pull my finger..... amputation by kite lines

this is why you need to keep clear of your kite lines.

I was lucky enough to free my arm and most of my hand after my kite luffed and then powered up. pure panic frantic shaking.

missing tip of finger above last knuckle
not so pretty patch job,

i will live to kite another day. (guitar might take a bit longer i think.)
the pretty ugly vegas may not be so lucky. I last saw it drifting for the beach with 1-2 big rips in 'er.

Thanks goes to the guys who assisted me back to shore, and if anyone has any of my gear i will be at the beach in the near future with beer .

Ouch really sorry to see the finger.

Totally unrelated statement here -
Just think how many people go through kite school and get taught to land their kites by hand over hand down one line to the kite.

Best method - Wedge your board in the sand and tie your flagged line to it.
Stand aside! Walk beside and not in the firing line of the bar! Dont go near your fly lines!

BBQ.... that's funny.

Kite luffed because i jumped downwind and didn't turn the kite hard enough. It fell backwards through the window, turning downwards and dumping line on me as it went, then it powered up right in the sweet spot and powered 4-5m straight into the water, taking the end of my finger clean orf.

it actually took some bone with it and cut through the fingernail just above the nail-bed

Might have prevented it if i'd triggered the release, but i had to untangle myself first. Also i was a bit over powered on a 16m (40 km wind) the injury may have been slightly less on the right size kite, especially if it was a complete body wrap.

got off lightly.......

A nasty reminder to all

......just imagine if it was around your neck

Good luck with the recovery

woah that is some gross finger you have there! glad to hear it wasn't worse though dude... best wishes for a speedy recovery!!

Hey collin sorry to hear about your misfortunes,
hope it heals fast and you can get beack on the water soon.

Did you get to keep the end bit?

the end bit was not recovered. I have wondered about its fate, it's out there somewhere....pointing at something. It probably fed a family of crabs.
i will have a service for it this weekend.

Always glad to lend a hand. Looked painful, at the time I thought you got done by a jelly or something. And someone has your kite and stuff, and I dont remember seeing a rip so you might be lucky...

Just got back from fishing.Caught some good fish but when I was cleaning them one of them had half a finger in its guts.
Think this might belong to you?
It only has half a nail,that has heaps of dirt under it,you should really clean them once and a while.
Good luck for a fast recovery

Mate, that is soooo gory
Hope you recover fast and there's your night story for the grand kiddies

spose you havent got any more tips for us ?

You raise a valid point.....

my typing is really sucky, lots of mistakes and editing.

it was a dull pain at first, i looked at my finger expecting to see nothing unusual, i got a fright! i rode my outta control kite in, dumped my gear at waist depth and got a lift 2-300m into the beach, walked 500m to the clubhouse, got lift from a beautiful woman. As I got inthe car i knew it was gonna start hurting. It became very sharp throbbing pain like repetitive bee stings all over with extra zing whenever i bumped my dangling fingernail. it pretty much killed until i got the anaesthetic block put in 2 hours later..... but the morphine helped make the experience more fun.
the block wore off about 1o'clock this afternoon..... and it's been sore since.


loving the one liners guys

there was a one liner i thought of the other day but now i can't quite put my finger on it.

Wow that looks mean.

I'm sure someone has thought of this before, but....

Why aren't the first 3-4m of kite lines made of thicker stuff?
Wouldn't make any real diff to the way the kite flys but could reduce the chances of this sort of thing happening.

Hope it heals ok.

That's pointing the finger a bit now isn't it?



I think I know the one you mean, it's right at my fingertips, but I can't seem to remember it either.



Fingers crossed you'll find it again.