Complete beginner… looking for something to use in the park/beach.

Im 90kg/14stone and want something that will give me a bit of a workout. I assume I’ll need size 1.8-2m ???

Current list is:
flexifoil-big-buzz £65
peter-lynn-vibe 2 £50
hq-symphony-beach £40

Thanks

All depends on the wind speed, I have found that I use my 3m blade3 the most, gives a good pull for a work out, don’t think they make them anymore and would be out of your stated budget, try ebay?
PJ.

I would also say go bigger 🙂

I’m a 10 stone burd and my first kite is a flexi foil rage 3.5m, which I bought after having a play on a friends 4m kite. I bought it second hand on ebay.

It all depends on the wind, but my kite is a good work out in mid to light wind and I know that as I get better I will be able to take it out in stronger winds. My BF is a similar build to me (11 stone ish I think), but with better upper body strength and he is happy to fly it in most conditions…

I tend to head for the beach where possible, it is more fun for getting dragged around and a softer landing if things do go wrong.

For cheapness look at the radsail range. Got a 1.8 and a 2.4 (iirc) for the money they are great.

You could maybe pick up a flexifoil super 10 off the bay for reasonable money, easier to get to grips with as they are 2line kites. I had one for my first ‘proper’ kite.

Then when you get bored of that, get a blade 3 4.9 to pull your arms out. 🙂

I’ve also got a 4.9m blade that only comes out when the wind is too light for the 3m, the 4.9 beats the crap out of me and if it gets gusty at all things get interesting very quickly, the sweet spot must be around 3 to 4 metre

[video]http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=WFjImiHSe_Q[/video]

It’s an old clip, and I wasn’t very good or aware of the power in them kites

Thanks – was at the bristol kite fest in the weekend. When i was walking away and saw someone having lots of pulling fun on one. Turned out they had only 3 hours experence… which got me exited as I thought you needed years to get to that level. No clue what the size was ….

wouldn’t bother with a 2 line, once you know what you are doing a 4 line is more controllable and is much easier to launch/relaunch by yourself. would prob also go bigger 3-4m will be more usefull in a wider wind range.
try ebay for flexifoil or ozone

I’ve a kite of a similar size to the ones originally posted and I’d agree with the posters above, it is too small to get a lot of use. On the half a dozen windiest days of the year it can be a lot of fun but if you want to fly more often you’ll probably want something bigger.

Of your choices, I’d go with the largest HQ Symphony. Having owned both Flexifoil and HQ, the HQ quality is better.

As an alternative, my first choice would be a used 10ft Flexifoil Stacker. Sparred kites handle so much better than soft ones. In a good wind, this will give you all the workout you need. Buy two and stack them for low wind conditions.

EDIT: One last point – I would definitely learn on a two line kite. Self launching isn’t that hard – my kids do it. And unpacking the lines is much faster.

I have Radsail 2.4. It’s quite harsh compared with the smaller Blades I’ve tried. So I can’t recommend them.

Also, do get a 4 line as they self-launch more easily and give more control.

Consider a 4-line kite, and get someone to show you how to fly it. If you can’t do the latter, don’t do the former.

Power kites are simple to learn, but will put you in hospital soon as look at you if you don’t know what you’re doing. Look at it like buying a motorbike. (Also, in both kites and bikes, Blades are great fun but an utterly retarded purchase for beginners.)

A 4-line kite gives you considerably more control; if you get a 2-line kite you’ll soon get be bored and want a 4-line. On the other hand, if you’re not sure if you’ll like it and want to have a play, a cheap 2-liner isn’t a bad purchase.

Smaller kites are arguably more fun, and can fly in higher winds; they’re faster and more manoeuvrable. They’re also less likely to kill you if you get it wrong.

I got a HQ Alpha 2.5m recently. It’s 4-line, but seems pretty straightforward, although I need to work on the self-launching, as I found once I’d slammed it into the sand I couldn’t always figure out how to untwist it and get it back up 😆

Great fun though, and when you get it in the ‘sweet spot’ it is a real buzz. I imagine it won’t be long before I look at upscaling though, especially if I decide I can stretch to a board as well…

Incidentally,

Power kiting is fun.

need to work on the self-launching, as I found once I’d slammed it into the sand I couldn’t always figure out how to untwist it and get it back up

If it’s on the groud rightside-up, pull on the power, naturally. If it’s upside-down, you need to slam the brakes on hard instead, then spin it once it’s airborne (and hold on tight).

cougar is that a pic of you? is that a rage youre flying? i have a 2.5m which is sweet. am teaching the wife how to fly it at the moment. shes taken to it really well. she wants to try it in slightly higher winds now which should be interesting. time to reattach the killers!! 😀

i’d recommend not getting a Blade (or any other lifty kite) to start with. they can pack a punch if you fly them badly or if they get hit by a sudden gust.

four liners aren’t any harder to learn with than two-liners and are more controllable.

for you’re first kite i’d look at something around the 3 to 4m size. a buggy kite is a good idea as they are designed to pull more than they lift.

you can still use a buggy kite with a board, they’re just easier/safer to fly to begin with.

what cougar says is true, but i’d say small kites in high winds are just as dangerous. they’re much more snappy – i’ve seen a guy dislocate his shoulder whilst flying a 2m kite in high winds. i’d prefer a big, slow kite in high winds as they react slower but pull like crazy. the most dangerous time is launching/landing.

my favourite kite, however, is niether small and snappy or big’n slow…. 10m Speed!

c’mon the snow!

DSCN0182 by sod_the_taxman, on Flickr

DSCN0191 by sod_the_taxman, on Flickr

i’d recommend not getting a Blade (or any other lifty kite)

Agreed. I’d get one less than 3 metres as Blades lift like crazy. Nor attempt to fly a power kite in strong winds until you have some experience as even a smaller kites can catch you out. A 6m Blade will send you to heaven flown in a strong wind – I flew my mates on moderate days and it scared the poo out of me. He could handle it though.

One tip in common with paragliders: strong footwear is good, but avoid boots with lace hooks as don’t do your lines any good when they get caught.

always found vans style trainers best for flying, flat sole lets you slide under power while grippy boots mean a lot more force is needed to get you moving hurting your knees/legs

Just back from a weekend on [the] Gower with the family and my 3.5m 4x line Flexifoil Rage.

One fantastic evening with perfect winds to throw some shapes and the last few days its been nuts wind and scary to have out 🙂

Im not confident enough to do what cougar is doing up there ^ …yet….but Ive only been flying this one for 5 hours or so.

This is my “upgrade” froma two line Flexifoil stacker. 4 line means you can self launch, self crash and self re-launch again. 2 line means you just swear at the wife a lot and blame her for your own incompetence 🙂

cougar is that a pic of you? is that a rage youre flying?

Yep, that’s me, albeit a couple of years back.

I think those are under a 4.9m Blade mk1. It pulled like a train but was comparatively lethargic due to its size so was pretty controllable.

We had a Blade 2.6 mk1 out that day as well, which is one of my all-time favourite kites to fly, it’s just so much goddamn unadulterated fun.

There’s a few other pictures from that day (showing both kites) here if you want a look at them.

i’d say small kites in high winds are just as dangerous.

Oh, absolutely. You need to take conditions into account. Kites are like bikes, the correct amount owned is n+1.

my favourite kite, however, is niether small and snappy or big’n slow…. 10m Speed!

Jesus, that’s tremendous.

If it’s on the groud rightside-up, pull on the power, naturally. If it’s upside-down, you need to slam the brakes on hard instead, then spin it once it’s airborne (and hold on tight).

Ta 🙂

my 3.5m 4x line Flexifoil Rage.

Yeah, that’s a nice piece of kit.

Im not confident enough to do what cougar is doing up there ^ …yet….but Ive only been flying this one for 5 hours or so.

Good, overconfidence really hurts.

I once flew a more modern (mk3) Blade, midsized (3.9? Maybe). Thought, “I’ve flown bigger Blades than this,” popped it into the powerband and it chewed me up and spat me out. It was all I could do to wrestle it back to the ground, and I was extremely lucky to come away without injury.

Softly softly catchee monkey. Also, gusty wind conditions can be Bad.

If it’s upside-down, you need to slam the brakes on hard instead, then spin it once it’s airborne (and hold on tight)

^ this. Had learnt how to reverse launch in 10knots. Did it yesterday in something over 35knots. 😯

Much more fun around 15 knots.

(EDIT Think ive got a pic somewhere from this weekend, if I wasnt moving to rad and gnarly for Mrs S…)

The other thing with launching, of course, is to be wary of where the powerband is.

The ‘correct’ way to launch is at the edge of the window, but this can be tricky in low wind conditions. Launching in centre is considerably easier, but it’s the kiting equivalent of dumping the clutch. You’ll be under power all-at-once, which isn’t a huge issue with gentler kites but a risky habit to get into without thinking (as per my previous post…!)

I went over to Bratton Camp at Westbury several months ago to see if there were any paragliders up. There weren’t any, but there was a bunch of kite buggyists there. It was really pretty windy, and there was only one bloke with the cojones to go out, and he was getting five or six feet off the deck. One guy had his arm in plaster with a load of metalwork sticking out in a queasy looking fashion. He had stopped flying one day and was just about to land the kite when a gust yanked him clean off his feet and smashed his arm!
I really ought to get my old Flexifoil 6’er out and fly it.

rad my gnar girls, rad my gnar.
Stoner Jr couldnt give a **** mind you 🙄

Careful when it’s really windy you could end up with these guys:

Same basic technology, innit.

I would get something dead stable, standard recco used to be Ozone Little Devil 3m as a starter kite. Great for buggying as well. Dead nice to fly. new thing seems to be the flow:

http://www.flyozone.com/landkites/en/products/fix-bridle-line-kites/flow/info/

Blades are horrible things! Twitchy and lifty as hell! (i never liked flexifoil kites)

I was a full on ozone fanboy back in the day, still got my little devil’s and razros, but there ain’ many beaches or good clean winds out here in CH!

Kev

rad my gnar girls, rad my gnar.

Ah, that’d be ‘rasta’ IIRC.

I really must dig a kite out.

For a leftfield suggestion, if you want peak pulling power per pound, two and/or four lines, you can’t beat a Nasa Parawing (NPW). I have a 2.2 from IQ that can rip your arms off or drag you through the surf. Doesn’t create lift, packs very small, and a lot of fun. I’d still start with a 10ft flexi though. Even after all these years, they are great in the park.

Or get a stack of Revolutions 😈