My New Kitepump

[V]

My new kitepump...this compressor

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...fills my tank which goes in the truck to the beach with me...

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...which fills my kite. The tank is 26 gallon with a shutoff valve. I can put 100psi in there and fill up like 25 kites off one tank. Ahhhhh yea! No more double-pumpee!

[Kevin]

That's awesome. I've looked into this a little.

How much would an air compressor run you?

And is that tank a scuba tank or something different?

And please nobody post annoying "just hand pump your damn kites" - I just view this as sort of a fun project to make something quicker and easier.

[adseguy]

A better and possibly cheaper option: Scoprega Bravo Super Turbo Electric Pump

[4w7s]

A better and possibly cheaper option: Scoprega Bravo Super Turbo Electric Pump

These Bravo's work great but I'd say max 3 kites capacity. You also need to mindful that you give it a rest between kites otherwise you can damage it by overheating. I've had one for years and it's fine for a few kites.

If you need more capacity maybe V's rig is better, but I'd put some sand wheels on it, strap on a cooler full of cold ones, and find a nice looking kite assistant to help hauling gear to the beach...and careful you don't over-inflate. We used to use scuba tanks when teaching in the Keys since pumping on a boat is a hassle. But there is the "process" of refilling tanks every day.

PS - If you have spinal issues it certainly is nice to have an inflation system. Pumping by hand IMHO just plain sucks...I see nothing redeeming about it other than it does not use any artificial energy. The Bravo can be recharged from a AC outlet or from your car battery so there is minimal (probably immeasurable) load on your petrol usage.

[V]

It's a spare compressed air tank. Not a scuba tank. It has hard wheels like Roberto said but with 100' of hose, shoudl be able to reach most launch site without even taking it outta the truck. Brokite has a similar setup with the compressor. The problem with electric pumps is most will not pump up the kite enough to ride - actually I'm not aware of any that will. So this will get me serious pressure. Trick is to simply not crank the airgun while filling. Gentle pressure is all you need and you can feel how rigid the kite gets. I always squeeze the charmin (main bladder) to know if she's ready anyway.

I will fill kites for beer!!!

Anyway, I got the rig this weekend and set up the spare tank. I was going to sell it on craiglist or for scrap iron, then I had the idea to use it for the kite. I got the spare tank for free, so an extra $12 for the shutoff valve and another NPT coupler, and now I have a mobile kite resevoir. Suh-weeeeet. Now if I ever kite again I can try it...haha! The 'boygan boys are gonna love this thing when they see it.

ANd, after your session, you can take turns doing a little "she's a maniac" dance while someone blows the sand off you in the parking lot!

[4w7s]

just FYI about the Bravo pump: No problem getting 9psi or more pressure into a few kites IF your battery is fully charged. The battery charges pretty fast if you plug it into your car, probably an hour or 2 will do it while driving to/from kiting. The Bravo does weigh about 10 lbs so it's some "extra baggage" but not too bad.

It defo nice to have really good pressure in the kite. With the Bravo thre is a pressure regulator that you can dial in from 3 psi to 10+ psi. I usually do my small kites to 7-8 psi and larger kites are OK at 6.5 psi.

V - you may know already that can get a pressure regulator for your system but they are a bit pricey, a few hundo I recall. Some pneumatic sand wheels would probably run you $100/pair

I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends with that maxi inflate system! especially with the big kites of summer...lol
You could trade an inflate for a cold one and keep your cooler well stocked.

[snowball]

You can also just buy little tanks and refill them at the store for cheap. I prefer the way that gives me a work out lol dont be lazy