friday am?

Originally Posted by jim

........ The way to self launch as shown in the ozone video I think is sketchier in that the leading edge will take lots of abuse raking over shells and sand as it pivots, and at least in this video the launch seemed more powered up or hot which has attendant risks.

Believe it or not, if done properly, the kite barely gets any abuse. It takes off pretty quick.
I probably self launched and landed my RRD last year 50 times.
I have zero LE issues with it, no tiny puncture wounds or anything. Always rock solid bladder. On shells and stuff it might get some abrasion.

In terms of safety with a hot launch. - The kite is at the edge of the window, so it's the opposite of a hot launch. Sometime I have to walk upwind, to make the kite more downwind, just for it to launch. It's not anything like launching a kite in the water, LE down, downwind of you.
The biggest risk, by far, with self launching a bridled kite is a bridle tangle. If it is tangled, as you launch it could do some bad stuff. I recommend making sure your lines are "clear" before launch. That's the real threat with this method. I have only had bridle problem once in maybe 150 launches, but it could have been bad if I didn't have my finger in the QR, ready and waiting, during launch.

On a fine sandy beach, this method poses zero threat to the kite, imo.
If done right, I personally prefer it to leaving a kite tied to an anchor.
To each his own, though.