1.Solo Flat Kite Launching-Safety Tip Of The Week

I think self landing an SLE kite is difficult too, but it concerns me for my safety less than self launching.

To me, launching a kite is the most dangerous moment (with exception of unforeseen weather events and equip. malfunctions) in our sport. I know it's when I feel most vulnerable.
I agree Rick, in the high winds, the odds of the lines "getting tied in knots" during a self launch seems pretty high. There is a lot of time that they are slack and it only takes one loop knot to really mess things up and make the kite non-controllable. It seems the wind has fingers, because I have seen some pretty messy bird's nests created by the wind blowing slack kite lines.
These knots in the line have been the main cause over the years for my problems self launching in 20 plus. As you know, sh!@ hits the fan incredibly fast in these type of scenarios when the kite has a "mind of its own".

Most bad kitemares I have personally witnessed (ambulance rides) were related to launching. We have seen some bad ones over the years here, especially at East Beach, where the ground can be slippery and vehicles are often only 50 feet away.
It's probably obvious, but at launch, we are on/very near land and can therefore hit an object within only 2 seconds or less of launching, depending how near it is.
The thing that goes wrong (line tangle, bridle snag) is usually not known and catches people totally by surprise.
The thing is, when everything is cool, launching a kite is pretty ho-hum and 100 in a row might go perfect. It therefore is really easy to get complacent about an event that could actually be quite dangerous.

Unfortunately, here is another launching incident in high winds that Rick already knows about.

http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewt...342144&start=0