Has anyone been out in lightning or had there kite struck ? does it hurt much ?

think the guys name was Ben franklin is the only one i know of

Never lightening, however i did stick my wet finger in a plug socket once.

I have been hit by static discharge a stack of times kiting, and it goes from no pain (you hear it but don't feel it) to hurting quite a lot.

The discharge sounds like two dry rocks hitting together when you land jumps, and it sometimes straightens your legs out.

If that happens it's time to go in...

You won't get many replies to this thread, unfortunately being struck by lightening (kite or otherwise) is generally terminal.

Static discharge scares the crap out of me. It's only happened when i've been beach boosting though and landing with feet directly onto the sand

... dude, here in the tropics it can be a real problem. During our wet season (summer time) we get alot of storms and usually the storms have alot of static in front of them. When you jump, you either get a jolt that feels like a set of pins hit your fingers, or you get the discharge that causes a sound like crimpling chip packet coming from the board as it hits the water.

I had it one time that upon landing the shock made my front hand jolt off the bar and nearly smacked the kite right into some rocks. It all depends on your make up such as hydration level and then how much hang you get. Then there is how close to the storms you dare to kite, luckily we rarely ever get the storms that really get over 30 knots, so a few of us push it and therefore the static charges and the jolts.

It does hurt but some times you just gotta push through the pain to get to the good stuff. When it gets bad, even chop hops is enough time for the static to charge up your kite, you get a hit, then you start to flinch every time you wind up for a big one. Still my favorite time to kite mind you!!

cheers,

Robbie