Comments on: Kite Tube Claims Life

By: nick

nick — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:34:16 +0000

The point IS, there are products on the market that are sold everyday that can injure/kill people. There is an 80% chance of serious personal injury whenever a motorcycle is involved in a crash! So, do cycle company’s pull their products because they are serious dangers involved; I dont think so. Do riders stop riding them; I dont think so. You ride a bike and use other things for that matter knowing there is a high risk for injury and you operate them your own discretion.

Note to John:
And if tubing isn’t a sport then all other water activities like wakeboarding,skiing,ect. aren’t either. Not anyone can ride a tube just like not anyone can skii/wakeboard. It takes a lot of strength and balance to last on a tube just like skiing takes a lot of balance(obviously more balance then tubing). My point here is that kite boarding IS an extreme sport and should only be left for people that enjoy extreme activities(knowing that they can be seriously hurt at any given second). Stupid or not, this is the joy with people participating in these extreme kinds of activities giving them that rush of adrenalin…

By: john

john — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:51:20 +0000

first off this is not a sport. i agree that normal tubing is fun and all but any kind of tubing is not a sport. kite tubing being dangerous doesnt make it a sport. in a sport you the rider have full control and there is actually physical strength involved…not just leaning back

its not the drivers fault-as you can see from all the posts. we dont have retards at the wheel. it doesnt matter if the driver is a kiteboarder, windsurfer, a wakeboarder, a good driver, or even all of the above.

its not the riders fault-it doesnt matter if the rider is any of the above that i listed. the tube WILL slam you. i dont care how safe you are

the warning on the tube says dont fly higher than you are willing to fall. the problem is that the rider has very little control of the tube. he cant say “oh i only want to go 5 feet in the air” because the wind gusts are not expected and they can throw the rider up another 10 or more feet in less than a second

its like buying a computer that will explode in your face…but the thing is that some people were informed enough to know that it will explode in their face and they buy it anyway(retards)…others havent heard so much about it and then they find out when its too late

the point is that they cant go around selling tubes that will injure/kill people

By: Jason Wiest

Jason Wiest — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:31:28 +0000

I’m a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and I’m writing an article about the safety of kite tubing. I’d really like to talk to one of you people who posted about a scary experience you’ve had with kite tubes. However, most of your names don’t lead me to an email address. If anyone is still watching this post, and you’ve had a bad experience with the tube, please contact me at jwiest@arkansasonline.com. My deadline is tonight. Give me your number, I’ll call and we’ll talk. Thanks.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 23:57:21 +0000

Well, It will be a bit sad to see it go. It was one of the neatest feelings ever to get that airborn. But as stated above, the kite tube was not very stable if the center of gravity shifted, or the wind changed, or the driver did something wild. However my hardest fall on it happeded the first time I went airborn. The driver hadn’t had someone actually get airborn yet, and though I fell off. So he shut down the throttle. The tube lost lift, and I came crashing down.
Those that have seen the tube, will know that there are handles and skid pads on the top of this think. My knee and chest nailed a row of them as I came down. I bounced 4 feet verticle, and landed on my back on the tube. I was lucky, got my knees skinned and some bruises on my chest.
It really was neat, but it took 30 MPH to get me airborn at 200 lb. that is a far cry from the advertised 10-15 on the web site. At those speeds. and witha a 10-15 MPH headwind, the dynamics for a dangerous fall are a lot greater than if I am on a slalom ski cutting all out behind the boat.

that all being said, it was truly a rush when you were airborn. But I think this tool gives the driver, way too much responsibility in the boat. He can’t see the winds, won’t see a crosswind, and can’t predict a change in the rider’s handling.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 21:46:36 +0000

These tubes have now been recalled by the company and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. You can contact the company for a replacement tube at 866-831-5524 or http://www.sportsstuff.com

By: Nikki

Nikki — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:14:44 +0000

on june 25th I caught a gust of wind sending me sailing off the kite tube leaving me with a swollen ankle, went to the ER and it was broken, June 26 went to a bone dr. they said that I needed sugery, I had a plate and 6 screws placed in my ankly through surgery on June 28th, was on bedrest no work no pay, July 6th I went to have my cast put on and returned to work on July 7th. I am getting married on August 26,2006. Great wedding present. The Kite Tube is very dangerous, especially when wind sends is sailing!

By: Crystal

Crystal — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:29:06 +0000

We bought a kite tube off ebay on July 4th. We could not wait to get it into the water, little did we know that I would end up in the emergency room. I have injured my neck and had trauma to my kidneys. I am very thankful that I wasn’t hurt any worse. I fell from about 15 feet when the tube was taken by a gust of wind. It felt like it knocked my eyes to the back of my head and almost knocked me out. I have hit the water pretty hard before but never like this. It felt just like I had jumped from the top of a house and landed on cement. This tube is very dangerous and it only took one fall for me to know that I would never get on it again.

By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 19:39:01 +0000

I suffered a broken shoulder this fourth of july weekend on the kite tube when a gust of wind shot me up 40 feet in the air and then threw me off. I landed onm the tube and broke my shoulder luckilly it wasn’t my neck – - Stay off the kite tube!!!!!!!!

By: Casey Vaughan

Casey Vaughan — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 19:01:06 +0000

My husband decided that we were going to have to have a wego kite tube by Memorial Day for the weekend at Lake Greenwood in South Carolina. Not only did we pay five hundred dollars for the tube and an extra hundred to have it by the weekend but it also gave us a trip to the local hospital. My husband was the first rider, not so bad he just had some pain in his leg were it slammed him in the water. The 2nd rider is a good freind or ours. He gets on and gets some air and in a matter of a second the kite went down and he lokked like a rag doll hitting the water. Well this is were we pulled back around to pick him up and his leg is straight and his foot looks like a peice of rubber just hanging on his leg. We get to the hospital and the doctor tells us that he will have to have surgery to repair the bones in his foot. He now has a metal plate and seven screws in his foot and not to mention that he is still in a cast. I sent the tube back to the company that we bought it from, they tried to give me a hard time about it until I told them what had happened. They did charge me a 20% restocking fee. I would advise anyone who has one to return it while you still can because they will cost you thousands in doctor bills.

By: b church

b church — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:52:36 +0000

If anyone with serious injuries wants to hit Sportsstuff where it counts, in the bank account, this attorney is handling 2 death claims. Just saw a story on CBS today about it. Finally, we are getting the word out. the difference between this tube and other extreme sports is the training required before purchase. I kite board and was forbidden to buy a kite before I had a lesson. These tubes are sold at many retail outlets like a natural extension to intertubing. the rider has no control except for ejecting or hanging on to the bronco. I don’t care what the directions say, moving your weight will not stop the tube from nose diving in many wind conditions. and the driver can’t predict wind gusts. attorney…BMazzola@davidbernsen.com
wwww.davidbernsen.com

By: S Sullivan

S Sullivan — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:57:25 +0000

I’m a reporter with a national Canadian news agency: if any Canadians are interested in talking about their experiences with kite tubing, please send me an email by the afternoon of July 8 at ssullivannews@gmail.com.

By: TJ

TJ — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:16:21 +0000

Well said William. If enough people post their mishaps with this tube, word will get out & hopefully it will be taken off the market before more people are killed (two that I know of already).

By: william church

william church — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 15:44:56 +0000

The Sports Stuff Wego Kite Tube is a very hazardous sporting device that should be pulled from the market. While it was given the 2006 Sports Manufacturer Product of the Year, it will kill people that want to have fun with their towable “toy”. http://www.sportsstuff.com/towables/wego/

I am a very active 42 year old and have tried many different sports: wake boarding, water skiing, inter tubing, wind surfing, kite board sailing, snow boarding, snow skiing, knee boarding, barefooting, parasailing, and others. I have never come across a product that I thought could kill me until my recent incident with the Wego Kite Tube. I ask for your help in getting this device off the market. Since my accident I have heard a boat dealer in Columbus OH sent his tubes back because someone died on it in Texas. I wish I had known.

Here are a few photos from my smack down on the Kite Tube Saturday 7/1/06. After flying the but 25-30 feet in the air, it inverted and whipped me into the water as we were going 40mph. Luckily, I curled into a ball and have a lot of extra padding in my butt. I was knocked unconscious and floating face down until I was pulled out of the water by the driver Jim Bennett. I am fine, with some bruising, 2 broken ribs and a punctured lung. All will heal. I am sending the tube back. It certainly wasn’t stable when it was flying. Of all the sports I have tried, this was the most dangerous and is going to kill someone. Luckily, it wasn’t my time…

I want to get the word out that this will kill people and it is not a toy for children.

By: John B.

John B. — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:34:52 +0000

Darby, Johansen

Count you blessings, it is only a matter of time and you will be visiting a hospital. The rest of you are exactly correct. I have been waterskiing, wake boarding, tubing with jetskis and boats for over 20 years. The Wego tube does work great half the time, the other half is what you need to worry about. The boat driver can control the tube to some degree but not the wind. I also took a sixteen year old to the hospital who had a slight head injury after falling only five feet. I watched the tube hit gust of winds and fly 15 feet in the air within seconds. Thank God no one fell off at the height. Like I said, it will only be a matter of time for those that think they know what they are doing, to be visiting a hospital shortly. Just be willing to liver with yourself after reading all the comments on this site………

By: TJ

TJ — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 17:34:35 +0000

Well, I might as well add my two cents… I also am a casualty of one of these kite tubes. Just like it has been said, I hit a gust of wind, was shot up about 20 feet & then was violently thrown back to the water before the boat driver had a chance to react. At least that’s what I was told as I remember none of it. I was knocked out face down in the water for about 2 min before the boat could get to me but I luckly started breathing again just after they picked me up. I sustained a serious concusion & some memory loss. A friend with us, earlier that day, burst his ear drum in the same fashion. All I can say is regardless of safety procedures followed & “skill” of the boat driver or tube rider, you WILL get seriously hurt. I also am a hang glider pilot, a sport which I find signifigantly safer than these kite tubes!

By: Kevin Schilk

Kevin Schilk — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 05:29:52 +0000

I happened to see these things on CNN. I only caught part of the segment but got curious enough to look them up. After reading all the previous responses, I see that most are missing the obvious. For all the claims of boating or watersport experience, there really doesn’t seem to be much here. I find it hard to believe that all these folks can spend so much time on the water and be so naive as to the possibilities and consequences of wind gusts. These things are clearly an extreme (I.E. high-performance) vehicle….”common sense not included”. Clearly, these should be left to those with at least some experience in aerodynamics and wind on water. A large, open, flat area….who would think the wind might suddenly pick-up or gust!?! Wind cools rapidly, as it passes over water. Ever hear of a hurricane, tornado, waterspout or dust-devil? Warm and cold air, mixing together…always bad medicine! The deaths are a tragedy but blaming human actions on an inanimate object isn’t going to bring them back or solve any problems here.

I’ve been skydiving for years, I am almost totally at the mercy of the wind. If I drive myself into the ground, I can’t blame the parachute mfgr. or the airplane pilot for my stupidity. Driving a motorboat or barefoot skiing hardly qualifies you as a pilot. This thing gets airborne and therefore requires a pilot, not a counterweight. Wind breaks downward, over any obstruction…trees, structures, hills….whatever. Every object on the water creates turbulence, as the wind passes. I can’t see where any of the previous posters appear to be even vaguely aware of the wind and its actions and reactions. I see no references made to “angle of attack” here. I doubt that few, if any…know what that is or its relevance to flight.

As far as children being allowed in something that requires “piloting”, I have to wonder. If you’d do something that irresponsible, you’d be likely to give a 2-year old a beer and the keys to the car…and tell ‘em “be home by midnight”! Really, man….some people are just too incompetent to even be allowed near the water, that’s the bottom line here.

By: ERIC NELSON

ERIC NELSON — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 14:45:17 +0000

These are dangerous! Plain and simple! It dosent matter how responsible you are or arent. I was one of the unfortunate ones who was present when the gentleman up in Wisconsin was killed. He was no more then 2 feet in the air when the kite slammed him into the water. He was knocked unconscious and but gained consciousness upon arriving at the boat dock. He died of sever internal injuries. If you have one please see if you can return it and if you cant….throw it away!

By: Randy Kladivo

Randy Kladivo — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 02:27:55 +0000

For those that consider themselves experts, read on. My son was flying one last Sunday when a weird gust hit the Kite tube. He shot up another 10 feet and then the tube violently bucked him off. He hit the water hard. He was very experienced and had no trouble keeping the tube under control but something happened and he lost all control. When he hit the water, he was knocked unconsious. To make a long story short, he severed his aorta and should be dead. He was extremely lucky and should be released from the hospital tommorrow. For those that are still out there flying their tubes, please think twice. As others have said, “there’s not enough rider control,” and someone will become a statistic on your tube. I was pulling my son and was a small part of why he lives today, but I have 25 years of Emergency Medical work to guide me in his care. Can you say as much? And even if you can, do you really want to take the risk of killing a family member or friend?

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 23:41:43 +0000

have you even tried to follow what the label is saying “never kite higher thanyou are willing to fall” well hello you can choose what hight you fly at it is all in how you ride itand at what lenght the rope is DUH
sure me and my friend took some pretty bad falls and another thing it takes quite a bit of effort to get it at a good hieght so my word of advise is when you do go to use it make sure you know what the hell you are doing and dont just rush into things because it looks like fun know there is probably more to it. I also would suggest you make sure you have good balance and learn to get the feel for the tube before trying to make it fly as higg as you can (the rider has some control over how high it goes) by the way 15mph-20mph is just perfect for on a lake.

By: Chad

Chad — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 22:02:15 +0000

I am thinking about getting a kite tube…. and as i was reading these comments i realized that the people who drive the boat are really the ones who put the other peoples lives on the line. and the people in the kite tube can not control what happens.

By: JB

JB — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 03:13:57 +0000

Bought this, looked fun. Towed it with a PWC, so you know right there it didn’t get going very fast. Towed my brother first. After about 10 minutes, he caught a big gust of wind, flew up, flipped over, slammed into the water. It knocked the breath out of him, and knocked his contacts out of his eyes. He decided to end his turn. My turn next. 15 or 20 minutes, no problems. Most of the time I was dragging in the water – maybe hopping a couple feet in the air, then coming back down. I’m 220lbs, pulled by a Polaris watercraft. It’s a mix for low speed/low altitude, right? Hit a gust of wind, lifted me about 25-30 feet into the air, the tube flipped and slammed down to the water. Knocked the breath out of me and burst my eardrum. The whole side of my face was numb for a few minutes. My neck and back are so sore, I feel like I’ve been in a car wreck. Doc says I got 4 weeks of no water play to let my ear heal. There goes the middle of the frickin’ summer. This tube sux.

By: Tina

Tina — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:53:06 +0000

My family has always been involved in watersports and we have always played safely. We could not help the gust of wind that launched me 30 foot into the air nor the twist of wind that caused me to freefall into the river. I was the lucky one. Sustained only bruising on my legs, thighs, butt and lungs. I urge anyone who has one to get rid of it. If you see someone else with one, go tear a hole in it. The thrill is not worth the pain and/or loss of life.

By: John

John — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 04:55:31 +0000

Two people have now died since May as a direct result of using this product. There have been numerous web accounts of serious injuries sustained as well. This product does not exhibit enough control mechanisms for safe operation (even for an extreme sport!) Have you ever flown a kite where the wind grabbed it and sent it into a hard nose dive? I’m sure you have. The point is that the rider can not always control his own actions/movements. And there’s no slow way of coming down like in parasailing. I’m also sure the manufacturer will be under increased pressure to pull this product (even though it has a disclaimer). Sorry to all who have used this safely (so far), but I believe this is one of those products that the general public should be warned about.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:09:01 +0000

This thing is obviously not dangerous at 1 MPH or low heights, it gets dangerous when you go to fast or get too high. Sorry about people getting hurt, but WEGO did not choose the speed and height that YOU allowed to get to. It is all YOUR fault. People need to take responsibility for their won safety and the consequences. This is just a object, the conditions and way it is used is completely up to those using it. Irresponsible people ruin everything….

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 14:07:04 +0000

I’m done with the Wego tube… it’s waaaay too dangerous. I was pulling my fiancee yesterday, and she was doing fine about three feet clear of the water. In about a second, a puff of wind took her up to about twelve feet, it flipped and tossed her like a rag doll. She landed on her face. Her doctor said she’s lucky to be alive, as the force of the impact was so severe that the entire left side of her head is bruised.

No thanks.

And as for “stupid people ruining it”, I am an extremely experienced boat driver, I’ve done just about everything one can do on the water (including barefooting), and this tube is the most inherently dangerous thing I’ve ever experienced. It can go from tame and under control to smashing you in to the water in a heartbeat.