How To Use A Kite Pump

Hello, I'm Thomas from the Kitesurf Centre. Today, I'm just going to show you a couple of tips on how to fly a kite and how to get into these brilliant sports of kite flying. This video now is going to be going through how to use a kite pump and what your kite pump is used for.

So, as you can see on this kitesurfing kite, they have some inflatable sections. So all our kitesurfing kites, we need to pump them up so that if you crash them on the water, it's going to float and these inflatable sections also form a rigid skeleton to hold the kite in shape while it's flying or when it's on the water and you need to re-launch it. So first off all, we need to pump it up.

So with our kite pumps, they're double action so when you're pulling it up and when you're pushing down, the air's going to be forced out. So, speed things up a bit and you can pump your kite up pretty quick. So first of all, we need to get the nozzle.

So you see, I've got all these different attachments on this pump. On most kites, it's going to be that attachment, so the middle sized one. If you do get a few different ones, use some different brands or choose on a different piece of equipment but on most kites, it will be that one.

So, push in the nozzle, don't push in really really hard because this is angled. If you keep pushing it in, it's going to stretch your valve and the stuff is going to be loose and it's going to keep coming out. So, just push it in gently.

If you have a bit of sand on the nozzle which can happen really easily when you're out on the beach, just wipe it off, give it a couple of pumps, and that's going to clean the nozzle out. And we're about ready to pumping your kite for the sand, so you push it in gently, put both feet on the pump, pull up and down until the section you're trying to pump is really really nice and hard. So, you want this to be absolutely solid so it's like a car tire, no give at all.

You're going to have two different types of valves on the kite. You should either have one-way valve like this where I can just pull this out and a little flap shots or perhaps a little boo goes into the valve. If you don't have a one-way valve, as soon as you pull the nozzle up, it's going to start leaking out.

So what we need to do then is be really quick with our fingers so as you pull the nozzle of the pump out, quickly get your finger on it really fast and then quickly get the stopper in so you lose little air as possible. So on the leading edge of your kitesurfing kite, on most of them, there's not going to be a one-way valve. So, you need to learn and practice that fast finger technique.

So that's it, your kite's pumped up really nice and hard, place your hand solid, do on the struts, do the leading edge, and you're ready to go. And that's how we use a kite pump. .