I'm about to go out for a run and all I carry is my house keys, and my driver's licence. The licence is in case I end up unconscious in a hospital and they'll know who I am and who to contact.

It occurred to me that I carry no id when kiting, except my name and phone number on my board.

A friend had a kiting mishap a few years ago and ended up in hospital. From where we were he just disappeared without a trace. We called out search and rescue and had helicopters and 7 divvy vans of cops looking for him. When he came out of surgery they called his family, but not until well after dark (He got some deep cuts from an impact with a reef. Bystanders packed up his gear and carted him off to hospital).

It would make sense for the kitesurfing association (KSA or whatever they call themselves this week) to provide members with silicone ID bracelets with our name and a contact number on them instead of the dopey tags and cards they keep sending out. That would be useful.

While I'm on the subject, a bunch of us are doing lots of foiling. It is possible to cover a distance upwind in literally half the time of any other kind of board (because you just ride straight there instead of doing 10-20 gybes). It's possible to be lots of kms away from the beach you started at. It's reaching a point where you would need to think about carrying stuff in case of a breakdown. i.e. tools to dismantle the foil, money for a taxi back (or a myki card), maybe even a satellite tracker so you can be found.

Gorgo said..
I'm about to go out for a run and all I carry is my house keys, and my driver's licence. The licence is in case I end up unconscious in a hospital and they'll know who I am and who to contact.

It occurred to me that I carry no id when kiting, except my name and phone number on my board.

You worry too much.

What you fear ... you create.

waveslave said..
...

You worry too much.

What you fear ... you create.

There's a certain truth in what you say. But as my 60th birthday gets closer, it makes sense to take simple precautions, especially if the precautions take no real effort.

There's no way I'm going to stop kiting and foiling and having fun. I've only got about 20 years of play time left.

waveslave said..

Gorgo said..

waveslave said..
...

You worry too much.

What you fear ... you create.

There's a certain truth in what you say. But as my 60th birthday gets closer, it makes sense to take simple precautions, especially if the precautions take no real effort.

There's no way I'm going to stop kiting and foiling and having fun. I've only got about 20 years of play time left.

So, is it one year to go ....

or are we down to a handful of months now ?

The 60th birthday I mean, that magic milestone.

If that 20 year kite-window doesn't come off, you can always fall back on plan B.

You do realize that 60 is the legal age for playing bingo.

waveslave, poor old gorgo here paraglides so hes no **** about the average age of australian paraglider pilot.

and hes got the whole bloody flying site to himself!

stop being a ponce gorgo 60's nothing but a reason to fly faster and harder then before. everyone knows that theres no old and bold pilots, so if your claim is that your to old then you clearly are not being bold enough!

I came to the same conclusion a few years back while cycling, I found a wristband product called ICEid it is a printed tag with name contact number, no allergies, etc could use it kiting but never have...

Why does the KSA need to help you carry ID? It's not hard to find a solution.

Gorgo said..
I'm about to go out for a run and all I carry is my house keys, and my driver's licence. The licence is in case I end up unconscious in a hospital and they'll know who I am and who to contact.

Geez mate

Your right there.

SPOT

It's the cheapest and most people use them.

I've only used it once kiting and it worked ok.

Delorme is much better, but much more expensive to buy, and much much more expensive to use.

Just tatto your name and no on your forehead simple?? never forget it.
also good when you end up with oldtimers.??