Death by Kite
Category: News Commentary...
Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 08:40 AM [GMT-6]

Brian is in the middle of the "100 Things" meme over at BeanQuest, and #43 reveals his penchant for flying "two line stunt kites." He's jonesing for a four-liner that has the potential to "pull you into the air." Considering that Brian is six-and-a-half feet tall and tips the scale at around sixteen stone, that's some big honkin' kite.

This brings to mind a recent news report about the banning of combat kites in Pakistan. These kites have been a long tradition in that part of the world; they even played a significant role in the best-selling book The Kite Runner, which is set in Afghanistan. During special holidays and festivals, kite flyers turn up in droves to duel it out in the skies, using strings coated with ground glass to slice the lines of their competitors.

An unfortunate side effect is injury (the aforementioned book described the scarred and bleeding hands of practitioners of the sport, as ground glass respecteth not its own master) and even death. The seven recent deaths in Pakistan led to the banning of the sale of glass-covered string. Most of those fatalities occurred when kite lines slashed the throats of the victims*, resulting in death by exsanguination.

This permutation of a gentle activity that otherwise engenders visions of butterflies and lazy spring days seems to be the incongruous equivalent of, say, full-contact chess. If nothing else, it gives new meaning to the term "death from above."

*For extra credit, identify the classic sci-fi novel in which a very thin string is used with horrifying effectiveness in a terrorist strike.

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Comments

So we require a signed liability release before shipping the 2.5, 3.6 and 5.0 sizes.

Any kite where one has to sign a release to buy it....is well probably over the top. Espcially in W. Texas winds.

Posted by: Wallace-Midland Texas at March 29, 2006 10:33 AM

OK - I was going to say something about kite-fighting being harmless fun, but then I read the article. The ground glass on the line is waaaay over the top and - having read the story - unbelievably stupid.

But even normal stunt kites are dangerous for passers-by. The lines are very thin and very strong and under a lot of tension while flying. Most are pretty quick and some are incredibly fast. You certainly don't want to be downwind of them while they're in the air.

Posted by: Brian at March 29, 2006 11:21 AM

Of course, I have a 6 meter sail for my sailboard, so I'm well acquainted with the power the wind can generated. I've been flung through the air like a (wet) rag doll by a stray gust of wind. But it's a lot simpler to drop a sail when the wind overpowers it than it is to bring a big kite back under control. (I assume you let go of one set of handles?)

Posted by: Eric at March 29, 2006 01:00 PM

For two-liners, your options are to drop one handle and let the kite crash, or to tough it out and get to the side of the wind. Even in high winds, it's controllable at the edges.

For the big four-liners (which I've never flown), you have an additional option. The four lines are attached to two handles - one line to each end of what amounts to a foot-or-so long stick. Each line goes to a corner of the kite, and these kites have no spars - they're all fabric, like a parachute. If the wind gets too much, you can pivot the handles so the back side of the kite just flops backwards with the wind. This dumps the air out of the kite and prevents it from catching more. Eventually, either the wind'll die down and you can recover, or you let it crash.

People who use these big kites to power themselves across the water on a knee board, or across land in a wheeled cart will wear a harness and clip the lines to that. So, if they drop the handles, the kite loses its shape and falls to the ground in a heap, but without blowing forever downwind.

Posted by: Brian at March 29, 2006 01:17 PM

Wallace - that disclaimer just makes them all the more tempting...

Posted by: Brian at March 29, 2006 01:18 PM

Brian, that harness you refer to is where the real fun and danger begin! At least, that's my experience with windsurfing. With a harness, you can use your whole body to control the sail, and conserve your energy...but if the wind ever gets the best of you, you get a quick law in physics and the multiplying power of leverage very quickly! ;-)

Posted by: Eric at March 29, 2006 01:23 PM

All this talk of kiting and windsurfing sounds very exciting! And dangerous. Heh. I have experienced those laws of physics and leverage (and the basic principles of entanglement) while hanging off the side of a sailboat in a harness (this, because I like to experience what it's like to drown without actually drowning). You guys are out of control.

Posted by: Gwynne at March 29, 2006 01:42 PM

...because I like to experience what it's like to drown without actually drowning

Tell us something we don't already know. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at March 29, 2006 02:28 PM
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