WHY WEAR AN IMPACT VEST????

IMPACT VESTS - Why wear them???

We have started to urge our customers to wear impact vests more and more – WHY?

The main reason is that they are a buoyancy aide – they are not a life jacket but will help you stay afloat. Basically they create positive buoyancy and we feel that they should be one of the main components of kiting. Impact vests should not be recommended but should actually be compulsory. Now – we can’t do that and I understand that a lot of kiters out there come from a surfing background and have the attitude that if they don’t need them for surfing then why use them in kiting. I can’t really argue against that BUT I can say that kiting is different and here is why!

Firstly you have a kite attached to you and not a surfboard. If you get into trouble surfing you can always hang onto your surfboard and float back to shore – hopefully your leash hasn’t broken! The kite has lines and if you go down in the surf then there is a possibility that your lines could get wrapped around your legs preventing you from swimming!!! You should have a hook knife in your harness and if you haven’t then I would strongly urge you to get one and if you have got one then you NEED TO KNOW where it is so you can cut the lines because lines can tie you up very quickly and are dangerous.

We had a case about 2 years back where a rider snapped his lines in a wave and all the lines that were left attached to his bar, which was still obviously attached to him wrapped around his feet and he could only use his hands to swim back to the surface. Now if you have an Impact vest then it will float you back to the surface.

Secondly, in surfing you have a natural equalizer – if I can put it like that – but what I mean us that if the surf gets big then it will naturally sort out who is able to get out back and who can’t. If you are not good enough then you won’t be able to paddle out. In kiting it is that much easier to get out – so you could find someone who normally wouldn’t be out in that situation smack in the middle of it. Now this is all good and fine UNTIL your kite goes down and you are left in the impact zone way out of your depth! Again having the impact vest here to help keep you afloat is a great help – trust me if you have ever experienced a “hold down” then you will know what I am talking about as it is not a nice experience!

Thirdly, you can travel far distances fast with a kite and you might find yourself out further than you should and if something goes wrong then – then you might find yourself in a little bit of trouble. First rule in kiting is never kitesurf out further than you are able to swim back in! I often see guys way too far out – so again having the extra floatation could help you here!!

Finally, we get so worked up that when there is wind we often kite beyond our fitness – I know I do! The thing is here is that kiting allows you to do this. In surfing if you are tired your arms give out and you physically can’t paddle any more. When flying a kite this is not the case and you can fly past your exhaustion but if something goes wrong and you need to now swim – well again this is when you need to have a floatation device.



I decided to practice what I preach and yesterday I slipped one on and I really enjoyed it. Now the reason I used it was because the surf was a solid 8 foot at Umdloti and I wanted to see how it felt. I know that one of the biggest reason why I wouldn’t wear a life jacket is because it is cumbersome and it puts a massive arrow in the air pointing at you and saying “I am a beginner” which people don’t want. If you have started a sport then you want to fit in – you don’t want to look like a beginner but then again who cares what you look like. The great thing here is that I wore one yesterday and my mate didn’t even know that I was wearing one as it was so snug that it fitted under my rashie and I just looked like I had been working out a lot!! Ha ha!!!

Seriously though, I would strong recommend that you look at it, as it is a concern and maybe you don’t wear it all the time, but if conditions dictate then wear it as it could save your life. If you are a beginner, you will spend more time in the water and it will help you more – it will also allow you to re-launch your kite easier.

So there are a lot of advantages to wear one and not that many against it – so look into it – it could be the best thing you ever do!