I have been seeing a few on trademe and often thought...yeah that could come in handy.

Do many of you use them, and do you find them worth while?

Can they give you readings of how gusty the wind is?

i like mine but if it says gusting 35kt then it might put you off getting the kite out

also 25m up the wind strength goes up 5+kt.
kiteforum.com did have have a graph with wind speed on the ground against speed 25m up

i think 20 on the the ground can be 30kt where ur kite is

i find it interesting to know how fast i was going in what wind
but with so many variables like sand dunes, trees, house etc....
effecting wind down low, sticking a finger in the air can be just as good

Yes i see what you mean, often it can feel soOo marginal standing at the edge of the estuary but i will go out anyway and once im out on the water it's quite surprisingly ...marginal, but often just enough for a bit of fun.

Yeah it usually is quite a bit stronger up top. Often its not till my kite is up do i know what its like.

I'm loving 20m lines when it comes up a bit more than im used too. Just gives a bit more control.

Do many of you ride smaller than 20m lines?

Apparently 15m lines can be used for teaching, i wonder how good they would be for riding my 10m when its 30+??

Blah de blah de blah i can't wait till the wind comes up!!!

There is a learning curve, but it will work and I think you will like it.

IMO short lines are probably the most underrated piece of kit for high wind kitesurfing.

wind meters are fine, its a good habit to get into when its all new and you dont know ...., but its a personal thing, learn the equipment your using and get familer with it, so when it says to much you know its to much, bsafe.

If i was to get a wind meter what sort would you recommend?

it dosent matter, u could spend 150 or 20 buks , just take time to get to know it and in time you will develop a feeling for the wind, then you will use it less ,untill you hardly eva need it , but on those days when its all abit frisky and risky, when your the only one there and your not sure, check your wind meter, perrin at kiteworks has cheap units that work and i have one, around 15- 20 buks, bsafe.

One thing i have noticed is some people get knots and kmph confused. stick to one or the other to start with, as knots is 1.85 to a kmph. I also found when i started to fly kites the beaufort scale a good way of estimating the wind speed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale