I have heard of using sand bags with caribinha hooks to self launch or caribinha hooks around permanent fixtures like poles or posts etc. interested to see everyone's set ups 
If you are from WA, try using your 4x4.
If from East Coast, you'll be brave enough to self launch in no time.
I'm a big promoter of having a launch point at local kite beaches, whether people decide to use it that's for them to decide
I buried a pine pole with approx 2 barrows of concrete around it
I then drilled a hole through and put a threaded eyelet, we all carry a snatch strap or similar
Nobody self launches anymore and incidents are now non existent for locals and visitors ,
We used to self or assisted launch prior
Simple solution for those that feel the need to tether on the beach.
Go to ALDI and buy 4 Aldi shopping bags
(Buy more depending on wind but 4 is a good anchor)
Buy a carabiner clip from local fishing shop
Take them with you next session and fill the bags full of sand in the spot you like to tether from , hook the carabiner to the 4 bags.
There you have a simple launch system for under $10
Easy to pack up and take with you when your done.
At the lake on grassed area some of us use 1 Aldi bag with a plastic shopping bag full of sand inside it (so it can be put in the car without leaving a mess.)
This one bag is only used to keep the kite from drifting around on the grass due to a confined launch area.
Sometimes you have more than 1 kite set up for the day.
Without this some of the guys have had their kites slide up against the copper log fences and canopys have been torn in the past.
90% of us around here self launch and land.
I was kiting by myself at a place in the mid-west. Heaps of sticks, rocks, seaweed, sharp stuff all over the beach. I didn't want to risk puncturing my leading edge with a bit of a slide when self launching or tangling my lines in all the debris so filled my kite bag with sand to use for tethered launch. Same as Aldi bag idea but you don't have to buy bags from Aldi!!
I think it's a good idea to have a few methods/ideas of how to launch your kite so you can choose the most appropriate for the situation.
Select to expand quoteterminal said..
www.dlightcanarias.net/crossbowlaunch/crossbowlaunch.htm
does he have a instructional for pumping up 7 individual struts also?
Select to expand quotewave6ft said...
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Yeh agree, but locations play the biggest part along with wind strengths
That's why I checked you avatar
Queensland and your selling a 7 mtr kite
Not enough wind for it maybe
Gee u have alot of time to waste we actually have lucinda wich is great for this time of year for small kites do some more researxh
Select to expand quotewave6ft said...
Gee u have alot of time to waste we actually have lucinda wich is great for this time of year for small kites do some more researxh
Took me 2 seconds, as I though I bet this blokes from the land of gay winds ,
Guess what I was right, it's fine promoting this n that but in the interest of safety especially the inexperienced that's a nob of a quote when you don't know of peoples scenarios on launch areas,
Use the 'Kitesurfing Zone' sign post for tether launches at one place. Difficult to self launch at the other spots.
One can be done at low tide but otherwise the beach is primarily made up of sharp shells, sticks, stones and broken bottles.
Another has sea defences built around the outside of the 'designated' launch/land site so unless its really windy its tricky to self launch (easy to land though - put it on a wing tip and it topples over through lack of wind).
The final spot has a short steep beach that bends the lower steering line down - makes setting up a tether tricky as the kite tends to roll onto its back and then power up. Fortunately the guys who work at the kite shop on the beach are happy to launch and land you so its easier not to bother self launching there.
I find the best option is to go along with a slow mate. I can usually walk off to the cafe, drink a cup of coffee and still get ready before he manages to get his wetsuit on.
Select to expand quoteGreenarrowz said..
Simple solution for those that feel the need to tether on the beach.
Go to ALDI and buy 4 Aldi shopping bags
(Buy more depending on wind but 4 is a good anchor)
I have been looking for an Aldi everywhere and can't find one.
Oh well, there goes my dream of self launching on the beach.
Here's my teather. spliced up a bit of rope and put a hook on the end. I loop it round solid objects on the beach.
To be honest I don't use it most of the time as my local has a grass field behind the surf club that we launch on most the time. Drag launching on grass doesn't appear to wear the le any where near as much.
Select to expand quotewave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
wave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
No it doesn't. I have kites with 200 hours each on them. Self launched and landed almost every time. They look and work like new. The leading edge is probably the strongest part of the kite.
The trick is to practice your technique so that you can do it reliably with no sliding or dragging.
I guess the other trick is that I avoid multiple launches and landings. I turn up, launch. kite, land, go home.
Select to expand quoteGorgo said...Plummet said..
wave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
No it doesn't. I have kites with 200 hours each on them. Self launched and landed almost every time. They look and work like new. The leading edge is probably the strongest part of the kite.
The trick is to practice your technique so that you can do it reliably with no sliding or dragging.
I guess the other trick is that I avoid multiple launches and landings. I turn up, launch. kite, land, go home.
Didn't know kites had hour meters!! Where do I get one
Select to expand quoteGorgo said..Plummet said..
wave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
No it doesn't. I have kites with 200 hours each on them. Self launched and landed almost every time. They look and work like new. The leading edge is probably the strongest part of the kite.
The trick is to practice your technique so that you can do it reliably with no sliding or dragging.
I guess the other trick is that I avoid multiple launches and landings. I turn up, launch. kite, land, go home.
I'm with you Gorgo, I self launch / land 95% of the time, with the right technique the kite rolls up and launches without dragging across the sand. Never had any damage what so ever.
Select to expand quoteSmithy said..Gorgo said..Plummet said..
wave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
No it doesn't. I have kites with 200 hours each on them. Self launched and landed almost every time. They look and work like new. The leading edge is probably the strongest part of the kite.
The trick is to practice your technique so that you can do it reliably with no sliding or dragging.
I guess the other trick is that I avoid multiple launches and landings. I turn up, launch. kite, land, go home.
I'm with you Gorgo, I self launch / land 95% of the time, with the right technique the kite rolls up and launches without dragging across the sand. Never had any damage what so ever.
Your both wrong. You are wearing your kite every time you drag launch. Its impossible to not drag the kite at all. Even the best drag launch still required dragging round to launch position. Physics tells the rest of the story. You drag an item across an abrasive surface it will wear.
However some sand is certainly more abrasive that others. So you must be lucky enough to have a relatively low abrasive sand at your locals......
That aside teather launch will still provide less wear than even your good self launches.
www.rapidanchor.com/
I use one of these if it's a bit dangerous to self launch. Incredible how strong they are.
Also if a huge gust came and it were to rip out of the ground (very unlikely) you'd only have
a 400gm projectile attached to the kite as opposed to a bag of sand (could be dangerous for other beach users).
Select to expand quotePlummet said..Smithy said..Gorgo said..Plummet said..
wave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
No it doesn't. I have kites with 200 hours each on them. Self launched and landed almost every time. They look and work like new. The leading edge is probably the strongest part of the kite.
The trick is to practice your technique so that you can do it reliably with no sliding or dragging.
I guess the other trick is that I avoid multiple launches and landings. I turn up, launch. kite, land, go home.
I'm with you Gorgo, I self launch / land 95% of the time, with the right technique the kite rolls up and launches without dragging across the sand. Never had any damage what so ever.
Your both wrong. You are wearing your kite every time you drag launch. Its impossible to not drag the kite at all. Even the best drag launch still required dragging round to launch position. Physics tells the rest of the story. You drag an item across an abrasive surface it will wear.
However some sand is certainly more abrasive that others. So you must be lucky enough to have a relatively low abrasive sand at your locals......
That aside teather launch will still provide less wear than even your good self launches.
what about normal wear and tear, the canopy will wear out quicker than the LE then start tearing. what is the point of a 10 yo kite in perfectly new condition only worth $100
Select to expand quotePlummet said......
Your both wrong. You are wearing your kite every time you drag launch. Its impossible to not drag the kite at all. Even the best drag launch still required dragging round to launch position. Physics tells the rest of the story. You drag an item across an abrasive surface it will wear.
However some sand is certainly more abrasive that others. So you must be lucky enough to have a relatively low abrasive sand at your locals......
That aside teather launch will still provide less wear than even your good self launches.
Clearly I am not wrong. I have the kites. I have a record of each use of each kite and board that is "fairly" accurate. I have the repairs I have done and I can see the condition of the kites. I have been keeping records of my kiting sessions since 2003.
My kites experience no more dragging than would be normal wear and tear. That includes the amount of dragging that would happen from putting the kite down to rig the lines and for a helper to pick up the kite to do an assisted launch.
They do get some contact with the ground and the sand and that is normal wear and tear. That is why I can reasonably say that leading edges don't wear much. The most common cause of wear and damage to the leading edge in particular, and kites in general, is simple accidental contact with something hard, sharp and/or abrasive, and systemic abuse/misuse.
Select to expand quoteNathe said..
Didn't know kites had hour meters!! Where do I get one
all canopy/sail sportsmen tend to know how many hours they have on there kit. theres no logbooks for kitesurfing so you guys dont tend to think about it but just so you know youve only got about 400 odd uv hours on your kite before the materials worn so thin it looses all its porositiy and you can tear it between 2 fingers. worst part is it gets worn thin enough when you try to repair it via sewing the thread will just tear right thru it.
so you can imagine with the sport pilot **** gorgo does hes probably going to be aware of all this and will either flog off or retire his gear well before it gets to that point. Select to expand quotePlummet said..Smithy said..Gorgo said..Plummet said..
wave6ft said..
How hsrd is it to self launch its like riding a bike pretty easy
Self launch on sand wears the kite leading edge out pretty fast. There is a lot less wear teather launching. Plus its a little safer In nuking winds.....
No it doesn't. I have kites with 200 hours each on them. Self launched and landed almost every time. They look and work like new. The leading edge is probably the strongest part of the kite.
The trick is to practice your technique so that you can do it reliably with no sliding or dragging.
I guess the other trick is that I avoid multiple launches and landings. I turn up, launch. kite, land, go home.
I'm with you Gorgo, I self launch / land 95% of the time, with the right technique the kite rolls up and launches without dragging across the sand. Never had any damage what so ever.
Your both wrong. You are wearing your kite every time you drag launch. Its impossible to not drag the kite at all. Even the best drag launch still required dragging round to launch position. Physics tells the rest of the story. You drag an item across an abrasive surface it will wear.
However some sand is certainly more abrasive that others. So you must be lucky enough to have a relatively low abrasive sand at your locals......
That aside teather launch will still provide less wear than even your good self launches.
just for ****s and giggles plummet i carry a 10sqm shadecloth with me i cover my kite if its going to be in the sun for longer then half an hour and i la it down on the sandbank wack a little sand round all the edges and plonk my kite down on that. with this method i was able to selflaunch very very easily with no damage at all at such rocky places like lake hawea/wanaka that im sure your familular with while everyone else was doing the old tow ball launch method. now the one thing i noticed when they were doing this is there kite would bounce up and down on a wintip sometimes quite hard :P but yeah provided your not carrying around a tarp/shadecloth with ya your right.
the trick to getting it to pop up on its wingtip when selflaunching without it dragging for anyone intrested is to be far more upwind of the kite then you would if you had an assisted launch. the kite "dragging" is due to it being pushed into the "powerzone"
I am required to keep a log book for other sports I do. I keep it all in a spreadsheet and it's easy to add in the kiteboarding sessions as well. My log book is "fairly" accurate because I tend to finish sessions on multiples of an hour just so it's easy to remember. I sometimes forget to do it for a few days so I have to look at the local weather station to see when it was windy and re-construct some of the dates and times.
As Kozzie says, part of the secret to drag free launching is to stand more upwind during the launch phase (hence my comment about hot launches). I usually split launching into a two step process. Get the kite open and full of wind in the nose down, downwind position. Then, turn it on the tip and fly it up to the side of the window. That reduces dragging and gives time to check and re-check everything, and allows a slow controlled launch from the ground.
The other thing is line tension. If the kite starts to slide you simply step forward and ease tension on the line. The kite will stop sliding. Even if it does slide a little, there is no load on the lines or on the kite so there is no weight pushing the kite into the ground.
I don't do the shade cloth thing, but during pack up I wipe down the leading edge with a damp chamois. That keeps the LE clean and makes it obvious if there is any damage. Only a few minor surface scratches so far.
I am also fairly picky about where I put my kite down on the ground. On the other hand, I am firmly in the use it or lose group. My gear gets get used and abused in every way to get the maximum possible fun out of them. What they don't get is pointless, thoughtless neglect.
I used to trade gear fairly frequently. Gear stopped getting radically better, and new gear started to get a lot more expensive. All my current gear is 4-5-6 years old. It's quite liberating using old stuff. I can charge and hammer the gear and not really care if it gets trashed. My personality and riding style means it doesn't get badly abused, but I am looking forward to the day when a big wave destroys a kite or board so I can go buy new stuff.
