Can anyone reccomend a reliable and tested wind meter?

Or you can learn to tell the windstrength by looking at the water. With practice, it is much more accurate than windmeters from what I have seen of these useless instruments.

Try this link for starters
http://www.safeboating.org.au/Boating/Kids_in_Boats/Time_and_tide.asp

If you take the time to learn this method of guaging waves and whitecaps, you'll be much better off. Don't try to learn this method by using a windmeter, because most of them are wrong, or aren't used properly. Hell, even the experts have problems with them. ;-)

When you're at the beach, have a guess at the windstrength, and write it down with the time. When you get home, compare it with the closest weather station. But there are some weather stations which aren't 100% accurate too. If you saw the state of disrepair of the one in Frankston(Vic), you would understand why.

Hell Rolf, your life sounds like a misery mate, what with useless wind measuring instruments all over the place.

I have a windtronic 2 from Steve and love it (and I'm a marine biologist with 20 years of sea time up my sleeve)...the reason why?

It measures the average wind AND the peak gust over that time, which I think is crital for kiting safety. On a 14m kite, 17knots gusting to 19knots is a very different proposition to 17knots gusting to 25.

I'm learning more about the wind from using it.

peace

Andy

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how do you get an accurate reading? What works, and what doesn't work? How high do you have to hold it, and is it important where you stand on the beach when taking a reading?

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I think it is worth mentioning the difference bewteen an absolute and a relative reading. I'm not that interested in whether the wind is actually blowing 15.5 or 15.7 knots (the absolute reading) or whatever, but I am interested in taking a reading and being able to say "well it is 2 knots higher today than it was yesterday standing in the same place, and yesterday I was just powered up on my Xm kite, so today should be better". That is more of a relative reading. We all know it is going to be higher at kite level anyway.

I usually try and stand in the same spots (my launch area) with the meter at arms length up high and no obstructions downwind or upwind.

One example of the usefullness of the device - my local spot has lighter winds on the beach and over the reef flat than it does 400m out in the windstream. I wanted to know how much more wind to expect, so I got out there and took some readings, and then some more back at the beach, and was able to say "OK I can add 3 knots by the time I'm out the back"...which can mean the difference between a session where I can go a long way out to sea and know I'll come back to the beach holding ground upwind, versus losing ground downwind and being mashed onto some rocks or some other nasty fate!

Plus it gives you an excuse to go down the beach..."just popping out to do a wind check darling...very important for kite safety. bye."!!