllable and well designed kites I've ever flown. Yes it has lift and yes it turns fast. But flown in the right winds, even the larger Blades can be SO rewarding to fly within your skill limits. I had a 6.5m and many times my then 12 year old son at about 90 lbs flew it without incident. You just have to use some discipline in what winds you fly it in to find this softer kinder, nice handling side of it. The pilot (and his good sense) is part of the performance and safety equation.

Well said Bob! I do have to admit, when I first got my VIP I was scared senseless to even launch it after hearing all of the horror stories about the "Fire breathing beast". I pushed it a bit too hard the first time out of the bag, but since then, I love this kite!!! Under 10 mph, it is one of the best low wind engines I have used. It does get a bit scary in the buggy over 10 so it goes back to the bag and the bego comes out to play til about 15-18.

The Blade is a lot like a woman: when treated with respect and little caution, it can be an amazing thing to have. When caution is thrown to the wind (no pun intended) it can wreck you.

anyone used the VIP on a bar?

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob Many are talking about the Blade like its some fire breathing beast. I must cast a different view of the kite. It is one of the most controllable and well designed kites I've ever flown. Yes it has lift and yes it turns fast. But flown in the right winds, even the larger Blades can be SO rewarding to fly within your skill limits. I had a 6.5m and many times my then 12 year old son at about 90 lbs flew it without incident. You just have to use some discipline in what winds you fly it in to find this softer kinder, nice handling side of it. The pilot (and his good sense) is part of the performance and safety equation.

the blade IS a fire breathing dragon in 25 mph winds and you know it--on the other hand, i had 2 skinny 10 year olds flying my 10.5 in super light winds, and they controlled it nicely--its all a matter of perspective, no black and white here......

Quote:

Originally posted by dandre anyone used the VIP on a bar?

Handles only for me with FB kites. I don't like the way they respond on bars, sluggish. I like the finesse of handles.

A VIP on a bar would be like snow tires on your Ferrari 528 Italia. That kite should be flown and controlled. The bar would just dumb down the whole experience. The desire to learn what makes the kite tick should come with the desire to own it.