My Comments:
anyone got any info on a good wind gauge?

Lick your finger.

White caps = 15+

There are only three reliable things that will help you decide the wind strength:
1. Ears. Does it sound windy?
2. Eyes. Are there whitecaps (not as good as ears because offshorish winds don't make whitecaps.)
3. Phone/Internet. Access the bureau weather stations that service your area. You need to work out which combination of weather stations give an accurate indication for your location.

Don't buy a wind gauge. They are useless. All you are doing is measuring the wind as it flows over your hand which has nothing to do with what is happening on the water, or 20 metres above the water (at the end of the kite lines).

Local turbulence caused by your hand, the ground, sand dunes etc make wind gauges very unreliable.

If you must buy a wind gauge get one of these:

www.hallwindmeter.com/wind.php

They never run out of batteries. They are cheap. They are fairly accurate if you know how to use them properly (but if you can do then you can judge the wind for yourself).

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Andobear said...

Lick your finger.

White caps = 15+

white caps start forming in just over 10 knots

Hi Arkgee,

http://www.aksonline.com.au/index.php/gift-package-ideas-/kaindl-windtronic-2-wind-meter/detailed-product-flyer.html

The windmeter is a good tool to learn what the wind looks like. It's all too easy if you have grown up around the water all your life like myself, but if you're new to kiteboarding or water sports in general, a good wind meter will help you to learn the appearance of the conditions.

Every body puts **** on wind meters but when you walk down the beach before anyone is out, almost everyone will ask you what it is reading. Go figure! I use it as a yard stick to my own judgement by checking my assesment of the wind. I'm usually within 2 knots but I only know that, because I have a wind meter!

It's not good to rely on a meter, but definately a good thing to use whilst learning.

Up to you at the end of the day. Cheap ones give cheap results as Jankie admits in his thread about the low winds of the Ozone Zephyr where he holds up three cheap wind meters and all three read vastly different measures.

Cheers,

KH

Another vote for the Kaindl wind meters... Really accurate and it doesn't matter what angle you hold it up, it still gets an accurate reading...

Wind meters are very useful aspecially when you visit locations that are unfamiliar, or where the wind at your spot is from an unusual direction.
Of course you can use visual and audible indicators, and wind meters actually help you fine tune your own wind reading skills

https://www.kitepower.com.au/catalog/product_16505_Windtronic_2_Windmeter_cat_323.html

The Kaindl meter is the most accurate and reliable hand held, they are not affected by wind direction like small meters that have impellers that need to be held into the wind direction, like the skywatch and several others like it.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Another point with wind meters, is they can tell you what size kite to use based on your own experience at a particular location. For example, the reading on the beach may not tell you what the wind is doing offshore, 20m up but it will give you a relative reading. So, you may have had a good session on your 9m previously for certain readings, and good sessions on your 12m for lower readings. Its all about correlating the on-water experience to your beach reading. Of course, the wind meter won't predict what is going to happen with the wind

Before internet capable phones - we'd use the old Beaufort wind scale.

www.bom.gov.au/lam/glossary/beaufort.shtml

...but...of course it's doesn't compensate for site specific effects on the waters surface (reefs, sandbars etc..), but it's a good place to start.

I like to use the height of the sand lifting off the beach. It depends on how fine your beach sand is though and wind direction, but for perth seabreeze I use the following
sand just lifting - ~15-20knots - its on
sand hitting your knees - ~18-23knots
sand hitting your hips ~20-30knots
sand above your shoulder - stay in the car

maybe there is an iphone app for wind speed?

maybe there is an iphone app for wind speed?

ther is, it called Wind Meter. It works quiet simple, you need to hold the mic in the wind, then its calc it.

thanks everyone, looks like the kaindl gets the vote...I know exactly what horizontal sand looks like...but do I grab the 7 or the 9, I had one of those perspex tubes with the little styrofoam ball in it in my sailboarding days...not accurate...but I was never overpowered if I refered to it for my sail choice...and kitehard is right...everybody will ask whats it reading? thanx again

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Kitepower Australia said...



The Kaindl meter is the most accurate and reliable hand held,

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

So you have done some scientific studies to back this up Steve? Or is it just a sales pitch?

If you feel the wind blowing on your face, chances are that the wind is blowing.

You convince someone to get out there. If they swim in, then it's not windy enough.

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bjw said...

You convince someone to get out there. If they swim in, then it's not windy enough.

hey,bjw by the look of your avatar....your not getting out much

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arkgee said...
... I had one of those perspex tubes with the little styrofoam ball in it in my sailboarding days...

The styrofoam ball thingie is completely different to the Hall wind gauge. Those things were never reliable.

The Hall works on a different principle and can be accurate if you get them in a clear air flow.

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Gorgo said...

arkgee said...
... I had one of those perspex tubes with the little styrofoam ball in it in my sailboarding days...

The styrofoam ball thingie is completely different to the Hall wind gauge. Those things were never reliable.

The Hall works on a different principle and can be accurate if you get them in a clear air flow.

yes they were never very accurate, i'm not really after accuracy, I just need something as a gauge you know, if its reading a certain speed you know you can get away with using a certain kite....but thanks the hall looks like it will do the job and its way cheaper than the others...and no batteries (big plus)

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BrisKites said...

Kitepower Australia said...



The Kaindl meter is the most accurate and reliable hand held,

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

So you have done some scientific studies to back this up Steve? Or is it just a sales pitch?

Well Dr Briskites, as a matter of fact I have conducted dozens of lengthy experiments, way too scientific to post here though!

I've sold several brands over the years, Kaindl is the most accurate, basically because it does not rely on the user facing the wind direction, like the skywatch type.

Cya and

Goodwinds

McScientific

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Kitepower Australia said...

BrisKites said...

Kitepower Australia said...



The Kaindl meter is the most accurate and reliable hand held,

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

So you have done some scientific studies to back this up Steve? Or is it just a sales pitch?

Well Dr Briskites, as a matter of fact I have conducted dozens of lengthy experiments, way too scientific to post here though!

I've sold several brands over the years, Kaindl is the most accurate, basically because it does not rely on the user facing the wind direction, like the skywatch type.

Cya and

Goodwinds

McScientific

Cat fight

I used to use a handheld but with 2 kites I look at it and choose big / little/ stay on the beach

I have two kites and two TT (and a couple of surfboards). If I can hear a consistent wind noise to generally quite windy I rig the 12m. If it's blowing it's tits off I rig the 8m.

If there's white caps or other guys riding powered up I used the small TT. If there's nobody else out (or they're not staying upwind) I use the big TT. If there's decent waves I use a surfboard.

If it feels mega-light or mega-strong I'll bring up the BOM weather stations and the radar on my phone and see if there is reason to be optimistic ... or afraid.

I've had my 8m out in over 50 knots so I know that if I rig it I'm fairly safe no matter what the wind is doing. I normally use the suicide leash but if I feel a bit chicken I'll clip onto the flagging leash.

The other thing I do is keep an eye on ships on the horizon. If there are scary black clouds around and the ships disappear then I get off the water pretty quick.

Sometimes I can be a little overpowered on the 12. It's not dangerous but it's not as fun as being on the right kite. My new quiver will be three kites with a 10m in the middle so hopefully it will be easier to be in the sweet spot on those stronger days.

Being underpowered on the 8m is actually quite fun so of late I have erred towards the smaller kite.

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Kitepower Australia said...

BrisKites said...

Kitepower Australia said...



The Kaindl meter is the most accurate and reliable hand held,

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

So you have done some scientific studies to back this up Steve? Or is it just a sales pitch?

Well Dr Briskites, as a matter of fact I have conducted dozens of lengthy experiments, way too scientific to post here though!

I've sold several brands over the years, Kaindl is the most accurate, basically because it does not rely on the user facing the wind direction, like the skywatch type.

Cya and

Goodwinds

McScientific

Ahh Mr McFrodo,

You said yours is THE MOST accurate and reliable but we all know that any scientific experiment is only as good as the data. Seems like the wrong data was punched in.

Are you saying it is more accurate because we are too stupid to point the meter into the wind??
Or that if we are smart enough to point it in the proper direction the reading would still be wrong?

Also was it you that conducted the experiment? If so Im sure the blades of grass and any stray ants in front of you would have created turbulance. You really should have handed them to somebody who could hold it at least 5 feet above the ground for clean air

Your research team should be sacked too. Here is a parting gift-

OMG it's a Skywatch

there is nothing u can do about the wind anyways. and once u down and the beach,m why would u need a windmeter? waste of resources.
you will figure out if its enough and thats all that matters..
kooks with windmeter on beach are amusing- comparing their readings, blowing in theit meters.
and reading their meters keeps them of the water [}:)]

haleluja

Hey Ruffryder and others,

I disagree with you. You are looking at it from the perspective of someone who can read wind by appearance, many newbies cannot read the appearance of the wind and can often be intimidated by people making comments such as your last one, so they may not ask you for help or your opinion of their kite selection for given wind speed. They then go ahead and rig a kite too big for the job, not knowing any better, and end up kooking out getting smashed and bringing power lines down, then everyone bitches about them doing the wrong things. Think about it!

Yesterday, I saw a young guy who'd just bought a Flow FT 8.5 and brought it to the beach for his first flight. He rigged it up in 20-25 knots which incidentally is too much for this kite as they are extremely grunty.

As it was, he launched just as a squall hit of 30+ knots. He was struggling to hold the kite and his mates were struggling to hold him down. Had he had a wind meter, and been told the expected safe wind range of the kite, he would have known better and not rigged up.

Even more seasoned guys have difficulty in determining the difference between 23 and 27 kots, but it's a big difference in power of a kite especially if 23 is the max for the kite you are throwing up.

No one should put crap on people for using a wind meter, they can be an important educational tool training the person to read the wind more accurately as they learn the appearance of the conditions. Just look at things through the eyes of a newbie and maybe think twice before judging.

Cheers,

KH

We had a similar situation where the wind was well over 30 knots and the experienced guys were having a great time on 7-8 metre kites.

Others were rigging up and doing a few runs then packing up because the conditions were very demanding, not just strong.

Matey turns up with a 12m old bow kite and a wind gauge. Asks our opinon and we tell him fairly accurately that it is ferkin windy and insanely gusty and very not suitable for his 12m.

Matey waves wind gauge around. Declares it's only 18 knots and rigs up his 12. Has two abortive attempts at making it to the water at much risk to life and limb and spectators.

Eventually he makes it to the water and actually rides around not too badly. Lots of explosions when he lost his edge but he did display a tiny amount of control.

The point is, if you use a wind gauge you have to do all sorts of stuff to ensure you get an accurate reading. Standing right on the water's edge with no structures or land upwind of you with the gauge held way high and take a series of readings over several minutes. On top of a breakwater is evern better to avoid the turbulence from the waves.

On top of dunes is no good because the compression gives you high readings but turbulence and rotor cause low readings.

With some gauges you also have to hold them with your finger tips and tilt them through several degrees in both horizontal and vertical axes to ensure you are getting a true reading.

Even after all that you still need to check with other people on the beach and watch the riders on the water. Before you do that, read the weather forecast. Squall warnings and strong wind warnings are a bit of a giveaway. It always amazes me to see monster storm clouds coming in and all these boofheads blithely riding around in front of them.

If you can do all this stuff correctly the input from the wind gauge is pretty much redundant.

Ten years ago wind gauges made a little bit of sense because kites had such narrow ranges. Now the only real use for them is a bit of retail therapy so you can feel all kiterly and weatherly when you can't get on the water.

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ruffryder61 said...

there is nothing u can do about the wind anyways. and once u down and the beach,m why would u need a windmeter? waste of resources.
you will figure out if its enough and thats all that matters..
kooks with windmeter on beach are amusing- comparing their readings, blowing in theit meters.
and reading their meters keeps them of the water [}:)]

haleluja

what a load of rubbish, If you really beleive that then your are dumber than you sound. I have been kiting since 2003, consider myself an experienced kiter and can generally pick the wind strength within a couple of knots(when the wind is consistant). However when the wind is gusty, like the westerlys we get all winter it's a lot harder to judge. I always use a windmeter, thats how I know if my opinion on wind strength was accurate or not. I also have several different board and kite combo options. Knowing the exact wind strength and range(gust/lull difference) really helps me put up the right gear for the session. I very rarely put up the wrong kite for the conditions, unlike many other people.
I don't understand this bigman mentality some kiters have that they are too good to have an accurate measure of wind conditions.
.As a wind nut why wouldn't you want an accurate measurement of the wind? it's not like taking a couple of minutes to measure the wind is going to impact on your session.

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BrisKites said...

Ahh Mr McFrodo,

You said yours is THE MOST accurate and reliable but we all know that any scientific experiment is only as good as the data. Seems like the wrong data was punched in.

Are you saying it is more accurate because we are too stupid to point the meter into the wind??
Or that if we are smart enough to point it in the proper direction the reading would still be wrong?

Also was it you that conducted the experiment? If so Im sure the blades of grass and any stray ants in front of you would have created turbulance. You really should have handed them to somebody who could hold it at least 5 feet above the ground for clean air

Your research team should be sacked too. Here is a parting gift-

OMG it's a Skywatch

That particular model of skywatch would be quite accurate too Jason, however please be aware that my highly scientific tests are conducted at higher altitudes than I normally experience due to the fact that I always pack my wind meter step ladder, with my wind meter.

I couldn't be bothered posting a pic of the inaccurate skywatch design with the impeller mounter vertically in a housing, which must be held to the wind direction (and the wind shifts often and also causes greater inaccuracies)

Also I never said anything about you being stupid, you did, ok?

McScientifichobbit

OK, I know it's hard work being a scientist and moving your step ladder around the work bench, so I will do it for you. Here is my precious


Features :

9 modes :

1. Instand windspeed measurement with 'max' speed reached displayed
2. Instand windspeed measurement with current temperature displayed
3. Instand windspeed measurement with wind chill factor displayed
4. Instand windspeed measurement with compass in degree
5. Instand windspeed measurement with altitude dispayed
6. Instand windspeed measurement with relative pressure (QNH) or absolute pressure
7. History of pressure (tendencies)
8. History of relative pressure (QNH)
9. History of absolute pressure (QFE)

WIND

Units : km/h, mph, m/s, fps and knots

Resolution : 0.1 unit

Measuring cycle: 2 measurements per second

Accuracy : +/-3 %

Measuring range: from 0 to 150km/h

TEMPERATURE

Units : ?C and ?F

Accuracy : +/-0.3? to 20 ?C / +/-0.5? from -20 ? +50?C

Measuring range : from -50?C to +100?C

COMPASS

Unit : degrees

Accuracy :+/-4 degr?s

ALTITUDE

Units : m (metre) and ft (feet)

Accuracy :+/- 10 metres

ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE PRESSURE

Units : hPa (heco Pascals) & inHg (inches of mercury)
Accuracy : +/- 1 hPa

RECORDING MODE

They display under different forms, one of the 48 pressure measurments stored each hour

OTHERS

o Auto-off after 1 minute
o Replaceable lithium battery
o Weatherproof
o Backlight
o Warranty : 1 year

does it vibrate?