Jack Recider

Apparently, there are kite fighters among these people. And this gets wild. They take kite flying to a whole new level, if you ask me. So the idea here is to knock someone else's kite out of the sky with your kite. So, like, if you're on the rooftop and you see a kite flying a couple rooftops over from you, the mission is to knock theirs down.

And so the first thing you have to do is to get your kite near theirs, or at least near their string. And that takes a bit of skill to get your kite close to the person's kite who's like three rooftops away from you. And I don't even understand how they do this. Like, how do you send your kite over to someone else's where you can't even move off your balcony?

And so the first thing you have to do is to get your kite near theirs, or at least near their string. And that takes a bit of skill to get your kite close to the person's kite who's like three rooftops away from you. And I don't even understand how they do this. Like, how do you send your kite over to someone else's where you can't even move off your balcony?

I thought the wind decided where your kite went, but apparently they're able to let out the string more or weight the kite down or something to get it to go where they want. Now, I've flown a kite too close to someone else's kite before. And what happened to me is that the kites got tangled up and both of our kites crashed to the ground.

I thought the wind decided where your kite went, but apparently they're able to let out the string more or weight the kite down or something to get it to go where they want. Now, I've flown a kite too close to someone else's kite before. And what happened to me is that the kites got tangled up and both of our kites crashed to the ground.

But the kite fighters don't want their own kite crashing to the ground. They want to win this battle. So what kite fighters do is they coat their strings with something sharp to turn it into a skyward saw. Some use wax, but I think a lot of people are buying strings that are coated in little pieces of glass, making it sharp and scratchy.

But the kite fighters don't want their own kite crashing to the ground. They want to win this battle. So what kite fighters do is they coat their strings with something sharp to turn it into a skyward saw. Some use wax, but I think a lot of people are buying strings that are coated in little pieces of glass, making it sharp and scratchy.

So if you can get your string to touch theirs, and then just at the right time, give it a quick tug, it'll scrape your string across theirs, and it may cut their kite string, sending their kite to float off freely and eventually crash to the ground, but like a block away, leaving yours in the air as the victor of the battle. It's wild.

So if you can get your string to touch theirs, and then just at the right time, give it a quick tug, it'll scrape your string across theirs, and it may cut their kite string, sending their kite to float off freely and eventually crash to the ground, but like a block away, leaving yours in the air as the victor of the battle. It's wild.

You can watch these videos where you see somebody taking out like one kite after another on rooftops. And I can't tell if the other flyers like this or hate this. Because if you had like a nine-year-old trying out a kite and their string gets slashed by some teenager looking for some sky fight, that kid's going to be crying. But anyway, that's kite fighting.

You can watch these videos where you see somebody taking out like one kite after another on rooftops. And I can't tell if the other flyers like this or hate this. Because if you had like a nine-year-old trying out a kite and their string gets slashed by some teenager looking for some sky fight, that kid's going to be crying. But anyway, that's kite fighting.

Or locally in India, it's known as manja. And you can buy like sharpened manja strings in stores and online. But hold on, this gets even crazier. So you have these razor sharp kite strings flying around in the air, right? All from rooftops and residential areas. But these are in some busy areas with lots of street traffic. So like motorcycles and cars are whizzing by down on the streets below.

Or locally in India, it's known as manja. And you can buy like sharpened manja strings in stores and online. But hold on, this gets even crazier. So you have these razor sharp kite strings flying around in the air, right? All from rooftops and residential areas. But these are in some busy areas with lots of street traffic. So like motorcycles and cars are whizzing by down on the streets below.

So what happens sometimes is when these losing kites crash into the ground... Sometimes they get tangled in weird ways on its descent. Like the string may get snagged up on some tree branch or a sign or something, but then the kite floats to the other side of the road and gets tangled on that side, essentially making a little tightrope that goes across the street.

So what happens sometimes is when these losing kites crash into the ground... Sometimes they get tangled in weird ways on its descent. Like the string may get snagged up on some tree branch or a sign or something, but then the kite floats to the other side of the road and gets tangled on that side, essentially making a little tightrope that goes across the street.

And when someone drives by, the car can get snagged on it and pull the string in weird ways. Well, the real problem comes with motorcycles and bicycles. There have been a lot of incidents where the string gets caught around the neck of a motorcyclist and cuts their throat. Bad scratches, gashes, and cuts. But some have even died from getting their neck slit by a glass-covered string.

And when someone drives by, the car can get snagged on it and pull the string in weird ways. Well, the real problem comes with motorcycles and bicycles. There have been a lot of incidents where the string gets caught around the neck of a motorcyclist and cuts their throat. Bad scratches, gashes, and cuts. But some have even died from getting their neck slit by a glass-covered string.

Yeah, people have died from this kite fighting stuff. So what motorcyclists do in the areas where it's popular is to install a small bar on the front of the motorcycle to catch any of those strings. It kind of looks like a little antenna on the front of the motorcycle, and it's there just to catch any kite fighter strings from killing the rider.

Yeah, people have died from this kite fighting stuff. So what motorcyclists do in the areas where it's popular is to install a small bar on the front of the motorcycle to catch any of those strings. It kind of looks like a little antenna on the front of the motorcycle, and it's there just to catch any kite fighter strings from killing the rider.

It's always interesting to me to see the downwind consequences of something that we didn't immediately think would be a problem. These are true stories from the dark side of the internet. I'm Jack Recider. This is Darknet Diaries. This episode is brought to you by SpyCloud. For some people, ignorance is bliss. But for you, as a security practitioner, that's not the case.