The Generosity Of Kiters

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[chilese]

I have been in many activities over the years. Ones where you interact

with many other people. But none of them has ever produced a more

giving percentage of people than kiters.

At some point in a kiter's career, s/he simply starts giving away kites.

Many of you have done it, I have done it, some of you will.

The first kite received is the most shocking. Why would someone give me

a really nice kite out of the blue (pun intended)? And then later, I gave

away my first kite. It hurt a little bit, but there was a joy in seeing the

happiness in the face of the recipient that can't be described.

Just wanted to say thank you to the givers who help make kiting the

magnificent obsession that it is. 

[thief]

I agree!!!!
I just passed along a little kite karma today in fact.....there is just something about kite people...we are nice

I also used to get into kayak Karma as well...in fact literally Karma...
I was given a Kevlar River Squirt boat that was about 20 years old....it had been purchased once at the beginning of its life...and ever since then was passed from person to person....when i got Karma she needed a little work...did some fiberglass work on her and then passed her to a friend's 15 year old son in Connecticut - with the understanding that Karma needed to be passed along.....

plus on the water I always stopped to help someone in need because I wanted to make sure that someone would do the same for me in the future....

[DD]

I make a once a year trip to the beach and boost the local kite sales by flying. I have had a couple people come up to me to help them with their kite. Most of the time the kites are junk or broken. I have taken kites out of my bag and show them how to fly it. After they are done flying and come back to me with the kite I show them how to take the kite apart and put it back together. I then turn to them and tell them they need to understand this because the kite is now theirs.
I love the jaw dropping expressions when I tell them this and get a huge kick out of it!I try to keep at least one kite in my bag to do this with all the time.

One year I did it at the beach and awoke the next morning to find 'Thanks Dave' with a giant kite traced out in the sand. That made me smile!

[SkyDancer]

In late summer 2009, a member of the Hoosier Kitefliers Society gave me an Alpha+ ... my first "big" kite (I'd been flying an HQ Bebop), because he knew how much easier it would be for me to learn with. Dick had bought the kite at an auction with the intent of eventually giving it away.

I ended up giving the Bebop and a brand new Beetle to the kids of friends from church.

The following year, in late summer, I was in a neighborhood K-Mart and found a bunch of X-Kites brand kites on end-of-season closeout (including some of their 60" dual-line deltas) at ridiculously low prices. I bought about a dozen kites all together, including some duals and singles. My wife and I keep them in the trunk of our car. Whenever our flying attracts a family's attention, we let them choose a kite from that collection. Now, I look for those closeout sales every year.

I've also found kite people to be particularly hospitable but that's another story.

[david barnby]

and some of the most magnificent kite wonders have gone through my hands this way, in both directions.  I still get stunned by this

[Katrina]

Coming back from dieppe a few days ago, the customs official asked whether I'd received any gifts while in France. I said no. But in the bag over my shoulder were many new pins and feathers, and 2 new kites: one is a bai from Stephen hoath.  I was in disbelief when he gave it to me, i thought it was merely on loan. The other is a rev made of Mylar gift wrap. Olivier (of team loustiks) had made two, and after I admired the one he was flying, he appeared with the other and gave it to me. Kites that are given to me immediately become prized possessions, a sentiment captured in an object. Kevin bayless gave me a kite earlier this year, and it meant the world to me.

[madhabitz]

RobFarmer here in the forum did the same thing for me, Katrina- he had pulled out a red spikey ball so I pulled mine out to hang with is. Told him how much I love these things, so he left his with me saying it was now mine. Couldn't believe it. So generous!


________
Edit: have no idea what the name Katrina has to do with anything other than that damned word replacement crud my phone does to me when I make attempts to type on this virtual keyboard. I don't even know what the word was supposed to be. oy.

[jeepersjoey]

I was gifted an awesome Will Sturdy from a gent in England.  When it took a long time to arrive, he sent another.  They arrived one day apart.

I ended up giving the second to a local flier who was lacking in UL.  It taught him a lot.  He has since moved it on to the next flier.

I gave away a kite last weekend.  He sent me a message and asked what spars were in it.  I told him to get it back to me and I will fix.

Two weeks earlier, at Antelope Island, my buddy told me to take his Yin/Yang for a while.

A few years ago I got a great deal on 20 foil kites.  It took less than 6 months to give them all away.

[thief]

I was gifted an awesome Will Sturdy from a gent in England.  When it took a long time to arrive, he sent another.  They arrived one day apart.

Would that have been from Nigel? He has gifted a number of things in the past.....

[John Welden]

You're right John.

Many people from GWTW have given me kites.

[WinterDaze]

 

My currant wall art is a 'passed on' I2K in Fire, fully assembled in all its glory  cheers Mr B 

And I hope a couple that I've 'passed on' still get a chance to feel a breeze once in a while

 

[WinterDaze]

   When I heard that the kite they were about to fly had a stick as an upper spreader...

The Quantum gets a very happy new home (with some LPG lines, of course )

[Zeke]

I watched a small boy flying his first kite in Newport.  His family was there surrounding him and offering advice as he slowly reeled out the kite.  the kite was not too high and I looked at him just as he looked at the last couple inches of string ran off the winder.    absolute tragedy; there was no loop or knot at the end of the line. He just stood there holding the winder.  I never saw a sadder face. He just stood and looked at the kite disappearing out over the city. I think a dozen people wanted to cry. WI went to the truck and got a kite I rescued from a tree and gave it to him with a winder and some line. He and the family thanked me but somehow it just wasn't the same.  I hope they all came back later on..

[BreezChase]

I've gotten my first kite from from a guy who flew them regularly on the beach nearby. He had 3-4 of them in the back of his car, and as I was watching him setting it up, I think my intest was evident enough for him to give me a try in flying one of them. You should have seen my surprise when he told me I could have the small (very basic stunt-kite) so to keep practising. Sometimes we do not even recognise the impact a simple act of kindness can create. I do agree though - Kiters are among the nicest people one can meet.

[Sketch]

A few years ago and I were down near Lincoln City...for a week's getaway at a rental house right on the beach.

One afternoon while I was flying my then new and favorite old $89.00 HQ BREEZE kite  in wind that you could only feel if you walked slowly backwards.

I put on my headsets..turned on some nice low wind music....and began enjoying some of the smoooooooooooothest Zephyr light winds that I had flown in years.

About 4 houses down from our rental house and after flying for a while....between flights...  I noticed a older gentleman who was struggling and attempting over and over again to fly him beautiful new Prism kite.

 After seeing that he had been  watching me flying from a distance...I noticed that suddenly he threw his hands and his flying straps up in the air...and came stomping up the beach toward me....all the while holding his kite in one hand and dragging the still attached lines in the other all the way up  to where I was  flying.

How many times in our addicted KITE LIFE have we seen situations like this begin to unfold? This old gent was ready to take that beautiful brand new kite back to the kite shop for a "kite like the one I was flying."

After telling me he had paid almost $300 for this kite and lines...etc. HE MADE ME N' OFFER THAT I HAD TO REFUSE  that he would trade straight across that new kite for the kite I had been flying?  I asked if I could help him set up & "tweak"  that new Quantum Pro SUL and then give it a test flight.

1. First he was flying with 125 ft. of 150 lb. line
2. One line was about 6 or 7 inches longer than the other one.
3. He had one bridle line wrapped around the left upper spreader.
4. Also the bridle had been set for stronger wind.

After  giving him a set of very old  75 foot #50 lb. lines that I attached onto his beautiful new Q Pro..and after resetting his messed up bridle setting AND MOST IMPORTANT---
After giving him some demo time...and a few badly needed flying instruction hints.....HE WAS IN QUANTUM PRO HEAVEN...AND  RIGHTFULLY SOOOOO,... HE RETRACTED HIS OFFER TO TRADE STRAIGHT ACROSS for my little $89.00 HQ Breeze kite.
While he was flying...I cut, n  re- sleeved & pre-stretched his #125 lines n handles to the same exact length.
HUMM?
Two days later.....I saw a nice little HQ BREEZE KITE 4 houses down the beach....cutting holes in the sky?
THINKING BACK?
MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THAT OL' GENTLEMAN UP ON THAT "STRAIGHT ACROSS TRADE" after all? 








 

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