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Kite Tubing: Safe or Unsafe?
Why did
the season's most promising new water
sport get shelved before summer had a
chance to start?
Earlier this spring I was introduced to the recreational water activity
Kite Tubing and my initial reaction was, “How can they do that?”
As far-fetched as the whole thing sounded to me, I was intrigued with
the idea. The ‘wow’ factor of Kite Tubing peaked my interest, but the
uneasy feeling in my gut left me second-guessing how safe this could
really be.
Perhaps you’re like the many others who have mastered the art of being
towed behind a boat while holding on to an inflatable tube and feel you
need a little something more to give you that boost of adrenaline?
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Kite Tubing was to be the remedy for the extreme thrill seekers. With a
trip to your local sporting goods store and a $600 drop in the bucket,
you could be piloting a three-metre-wide inflatable air raft with
handles behind a speedboat, reaching heights as high as 40 feet in the
air.
The anticipation of this hot new summer sport even witnessed the
Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association naming the Wego kite tube as
its 2006 product of the year.
But, before the summer season could make its way through its first full
month, the kite tubes were being pulled from store shelves under the
recommendation of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in early
July.
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With reports of fatalities and several personal injuries requiring
medical attention as a result of kite tubing, the product was cited as
dangerous and its flight was quickly grounded.
This decision made me think again about my initial questions concerning
this new sport; There’s got to be more to it than trailing behind a
boat and becoming airborne? How do you control the wind conditions?
What prevents the tube from flipping over while in the air? It’s got to
hurt when you hit the water from a high fall at an excessive speed?
Apparently, some of these questions are still being asked by others and
are either left unanswered or the growing list of medical reports have
taken the unduly task of answering them for us.
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Even with the negative media coverage in recent weeks I am still
fascinated with the sport. I have not tried it for myself, but I am not
ready to write off the idea that this summertime activity may still see
brighter days.
From the get-go it was labeled as an extreme sport and to me that meant
it was associated with a higher level of risk than the traditional
towing of a tube. You would assume that proper training and knowledge
should be acquired before anyone decided to take the launch into midair
behind a speedboat.
The injuries and casualties should not be overlooked but is a product
recall the answer? The product itself is not believed to be defective
but until all safety concerns have been addressed it will remain locked
away in a storage facility somewhere.
Any snowboarder, skateboarder, motocross rider or any extreme sport
athlete will agree that injuries can and will happen in their
respective sports but using common sense and some caution can
definitely lower the risk. If you’re up to the challenge you should
always prepare yourself for the potential consequences.
I confidently await the kite tube’s return in one form or another in
the near future. In the meantime I’d be curious to hear your opinions
on this matter. Do you believe kite tubing should be banned?
Leave your comments at: forums@greatlakesdestinations.com
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