Misc. Safety Advice

-Use leather gloves.   With a kite big enough to lift a camera, it's big enough to give you a serious burn from the line or spool.

-Bring something to use as a tie-off.   You need to be able to safely tie off the kite line so you don't have to hold it.   If the wind starts to howl, the best (sometimes "the only"!) way to get the kite down is to tie it off and "walk" it down (by pulling the string out of the sky while walking downwind- towards the kite).   For a tie-off, I have a cleat firmly attached near the end of a big wooden dowel.   The other end of the dowel has a removeable chain which I can clip around trees, fence posts, car tires, or anything handy.

-Bring a metal snap clip, like a carabiner, to use to walk the kite down in heavy wind.   Put a strap of webbing or rope on it to be able to hold onto it easier while walking.   Tie off the kite line securely to an anchor point, then clip the carabiner onto the kite line, and walk downwind, toward the kite.   You'll pull the string out of the sky.   Unhook the kite, put it away, then wind up the string that's laying on the ground.