Category Archives: Sport

Whenever you do anything fun, there’s always a risk of some sort of danger. But when you think about safety issues, the last thing you think about is the dangers of kite flying. It seems like a simple enough activity; take a kite, add some string, watch it soar. A kite is light enough, it couldn’t possibly cause any damage….right?

Not so fast.

Kites aren’t all silk and fabric. They’re held together by poles, which are sometimes made of wire. If you think about it, seeing a kite fly is pretty exciting, but so are the moments when they come crashing into the ground. If that wire were to hit someone, it could cause fatal damages. According to local Sacramento DUI Attorney Michael Rehm, in Richmond, California there’s actually a code enforcement law that prohibits kites that are made from wire from being used.

Since kites are pretty free-flowing and flying, there’s also the danger of a kite getting caught in an electrical power line. Added to the fact that the poles on a kite can be sharp, this can lead to damage and electrical fires if you don’t use the proper caution in choosing your kite flying venue appropriately. Not only can a kite cause a fire if it tangles into an electrical wire, but it can also electrocute the person who is flying a kite.

You should also use extreme caution when flying a kite in the rain or stormy weather. The wire that the poles are made from, or even a wet kite line can act as an electrical conductor to lightning. What might seem like a fun activity for the family could prove to be a tragic mistake.

Some kites are more powerful than others. If you’ve ever shopped for a kite, they come in a number of colors and sizes ranging from child size to the size of a hot air balloon. Larger kites can be strong enough to lift and propel the kite flyer without them being able to control it. Be sure you know how strong your kite is and what the dangers are. This is particularly important for children who obviously weight much less than an adult.

Kites can fly incredibly high—it’s one of their many appeals. It’s unlikely that a kite would be as fun if it just hovered below the ground. But because they can reach such amazing heights, many urban areas have a law or city ordinance about how high or which areas that a kite can be flown in. While it might seem like a trivial rule that doesn’t need to be in place, put some thought into what else a kite shares the sky with. It might be different if the sky was all kites, but airplanes and helicopters are flying at any given time. Kites can reach those heights when they’re designed for it. Anything that restricts a pilots vision or crosses their path unexpectedly can have horrible results.

Yes, kite flying can cause a lot of damage. It can cause electrocution, fires, injuries, and plane crashes. It’s scary, but it doesn’t mean that you should stop flying the family kite all together. You just have to use extreme caution when doing so. Like we said in the beginning, every activity, no matter how minor always has some risk factors. The most dangerous is not knowing what the risks are and unknowingly injuring yourself and others. Just know what you’re doing, practice caution, and follow the laws and rules of the area you’re in, and kite flying will still remain the same fun family pastime that it always has been!

Though you may have recently been told to “go fly a kite” by someone having a bit of a bad day, there’s really never been a better time to do exactly that with a sport kite (also known as a stunt kite) than right now!

These kites (a world apart from the traditional kites you were probably used to flying as a child) are designed to pull off all kinds of incredibly impressive aerial maneuvers. They are so flexible, so adaptable, and so agile that competitions have popped up all over the world that allow teams of sport kite flyers to go head-to-head against one another in competitive settings – and the prices are pretty outrageous!

If you’d like to learn just a little bit more about sport kite flying, and how you can get into this incredible pastime, we’ve got some tips, tricks, and inside bits of information for you below!

A little history behind sport kite flying

Kites have been around pretty much forever (at least stretching back to before the times of Benjamin Franklin when he ran that kite up in the thunderstorm with a key attached to catch a little bit of lightning), but stunt kites and sport kites are a bit more modern.

Though traditional kites had been used to “duel” against one another for decades, the first real purpose built sport kites didn’t hit the marketplace until the 50s and 60s. Even then, it took a little bit of time for them to really catch on and gain the kind of popularity that cemented this kite form factor as the “next big thing”. That happened in the 70s.

Since then, sport kites have been engineered, re-engineered, designed and pushed through multiple iterations all intended to squeeze out as much power, agility, and performance out of these lightweight and maneuverable pieces of fabric than ever before thought possible.

Today’s sport kites are MUCH different than ever before

The technology that is shoehorned into modern day sport kites is almost unbelievable.

We are talking about incredibly lightweight fabrics (including carbon fiber and lightweight Kevlar weave, just to name a few) that are stretched over injection molded or custom-designed airframes to keep weight down while still being able to handle strong winds, responsible for creating some of the most impressive kites ever produced.

These are modern marvels for sure!

This sport is as competitive as it’s ever been in the past – and growing!

While it is possible to compete as a “solo” operator, the overwhelming majority of people that get into this sport work as part of a team made up of pair. Each pair squares off against another pair of kite operators, with each individual “fighting” another kite from the opposing team while up in the air.

Most of the time, it’s enough to just tag or touch another kite in the air to record a point or to lock up a victory, though there are some very competitive rule sets out there that require aerial performers to take the opposing kite right out of the sky – but remain flying themselves – to score any kind of points whatsoever.

Already enjoyed by thousands and thousands of people in the United States alone (and 1 million or more all over the world), the sport is growing by leaps and bounds. Some anticipate the sport reaching more than 5 million “competitors” within the next 10 years!

How to get into sport kite flying

If you are interested in getting into the sport of dual line stunt kite/sport kite flying, you’re going to want to get your hands on a beginner kite (maybe about $50) and just get out and start flying. As you get better and better, and learn which aerial maneuvers you’ll need to use to combat another dueling kite, you’ll be able to invest in higher-quality systems and more expensive options ($300 and up or specialized carbon fiber, Kevlar, or Mylar kites) that will really give you an extra edge and advantage.