Introduction
Kites are cool.
No longer are they limited to young children and have pictures of Disney characters plastered upon them. Kites have become extreme.
The following guide will try and explain the concepts involved in learning how to fly safely and responsibily. By using this guide, you will hopefully increase your learning curve, develop your skills and increase your enjoyment of the sport.
The kites and activities discussed here are potentially dangerous. Respect them or they will hurt you.
Once this guide is complete, I will included a pdf of this entire document to enable you to have the full version to print out. Take the time to read through this guide before your first attempt.
Experience :
There is no substitute to gain experience than to actually spending time stood under a kite. If you are able to join a club or fly with other people, you will learn much faster. Alternatively, taking a few lessons will also speed your learning. If you do choose lessons, make sure that your instructor holds a suitable qualification from either the PKA or BBC.
Site Evaluation :
Before you even think about getting out your kite, you need to be sure that you have selected the right location at which to fly. The more space you have available, the more fun it will be. Stay as far away from buildings, roads, trees and electrical power lines as possible. They will either create turbulence and/or eat your kite. No matter how far away that tree is, you can guarantee that your kite will land in it at some point! Getting your kite wrapped around electrical power cables is also not a good idea.
Try and choose a location which has few people. Power kiting has the potential to be dangerous. The general public typically has no understanding of our sport. Most people will not comprehend the most fundamental point, that your kite is attached to lines. When your kite is on the ground, they will try and walk through them, over them and trip up on them every chance they get.
While flying, people will walk in front of you, they will walk under your kite and they will find it very amusing that their huge Doberman is chasing you as you buggy down the beach in fear of your life as it snaps its teeth inches from the back of your head. Avoid people at all costs.
When someone does trip over your lines, get in your way or let their dog eat your new kite, (it will happen - it's just a matter of time), don't get angry, shout, or threaten to beat them up. Explain the potential dangers and that they should be aware of them. This is good kite etiquette.
Buggying and boarding is most fun on long expanses of hard packed sandy beaches. It can also be done on other firm flat surfaces, such as grass or tarmac, although these will hurt more as you scrape across them at 20mph. The best place to both fly and buggy is on a large beach with onshore winds. It is definitely worth travelling to the best location possible. When I fly at the weekends I will typically do a 200 mile round trip to the beach to get the best conditions. I also take all of my kit with me. I've found that the kite that best suits the wind conditions is always the one I have left behind.
If you decide to travel to a beach to fly, remember to check the tides. There is nothing worse than spending two hours battling through traffic only to find that the tide is coming in and you are going to have to wait for several hours until you can fly.
Be aware of any restrictions due to bans, nature reserves etc. Whatever you do, please do not fly or buggy when you are not allowed to. It is likely that if a ban is in place, there will be local flyers who are trying to reverse it and regain access. If you decide to fly regardless you are screwing things up for everyone.
If possible, talk to other flyers using the site. Most of them will know much more about the location than you do. They will be able to point out any unseen dangers and where the best places to fly are. They will also have information about the tides and other locations in the area.
General Safety :
The most vital piece of equipment you can have when you decide to take up kiting is usually the cheapest. This is of course insurance. There are no excuses for not having it. Many locations will not allow you to fly or buggy without it. Insurance can be obtained from the BBC or the PKA. If you don't have any, stop reading this and go and get some now.
Remember, there are NO excuses.
 http://www.britishbuggyclub.co.uk
http://www.pka-online.org.uk
When you initially start kiting, the learning curve is steep and usually painful. If you are learning to buggy or mountain board, essential equipment is a helmet, eye wear and boots with good ankle support. Other stuff such as body padding are useful but are down to your own discretion, it may limit your freedom of movement.
During your initial exploits do not use a harness, this will only cause additional problems. Learn how to competently fly your kite first. We will discuss harnesses later.
Your safety and the safety of those around you is your responsibility. If you employ a mild amount of common sense the likelihood of an accident happening will be greatly reduced.
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