Comments on: DeseretNews.com - Kite-tubing dangers face probe

By: John

John — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:01:46 +0000

Hi to all, I dont see why a gust must send you unavoidable to dangerous heights. This is not just tubes anymore, I know, flying is way different. If you fly in good weather conditions, towards wind if is a little windy, and you are within the minimun weight limit (not a 10 years old kid) you can have full control of the kite. You just need to find the minimun speed to take off for you in present condition. I forgot to mentio that the WEGO is terribly designed and is a lethal trapp. The Manta Ray obiously have better flying design, for much stable position, avoiding the feared wing tip stall. I have seen all the videos in youtube and 90% of them are making a mistake. If the boat goes 40mph the pilot will need less angle of attack to fly in a desired altitude, this combination low angle of attack/high speed is deadly, because the kite is flying at a not stable position, in fact it will struggle to leave that position, and high speed of course makes any little input from the pilot huge response and great risk of a tip over dive, wich 100% of the times will end up in Ouchhh!!, for any reason the kite should turn over pointing the surface. The other error I have seen is that the pilot just want to fly effortlessly, and there comes speed again. Low speed and lots skills you need to be safe. The correct way is to push hard with all you weight the kite in the correct high angle of attack (to the back) so you will be more like dragging behind the boat than just gliding without been a pilot with a control stick on hand.
150 FT ROPE, thats what I call: Stop the world, I want to get down! Stay with the 60ft rope and if you go upper than 10 ft lean forward gently and youll be down again.
Make short jumps! Dont try to fly home, It`s not a airplane, if you love flying like me then go learn to fly to a certified school.
I`m a sailplane pilot, paraglider pilot and licensed skydiver, and I think that flying worth the risk but take every safety meassure to be able to fly and jump another day.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 22:32:58 +0000

We bought one because it looked like alot of fun, but it turned out dangerous for my son. He flew it a few times with success until a gust of wind sent him 20 foot into the air and out of control hitting the water like a bullet. He suffered a broken ankle, bloody nose and a bitten lip. We are done playing with this Kite tube because of unstable conditions in the air and to much risk of severe injury.

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 22:12:08 +0000

I agree, this product can be dangerous, but you know what, the people getting hurt are not being smart and respecting this toy. It’s common sense, if its too windy out then dont tube. I bought one a month ago and have had no injuries on it. I use the beginner rope and fly about 10-20 feet high, and it is extremely stable if the wind is not gusty. The only time I had a bad day on it was when we turned around a point and hit a gust of wind with the 55 foot intermediate rope and shot up 40 feet. I had a smart driver tho who cut the engine and let me float down gently. With the beginner rope at moderate speed (20-25mph), this product can be used safely and riders can remain injury free if you are smart about it. This toy cannot be taken for granted and if you are just learning how to use it, then dont be dumb and throw the long rope on. I don’t blame the manufacturer one bit, because it comes with an instructional dvd on how to properly use the thing. Ride at your own risk and just be cautious.

By: brad

brad — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:53:41 +0000

I agree its dangerous, alot of responsibility to the driver, its an extreme sport, the warning labels all over the tube, don’t just throw yourself onto master level right at the start, have a spotter, hand on the throttle, takes alot of trust to be on the tube(that I agree). I also have to say that they make it look pretty effortless in their safety video, must’ve been on perfect day for the tube to fly, because either you can make it fly and your out of control, or you can’t make it fly! I know we got frustrateded with the tube first weekend cause we couldn’t get it 5 ft off the ground, next weekend winds gusting (not a steady wind) and it would catch you and throw you out of control!!! All in all as a water sport maniac that I am, I’d say the price is too high especially if you can only use it 2 days out of the summer, waiting for the perfect conditions, also the safety video makes it seem like a 9 year old could fly it, thats just not the case at all!! These manufacturers should be held responsible, for making it appear to be something its not!!!! Its like selling a bullet bike to a 16 year old!!!
STUPID STUPID STUPID, stop the false advertisement, alot more are going to fall!!! - THX

By: jack

jack — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 19:47:07 +0000

is there any thing that can be done to wego . its not what they say it is .i pulled a 24 yrr old on it and it slammed him into water and broke his back and cut up his face. very unstable kite

By: Donald

Donald — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 17:32:45 +0000

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7217

By: frog

frog — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 22:54:48 +0000

Yes it is very dangerous, there are a lot of activities that are dangerous that people choose to do. Let’s get the word out about the dangers, lets build a safer tube. BUT DONT TAKE OUR FREEDOM AWAY! NO MORE LAWS protecting us from ourselves!

By: Lake Gaston

Lake Gaston — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:16:46 +0000

In response to whoever posted the BOO Yah comment,
I have one of these kite tubes and I must say that they are a blast. As far as I know we have the only kite tube on Lake Gaston and it sure is attracting a lot of attention. However, when some renters in the house beside us declined our offer to take them up kiting due to someone they knew being paralyzed from it, I ended up on this forum concerned about the saftey of these tubes. I will probably end up returning it due to all of the negative feedback (deaths, paralysis (sp), and concussions), it just doesn’t seem wort it risking the rest of my life for a quick high. Anyways, I am still behind SportsStuff, we started buying SportsStuff Wake Jets and will continue buying their tubes. All this talk of suing them, or filing a lawsuit is terrible. Take it upon yourself to Google “kite tube deaths and accidents” and make an objective decision, as I did, if the tube is acutally worth it.

So my decision, after experiencing gliding 20-30 feet in the air for about 20 seconds then hovering a foot or so above for a minute or so, It just doesnt seem worth the risk, I will be callign SportsStuff soon to get my money back. I’ll quit while I’m ahead because I can always look back to the footage we shot and enjoy it with NO worries.

To you adreneline junkies though- go 27 mph into a steady wind- it’s the craziest thing you’ll do on the water AND you do NOT need a wakeboard rack to fly high as I thought before I had one
IM me @ skiing196 to chat about it