Another death loop video...more lessons learned

This is coming from a classic kite inversion scenario (as I'm sure most of us have experienced). You can see the kite powering up with the canopy inside out at 0:20.

My recommendation from there, especially in such strong winds, would be to release the chicken loop immediately to release tension in the back lines and allow the kite to flag out, which will effectively ''un-invert'' it and prevent lines from wrapping around your kite at the same time. Then proceed to retrieve chicken loop, feed the safety line back in, re-set the chicken loop, hook back in, and attempt to relaunch. It's a technique I've used countless times with various kites and it always worked for me, regardless of the wind conditions (yes, even in 30 knots). There are a few other ways to un-invert a kite, but they are all riskier techniques and not worth trying in those winds IMO.

This guy chose to pull some lines to un-invert the kite, and it worked, only that by using this technique (as he mentions in his own video comment) a bridle line got wrapped around the kite's wing tip, which then caused the kite to start death looping.

Once the kite starts deathlooping at 1:07 You can see he tries to pull one of the back lines hand over hand (as per the famous ''surviving the death loop video'' technique) probably in an effort to stop the death loop, but quickly lets go and releases the chicken loop as the pressure is too great. I would love to see someone stop a death loop in such strong winds by pulling some lines!

Basically, from the point the kite started death looping, releasing the safety system was the right decision to take and I would've done the same thing.

The biggest issue here is F-One uses a dual front line safety system, which means both front lines are attached to your safety leash when you release the safety system. In my experience, in these circumstances (safety being released at the early stages of a death loop) a single front line safety system would've flagged the kite and he would've been able to self-rescue. To my knowledge, most brands are now using single front line safety systems, but there are a few exceptions out there still.

One of the new regulations for kite schools approved by KA (Kiteboarding Australia) is that all bars used in each school flag on a single front line. This makes total sense, and even though situations like these are rare, I would hate to see a student unable to flag a kite after releasing the safety system.

Also, if your kite is death looping and pulling you non-stop after releasing the chicken loop, you must get rid of the kite ASAP. As the guy says in his own video comments, he couldn't find the leash quick-release. This is probably because, like most kiters, the leash was attached behind his harness in the middle, which means it's very hard to access the quick release, especially while being dragged around. The lesson to learn here is to attach the leash on a fixed point, either at the front or on the side of the harness, basically where you can easily, quickly, effortlessly and instinctively access it and release it. Short leashes are great for this as they give no other option than to attach them in front of your harness:




Short leashes should also be ''standard'' equipment in kite schools and students have to understand the benefits. Basically, short leashes can save your life!

In summary, my ''lessons learned'' from this video are:

- Release the safety system when your kite inverts, especially in strong winds.

- Get a kite that has a single front line safety system (that includes a fifth line).

- Get a short leash or at least attach your safety leash to a fixed point at the front or on the side of your harness and practice releasing it from time to time when not flying.

- Oh yeah, also if you choose to risk kiting in storm fronts (as in the video above) make sure you are pretty much an expert with using and understanding all your safety systems and you're comfortable with self-rescuing or simply self-recovering your kite in strong/very strong winds.

Christian

Seriously I have never seen someone pull so much steering line in to try to relaunch a kite. That line could have wrapped around anything so much of it was being pulled past the bar. I think its a bit of a stretch to blame the kite design for this one.

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EternalNoob said..
Hey Christian,

Now that you mention it, last downwinder I did I saw you crashing your kite just where the waves break near brighton, I saw your kite invert but you did recover and even flew the kite up again, did you use the same technique? as far as I recall you were flying an XR4 7m if that helps refresh your memory.

The shore breaks made it extra hard for me that day, but once I got back to the shore it was much easier and I managed to un-invert it quickly, relaunch it and finish the last 400m of downwinder, with crossed lines :)

Always liked your posts cbulota. Thanks for taking the time to write them.

Is there a good video / written tutorial on what exactly happens when a kite inverts and how to save it? I haven't grasped that concept.

And releasing your loop and resetting would be pretty hard wouldn't it? Something happened and my safety released last year in ~25knots. Trying to keep my board and keep my head above the water in the swell all well struggling to reset was too much for my abilities, even after ditching the board. I self-rescued to the beach instead.

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cbulota said..

junglist said..
I think its a bit of a stretch to blame the kite design for this one.

How much time have you spent comparing all different safety systems on the market in real life scenarios ?

Aside from the only time I have ever had a kite deathloop on me was on a Phone, I would have to agree with Jung that guy was seriously pulling so much line I was cringing when watching it just waiting for the kite to power up and explode. I breathed a sigh of relief when at least he let his board go,

Separate Q: Is the Cab IDS considered a single or 2 line flagout system?

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junglist said...
Seriously I have never seen someone pull so much steering line in to try to relaunch a kite. That line could have wrapped around anything so much of it was being pulled past the bar. I think its a bit of a stretch to blame the kite design for this one.

Like Christian said he pulled line to stop the invert.

I can't be bothered, fly inverted to the beach and sorry it out there!

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NickT said...

junglist said...
Seriously I have never seen someone pull so much steering line in to try to relaunch a kite. That line could have wrapped around anything so much of it was being pulled past the bar. I think its a bit of a stretch to blame the kite design for this one.

Like Christian said he pulled line to stop the invert.

I can't be bothered, fly inverted to the beach and sorry it out there!

I know next to nothing about other kite designs than my own, but I agree with some previous comments on pulling so much line? Seems crazy.
And I'm with nick, I'd fly inverted to the beach.

That's chilling. The sound of your footsteps when you come ashore remind me of Poe's Tell Tale Heart!
Seriously, this video is great in that we are all taking time to think about and tweak/improve our technique and gear. Thank you for posting this and it was good to see a smile at the end.

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cbulota said..

junglist said..
I think its a bit of a stretch to blame the kite design for this one.

How much time have you spent comparing all different safety systems on the market in real life scenarios ?

Hi mate

Well I have been kiting for over ten years, have flown plenty of different brands during that time (some of them well dodgy) and have survived three death loops (one on the beach). Oh yeah and I currently fly Bandits and have flown them for four years now.

My experience is pretty much irrelevant here other than to say that pulling that much steering line behind the bar is a recipe for disaster. My humble opinion is that no one should try to copy this. There is nothing worse than a steering line wrapped around a body part with a kite that is trying to launch.

Peace

C

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UnderMyUmbrella said..
Always liked your posts cbulota. Thanks for taking the time to write them.

Is there a good video / written tutorial on what exactly happens when a kite inverts and how to save it? I haven't grasped that concept.

And releasing your loop and resetting would be pretty hard wouldn't it? Something happened and my safety released last year in ~25knots. Trying to keep my board and keep my head above the water in the swell all well struggling to reset was too much for my abilities, even after ditching the board. I self-rescued to the beach instead.

Being less experienced, you took the right decision to self-rescue and yes this technique can be hard to do IF you're not familiar with releasing/re-setting your own safety system...

Find a shallow water area in say sub 20 knots winds, release your safety, allow the kite to flag out, follow the safety line hand over hand, grab the chicken loop, re-set it (some are harder than other to re-set but then again it's all about practice), feed the safety line back in, relaunch....and repeat as many times as necessary until you're confident and competent (fast) at this.

During lessons, very few students are asked to practice and repeat safety drills...and ever fewer are being explained the differences/pros/cons with various safety systems.

Just like with Airplane pilots or boat captains, It's not when everything goes well that you recognize the well trained kiters, it's only when things start to go wrong...

With posts like these, my intentions are simply to raise awareness, share my knowledge/experience about safety, improve the safety in our sport and ultimately to hopefully raise the teaching standards in schools.

Christian

Thanks a lot for sharing the video Christian. It's a great reminder of what you gotta do when s hits the f.

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cbulota said..

junglist said..
I invite everyone to take a quick look at the following clip.

It could save your bacon Cheers:

I am reading this correctly? You're saying that: '' pulling that much steering line behind the bar is a recipe for disaster'' But then you recommend the technique in the video which clearly shows a guy pulling a few meters of lines to stop the death loop!


In the surviving the death loop video, you can see (from other kiters moving their big kites to get going) that the wind is fairly light...so yeah techniques like these are much safer and more likely to work in such conditions. However, in 30 knots as in the original video posted, it's a completely different story, it gets very dangerous to start pulling on lines hand-over-hand and probably won't achieve the desired results anyways...

Mate that's very disingenuous. I am referring to the meters of red steering line that is pulled in (over the board one might add). In the video I posted there is clearly less than a meter pulled in past the float.

In any case you obviously have a drum to beat on this one. My only comment is that pulling in so much line is really dangerous irrespective of the kite type and the wind speed, that line could end up anywhere. Bottom line, bad technique.

As a noob, i would probably try to pull centerlines as hard and as fast as i can if i saw invert and see if lines are ok before letting the kite "re-invert" and relaunch. But here i didn't see wrap till kite semi powered which was almost 2 late.

While looping, i would too try to pull that already tensioned line and try to flag the kite sideways but for a really short time. Depends what's downwind. And eventually let go of the kite if all fails.

Well, now i see where can 1 line flagging be better than 2 line (my switchblades, IDS versions)

But i have never been in 20+ kts so i have no idea what would i do.

Also, deff agree on short leash, not just for accessibility but also it gets sometimes over the bar when i try to self launch. 2 long and really annoying, like i am going for 720. I will shorten it somehow.