Select to expand quoteKamikuza said..cauncy said..
I'm a retard and don't know how to upload video
but heres the example of how the Kite sat tonight on a tether using a peg, pretty mental winds tonight ,
Kite just rocks on the wing tip, with minimal movement saving potential damage or flying through zenith , years ago I'd do the sprint to the Kite praying for it not to take off
That's not an upwind line, nor a steering line though is it 
You can walk to and from the kite with you hand on that line and it does the same thing, without the additional hardware.
50 knot gusts though, I'd rather assisted land...
It's my upwind steering line
red , Portside red to be exact
im always out kiting on my own here so no assisted option sorry to say, tbh I don't use this as a safety precaution it's a Kite damage limitation
especially when it's nuking
i don't recommend walking with any hand on the line
the Kite last night was surging back and forth , also your steering line would be laying on the beach, holding a power line won't assist at all
basically the peg does this for you, it takes 5 seconds to knock in, cheaper than a repair or time off the water
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
Select to expand quotecauncy said..
It's my upwind steering line
red , Portside red to be exact
im always out kiting on my own here so no assisted option sorry to say, tbh I don't use this as a safety precaution it's a Kite damage limitation
especially when it's nuking
i don't recommend walking with any hand on the line
the Kite last night was surging back and forth , also your steering line would be laying on the beach, holding a power line won't assist at all
basically the peg does this for you, it takes 5 seconds to knock in, cheaper than a repair or time off the water
Port-side, gotcha. Looks like it goes to the top but you chopped that bit off 
Hand is just adding a little tension to the line. You need very little to keep it settled, till you get to the LE.
I put the kite back into the window so it's under tension and trying to fly into the ground. More C-shaped kites behave better, high AR kites still tend to bobble is my experience.
I'd still prefer to self-launch without a tether, like in that video I linked.
Select to expand quoteActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
You generally have launch bitches in tow
sorry tony
Select to expand quotecauncy said..ActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
You generally have launch bitches in tow
sorry tony
Kite Bitch Tony under Rob's supervision ..................DM kited to the max at MWWF didn't see his crew get out once. How's the ribs after L2L DM? I reckon Tony & Rob floated some weed out on Gage Roads with your name on it. 
Either my eyes are worse than i thought or KamiKuza is taking the piss but to me the pegged line in both photos is attached to the bottom steering line????
Anyway i self launch the old way untethered and land with a tether which is what i'm comfortable with. If someone offers a launch or a land i take it.
Select to expand quoteWeta said..cauncy said..ActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
You generally have launch bitches in tow
sorry tony
Kite Bitch Tony under Rob's supervision ..................DM kited to the max at MWWF didn't see his crew get out once. How's the ribs after L2L DM? I reckon Tony & Rob floated some weed out on Gage Roads with your name on it.
Either my eyes are worse than i thought or KamiKuza is taking the piss but to me the pegged line in both photos is attached to the bottom steering line????
Anyway i self launch the old way untethered and land with a tether which is what i'm comfortable with. If someone offers a launch or a land i take it.
Huh, is that the old sand on the wing tip trick?
If so you need a lesson with eppo to edumacate you.
Don't get sucked in to having and babychinos with him though.
Muggachinos only
Select to expand quoteFly on da wall said..Weta said..cauncy said..ActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
You generally have launch bitches in tow
sorry tony
Kite Bitch Tony under Rob's supervision ..................DM kited to the max at MWWF didn't see his crew get out once. How's the ribs after L2L DM? I reckon Tony & Rob floated some weed out on Gage Roads with your name on it.
Either my eyes are worse than i thought or KamiKuza is taking the piss but to me the pegged line in both photos is attached to the bottom steering line????
Anyway i self launch the old way untethered and land with a tether which is what i'm comfortable with. If someone offers a launch or a land i take it.
Huh, is that the old sand on the wing tip trick?
If so you need a lesson with eppo to edumacate you.
Don't get sucked in to having and babychinos with him though.
Muggachinos only
we had half a dozen guinnessinos one afternoon skate
Nah mate not that old skool; just the drag self launch.
I launch perpendicular to the kite rather than upwind unless it's light winds.
Select to expand quotecauncy said..Fly on da wall said..Weta said..cauncy said..ActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
You generally have launch bitches in tow
sorry tony
Kite Bitch Tony under Rob's supervision ..................DM kited to the max at MWWF didn't see his crew get out once. How's the ribs after L2L DM? I reckon Tony & Rob floated some weed out on Gage Roads with your name on it.
Either my eyes are worse than i thought or KamiKuza is taking the piss but to me the pegged line in both photos is attached to the bottom steering line????
Anyway i self launch the old way untethered and land with a tether which is what i'm comfortable with. If someone offers a launch or a land i take it.
Huh, is that the old sand on the wing tip trick?
If so you need a lesson with eppo to edumacate you.
Don't get sucked in to having and babychinos with him though.
Muggachinos only
we had half a dozen guinnessinos one afternoon skate
Ke was that this arvo??? non comprehendo Mick :)
Select to expand quoteActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
The kite will zoom across the window if it rolls backwards even with no input from the bar?
Select to expand quotecoastflyer said..
Iv'e been using a tethered launch and landing for years using mainly North Rebels on five lines. Also, the kite has always been fully de-powered, and it always sits on it's wingtip without bouncing around. I don't fully understand why this is the wrong way to do it?
Impressive. My Rebels would always bounce around (mainly 2009/2012 vintage) and often fall backwards in gusty conditions. Might be my stoney beaches and their predilection to snag lines mind you.
I think the wrong way of doing it is to clip into the chickenloop before unclipping the tether. Walking along downwind of the kite would also be considered ... wrong.... 
Select to expand quotecauncy said..
Yo, just a heads up to you that teather launch,
Gawd .. There is a Grammar post currently running hot on the Nobodies forum -
BUT I suppose we have to make allowance for Cauncy...and me thinks he runs a Cafe which also serves TEA ..
It is Tether not Tea.
Fly on the Wall. I do need to pee but not up the wall...
It is totally what works in your location and most importantly wind conditions / strength. So Tea man (and obviously serious boot eeekk beer drinker) has a g8 solution to safely killing your kite's lift in OUT there and more regular conditions... ..
JIC for the un-initiated.... Think and plan it thru' - Tethering is not the best spur of the moment solution...The tether is a substitute for the chicken loop linked to your harness hook or equivalent for most landings / launches which occur. It should be non-negotiable - no-brainer - Not trying to lasso a horse - just a non-stretchy short as reasonable link which you can easily access onto something solid capable of handling in bad conditions a 250+ KG load, then hook out/in as per normal.
As Cauncy points out with experience on his side you should be able to go and drink your Tea once your kite is tethered and then land or clip-in. You want to think twice before you normalise trying to control your kite in windy / gusty situations from anywhere except the bar end or the kite end.. Why do you need to try and control your kite as you got to or from the kite ??? You are playing with chance refer to Cauncy's solution..
If your situation has any possibility of putting your kite in a "HOT" condition AKA DM's post zenith zooming.. then his point on not tethering is -- a 101 listen up folks or you are asking for trouble...
FWIW - If you can park kite on water U R going onto or leaving because it is not in the surf zone - this has worked well for me in strong gusty conditions..
Cheers
AP
Please note -- this is an announcement..
On past experience - Aquaplow's statement .. will kill this topic.. so be warned further posts.. require..
Either a cracker point.. or something of above average humour.... The Teather has been set (hi / high / heigh / up there )
hmmmmm baa humbug.
Select to expand quoteWeta said..
Gold or blue top AquaPlow???
Brian .. you are a naughty naughty boy...
(Re TEA.ther..or my bias Capa.ther chino - Full on Jersey please - but Gold over Silver)
Select to expand quotequikdrawMcgraw said..ActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
The kite will zoom across the window if it rolls backwards even with no input from the bar?
Yes, as the kite drifts back along the sand, the wingtip can easily bite into the soft sand thus rolling the kite onto it's trailing edge. With no bar input and fully sheeted out, it will hot launch skyward.
DM
Select to expand quoteWeta said..cauncy said..ActionSportsWA said..
The problem with an unattended kite (tethered Launch) is that the kite will move forward in a gust as it re-positions itself in the new upwind neutral zone. When the gust is past, the kite needs to move back downwind to the old neutral position. If the wingtip bites in the sand, the kite will roll facing the kite up into the wind window. It will naturally lift off and screech across the wind window ... unattended!
Don't tether launch. In almost 20 years of kiting, I have never had to tether launch and I have kited almost every kitable beach in Oz and many in Hawaii, NZ, Indo, Thailand and many more. Just don't do it, not worth it.
DM
You generally have launch bitches in tow
sorry tony
Kite Bitch Tony under Rob's supervision ..................DM kited to the max at MWWF didn't see his crew get out once. How's the ribs after L2L DM? I reckon Tony & Rob floated some weed out on Gage Roads with your name on it.
Either my eyes are worse than i thought or KamiKuza is taking the piss but to me the pegged line in both photos is attached to the bottom steering line????
Anyway i self launch the old way untethered and land with a tether which is what i'm comfortable with. If someone offers a launch or a land i take it.
Hey Mate,
Tony didn't want to ride for his own reasons. I think Rob got out and Kingy spent plenty of time on the water. I did make a bit of a pig of myself as it's such a rare privilage to get water time and I had some stuff to test ride
Ribs are mending, but haven't been game to get out early in the healing process in case I splat back on the ribs and flare up the damage again.
I'm all for assisted launch as a primary option, but am happy to self launch on my own if no other option.
DM
Wow, such hate for tethering? I tether launch and land 99.9% of sessions (over period of 8 or 9 years). It has only gone wrong ONCE and that was because I was like an excited toddler wanting to get o the water and didn't pay attention to the lines before letting go of kite. No harm or damage in that instance luckily and purely down to innattention on my part.
I couldn't believe how easy it is to do when first shown. I launch and land against a tall sand dune (gusty holey wind) and on a regularly weedy beach, the kite does move back and forth but never shoots right across window.
I don't think it should be discounted as such a terrible idea. It allows you to be totally independant, launch yourself when you're happy with everything and involves zero dragging of kite across sand/shells. I keep my kite for several seasons and this method of landing and launching has proven to be kind on the gear. The only damage I have ever done to any of my kites is after a gust picked up the kite after a self landing in strong winds (beach goers set up next to my tether) and some pin hole damage sustained-the tree lost several branches!
Anyway, just another point of view.
Nope I agree with you. Been tethering for a lot longer than even your 8/9 years. I'm not sure why the tethering rebukes but hey each to their own.
What do people use as their anchor point then,? I seen people use the sand screw jobs and also sand dune fencing uprights what's the goods
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Nope I agree with you. Been tethering for a lot longer than even your 8/9 years. I'm not sure why the tethering rebukes but hey each to their own.
Cos it's not "the best method", don't you know
Just to avoid the extra step, I still prefer what is now being called the JK method -- unless there's nasty crap on the ground and I'm feeling particularly precious. I'd be a lot more happy dragging or slamming my gear into the ground if I didn't have to pay for it.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Depowering your kite when tethering is a stupid idea. Don't do it. Think about what a kite does when it's depowered in the sky.
Ive seen far more serious crashes (and injuries) from self launching than tethering. Although I do both myself, depends.
Although as mick said there has been a very serious injury recently when one was tethering but there were other factors involved.
Either way take care. Even a modern kite will seriously hurt you or kill when used incorrectly.
And the number of Middle Aged and above lounge chair non water - man kooks that modern kites have allowed to get them on the water, creates a much higher probability of this happening.
Oiy I'm a fat old fart ...dont be dissing the FOF's
we kite up and back successfully , day after day!
I have been tether launching and landing also for at least 9 yrs. Use a cork screw beach thingy I got from an outdoor shop. I've owned about six different brands of kite and all have been good with this method. Yes sometimes they can bounce around a bit. But not uncontrollably. ( in my experience). In all that time I have only had 2 incidents. First one I was rushing and didn't notice that my outer line was wrapped around the bar and the kite launched itself and landed on the opposite side. No much of a deal. An secondly rushing again landing, hooked up to the tether and accidently kicked my safety. The kite just flipped over a couple of times and lay there. Not bad going in my opinion. Considering I see kiting incidents heaps when I am out there. I wouldn't tether launch in light winds, but then again I don't bother kiting in light winds.
Select to expand quoteholgs said..quikdrawMcgraw said..
The way you guys are describing is different and safer by the sounds of it (easy cauncy) chicken loop on tow ball, connect safety then move the chicken loop from the tow ball to hook on harness.
As opposed to the tether where guys are hooking in to the kite - while the kite is still attached to the tether and then things go pear shaped your attached to kite and tether, in which case a longer tether would be more dangerous by the sounds of it.
There is no need to be be attached to the tether and hooked in to the chicken loop at the same time. After attaching the safety leash, grab the chicken loop and unclip it from the tether while keeping an eye on the kite. If anything goes wrong at this stage you can just let go of the chicken loop. Then simply hook into the chicken loop and launch the kite or launch first and then hook in.
While I'm positioning the kite at the edge of the window I also have a second tether attached to the safety. If anything happens to the main tether (e.g tether breaking from the kite accidentally launching and powering through the window) then the kite will simply flag out.
I have seen kites power through the window in conventional assisted launches too. I don't think it's that much more likely in a tethered launch.
If I don't self launch tethered then I self launch unhooked with one hand on the bar and the other on the chicken loop controlling the power. If anything goes wrong, like a wing tip wrap, then I can simply let go and flag the kite on the safety leash.
No one has mentioned self landing. A tethered landing of course is also a nice alternative in strong winds, especially if you have a kite with a high Y and there are sharp things on the beach. You avoid having to drop the kite hard on the beach or the kite powering up after not quite falling on its nose, with potential to have the line that you yanked on wrap around a hand as poor Nathe described.
Sometimes flagging the kite on the edge of the window doesn't go to plan either in strong wind even if the safety is attached to the upper front line. The kite may not always drop nose down but instead get blown downwind with the potential for damage if there are sharp objects around.
Tethering avoids all this. Again, I unhook from chicken loop first, then attach the chicken loop to the tether. If anything goes wrong, I'm only attached via the safety, until I clip my leash into the second tether.
I'm interested in your approach here holgs for when I get back to aus and start having to man up pumping my kite manually and not always having a assisted launch.
How exactly do you manage two tethers do you have two of those sand screws with you?
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Nope I agree with you. Been tethering for a lot longer than even your 8/9 years. I'm not sure why the tethering rebukes but hey each to their own.
Hmmmmm, if your tethering then that's good enough for me Sir
Select to expand quoteMrFreeze said..eppo said..
Nope I agree with you. Been tethering for a lot longer than even your 8/9 years. I'm not sure why the tethering rebukes but hey each to their own.
Hmmmmm, if your tethering then that's good enough for me Sir
Happy new year Mr Freeze.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..MrFreeze said..eppo said..
Nope I agree with you. Been tethering for a lot longer than even your 8/9 years. I'm not sure why the tethering rebukes but hey each to their own.
Hmmmmm, if your tethering then that's good enough for me Sir
Happy new year Mr Freeze.
Hmmmmm, right back at you Senor
Select to expand quotequikdrawMcgraw said..
I'm interested in your approach here holgs for when I get back to aus and start having to man up pumping my kite manually and not always having a assisted launch. How exactly do you manage two tethers do you have two of those sand screws with you?
I don't have any sand screws. If I'm using a good solid structure like a fence post, tow bar or recovery points where the strap is going to break before the anchor point then I attach both to the same structure. If it's not solid then I'll attach the safety to something else. I have used the kite bag filled full of sand to attach the safety leash to. The idea of doing it that way is so that I don't lose the kite or injure people with it if the main tether fails. I have read that people have apparently been hurt by a sand screw or other anchor being propelled down the beach by a powered up kite.
I guess this is what happens if you have a really long tether strap, and hook in to chicken loop and tether at the same time and fly the kite to Zenith :
Select to expand quoteholgs said..
I guess this is what happens if you have a really long tether strap, and hook in to chicken loop and tether at the same time and fly the kite to Zenith :
Whatsisname and the other guy both did that and set actual world records of hundreds of meters IIRC.
