Check this out - vaavud.com/ developed by kitesurfers from denmark. i wonder when/if it will be available here?
Why do you need a wind meter?
Observation of your surroundings and sea state are much more reliable.
We will be receiving some of these pretty shortly.
weatherflow.com/a-wind-meter-for-your-smart-phone/
Should retail between AUD $40 - $50
Yes I don't use a meter anymore...but...if I was kiting in different areas all the time or new to an area I probably would have one.
Especially to get an idea of gust ranges..actually still would be useful in winter to be quite honest now I think about it. Might get one.
Also real handy if you are demoing a lot of kites this season coming up....
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
My facethometer is good to about 35 knots. Then its a question of 6m or go home.
That's something I had in mind too, but it's too bulky to carry on a backpack. We should design something mobile and easy to pull out when needed with an extendable pole or some other attachment. I am sure we'll br rich!
i can't claim that as an invention. I just found the pick on the net. But its a great idea.
Imagine if you had one at you local. Rock up in the car and you have and instant visible direction and wind speed before you even get out the car. Glorious.
Select to expand quotethe truth said..
Why do you need a wind meter?
Observation of your surroundings and sea state are much more reliable.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..the truth said..
Why do you need a wind meter?
Observation of your surroundings and sea state are much more reliable.
if you could of guessed the wind at my local last week i would of bought you a carton,
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
My facethometer is good to about 35 knots. Then its a question of 6m or go home. 
apple will be all over that app plumms
If you're wind meter told you it was 20knots and you're gut and surroundings told you it was 28/30 which would you rig to ?
I like it, as you can be at home go on their website and people all over the place will be sending in their wind readings for others & myself to decide where to go!
Instead of waiting every 15mins for an update on BOM and this site...
I like many others are foreva looking at the the trees whilst at work it drives me crazy!!
Now that's a winner!!
I think the whole anemometer thing is pretty interesting. Seems like people spend more time checking that thing than riding! This is a pretty funny take on it from a kite blog I've been reading. Check out the link, worth a chucklehttp://kitebroding.com/sheet-out-bro/
"To the guy on the beach that spends an hour ?checking the wind? with his wind-o-meter (actual instrumentation called a anemometer, a word that is toolish enough to heretofore get it ejected from the kiteBROding vernacular). SHEET OUT, BRO. Whatever you paid for that thing, you paid too much"
Select to expand quotecauncy said..sir ROWDY said..the truth said..
Why do you need a wind meter?
Observation of your surroundings and sea state are much more reliable.
if you could of guessed the wind at my local last week i would of bought you a carton,
And you're saying that a anemometer would have given the correct readings?
I'll admit I've had a lot of practice over the years and it's mostly a no brainer these days, but relying on instruments that have various inaccuracies from both user error and position irrelevancies just to work out which kite should be used, when observe, feel, rig and go if suitable is buy far a better method to get some kiting in.
If you end up down wind then you needed a bigger kite or board.
if it is scary right from launch, land and drink beer or have a quick feel for it out a little and then decide.
Look at what others have out and look at how there kite is behaving- assess your own skills and rig accordingly.
Kites have a huge range if you treat them right, no need to over rig too much, a few walks up the beach can't hurt, or do a down winder
Surely it is just another piece of information...why not, it all can help, wind meter and face meter to make a decision.
That beind said I don't use one, but don't think those who use them are wasting their time either.
Guess what I believe is that a kite is the best wind meter you will ever buy, it will give vital information on the wind power and state of flow i.e. smooth to gusty, and wind ranges stated for kites - many based on an average 75kg rider can cause major head f@rks to the inexperienced. Same sized kites can be at either end of the scale too.
Sea state is not too hard to judge once you have some time on the water, and comparing what you experienced to what others thought the wind strength was to a few wind readings of wether sites will give you a feel for this. Might surprise you how Wrong your wind meters and mates can be or how right they can be. Inland lakes are trickier and maybe an anemometer could be more useful, but inland is generally gusty and unpleasant any way so make sure you have lots of down wind free area, and would rate putting a kite up as more effective here also
oh and eppo, in my observations people using wind meters generally do waste their time - some for 15 min. - some can evaluate for an hour.
Find some people have too many kites to choose from because they try to buy wind or sweet spots, when a big and a small can solve a lot of the need for any wind meter.
Anemometer websites are great for looking up to see if you should be coming down with a wind related sickness to abscond from work or chores, and give great stats that can help you pick good kiting conditions, but have yet to see much value on the beach at 2 metres height with obstructions (i.e. 3 times the height up wind and 7 times downwind at least- have seen much more) that can make observations so variable to be worthless.
yeah i have long stopped using wind meters. long long long ago. The wind at my hand height on the beach usually doesn't truely represent the conditions on the water. Usually they read light because its windier out at sea. Plus. dunes. banks, rock walls, cliffs stiff up the wind at beach level too...
you are far better to use the beaufort scale and read the trees as you drive to the beach. The flag at the beach (if it exists) and then finally the white caps on the water.
I love the I'm to cool for a anemometer comments the fact is they give you a relative reading that you learn what kite to use for that reading, plus whenever someone has one on the beach everyone wants to know what it's reading.
Anyway this one has an app that seems to share your reading with others. Living somewhere where there are no weather stations on the beach this could be very useful.
Yeh I don't get it either. In my early days on depowerless C kites I reckon my wind meter saved my sorry ass a few times!
At beach. windinface meter says good, observations tell me 18 knots... wind meter says 15knots. turns out good session.
Two days later. at home. internet says it is 15 knots down there. Based on this cross polenation of data i cruise to the beach with my face in the breeze out the window, tongue out like an excited doggy.
