soliver1599969029

Indeed, carelessness is no longer a part of the picture AT ALL... I had the bad habit of trying to "fit it all in" and doing so, in my rush, I didn't implement all of my safeties resulting in a great deal of pain... so yes, respect. So far I'm super impressed with the Born-Kite Nasa Star 3's and am moving in the direction to be completely equipped with those. They are enhanced Nasa Power Wings with a "depower" feature that collapses the nose of the kite in order to quell the power produced. John Holgate and ssayre (both members here and other kiting forums) are both big proponents and I'm joining the single skin camp. They are UBER stable, exceptionally powerful out of the gate, and a great deal safer due to their very low lift. I had several sessions on Saint Simons Island (which I didn't get on film) and I've never felt so secure moving so quickly in all my kiting tenure. They are not as fast as the Reactors I used to fly, nor do they move upwind quite as well, but so far I'm pretty pleased... plus I'm keeping my smaller foils just for the fun of it Here's one of John's vids:

Thanks Mick, I appreciate the positive feedback... I have a harness, a whole QR set up, strops on all my kites and was quite proficient with the whole lot... Unfortunately I was careless with it and then got lofted by my 5.5m Reactor about a week before Christmas, broke my left heel followed by thousands of dollars worth of surgery,... so I really don't think I'll be using it for a little while if at all... I had about 4 months or recovery watching my wife take care of my 4 kids with the minimal amount of help I could offer and I don't care to go through that again. Likely why you haven't seen me her much in the last few months. I've changed out a good half of my kites to the Nasa Star 3's and am really just working on getting back into the buggy seat.

Hey Gang, I was fortunate this year to be able to piggy back our trip to the Jekyll Island Buggy Expo (JIBE) onto our annual family trip to Saint Simons Island, where my In-laws rented a place big enough for the whole family. We were able to do JIBE for several days and then another week on the neighboring Island/beach. We had a really great time and I got A LOT of buggying in. I brought all my GoPro gear and even borrowed a second camera in order to be able to catch a lot of footage. I had a plethora of ideas and planned shots, however the combination of being too excited to ride to set-up, on top of some problems with my cameras, I really got an absolute minimum of footage at JIBE. I was able to iron out a few camera issues and get some additional footage on Saint Simons, so I combined it all together for a "Golden Isles, GA" video. Enjoy the tour. I should add that sitting down in the buggy on Wednesday at JIBE was my first time in the bug since my accident in December and it really was like riding a bike. The result also though was a good deal of going slow... so forgive me that.

I just recently went through this exercise myself, they are NOT what is listed on the PL site as the technical specs of the XR+ have not been updated in a while. The size is actually 40 od x 17 id

Thanks for the advice mick, I typically have really good luck with the Reactors... all else I have is the 4m Core and the 2.6m Viper S. Both are lower AR, but too small for the winds I had... in hindsight I should have had the 8.6m out. It is my most used kite lately, but I had limited time and didn't want to fuss with getting another Kite out. Thanks again Edit: I watched the video to remind myself and I'm pretty sure what happened with the kite turning into a wad had more to do with my not turning sharp enough... I was jibing downwind and went too wide ... if you watch you can see the lines go slack as I turned then get wrapped around my back axle, all that = a big wad of ripstop and dyneema

I would, however it says my inbox has 0 messages and 65000+ stored messages... Not sure what that's about as I've never USED the PM feature on this forum. Any help?

Here's mine https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Swift-Cantrell+Park,+3140+Old+US+Highway+41,+Kennesaw,+GA+30144,+United+States/@34.0321352,-84.6317327,17.39z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88f53f8bdfee63e7:0x490039a7547e6f26 I use about 2/3 of the field (limited by wind shadows) on the far right of the park (runs are mostly north-south) and it's probably the equivalent to 1.5 football pitches/ fields... Average wind hovers around 10-12 mph so it's hard to get going fast... Let's just say I'm good at turning Here's me hitting 21.1mph on that field Monday afternoon:

Ok, sorry but I have to play the "dumb American" card... Mick, when you have referred to a "football pitch" (here and elsewhere) I didn't realize that this was an actual objective measurement ... In the states the term "pitch" typically refers to throwing something... That said, you saying "three football pitches" I thought you meant a subjective measurement roughly equal to as far as you could toss or kick a football three times... Dumb American.... Stateside we would say "the length of three football fields" which sounds huge to me. I've only just found a field that big to use... More frequently I ride a field that is roughly 1.5-2 football pitches in size, diminished by wind shadows. 2 countries separated by a common language, right. Just aside, the fastest I've been on grass is just over 22 mph

nas, I was/am in the same boat. Since my winds are on the lighter end of the spectrum, I opted to go for something in the 12m range.It looks like you already picked up a kite, but I say if you can, buy used and save a ton of money. I picked an HQ Montana 5,12.5m for an extreme discount because it had a minor defect. Spent about $100 USD having it tuned. In the end, I got a 12.5m depower kite for 1/5 the cost of new. Sure it's a couple of generations old, but an incredible deal and great for learning. I'm Told this is one of the more versatile sizes of depower foil.

No, mick... it's not near Manchester. Enjoy, Spencer

Roflmao

Yep,... In Georgia (south eastern US), in a suburb of Atlanta.

Thanks for the input mick, ... I've been considering getting the pieces needed to make my XR whole again and putting it on barrows in order to have both types of bug. Now I have a good reason. so back to the original discussion: big kites are for lighter wind... for the most part.

I'm sure I could get faster if I had better wind... I've always been led to believe (and experienced) that most kites will double the wind speed, if my wind rarely blows over 12 mph, then I will rarely have the opportunity to reach 30mph or faster, which is waylaid further by only having opportunity to ride but once a month. It appears as though the laws of physics and weather are holding me back.... Drat My fields are about the same as yours by description, and just like you, though my largest FB is the 8.6m, my PB was on the 4m... I don't disagree with you at all. But I don't think my top speeds ore severely affected by the weight of my buggy... Plus it's about 80% homebrew and I just think it looks too awesome to keep stowed away Some might say that the additional weight reduces the side-pull translating it into forward momentum...do you disagree? Sorry for the hijacking/thread veer

Yeah it's understandable you would think that, however my riding suffers from a severe lack of quality open space as well as wind that averages sub-10mph. My riding on most days consist of working hard just to get moving. Good days are when I can stay moving, rarely getting over 15mph. The kites I have are chosen as an effort to maximize stability and upwind capability more than anything else. As for advizing this guy, I look at it in light of the fact that he owns the 7m kite and I'd rather advize him of how to use it and not get hurt. Because chances are, regardless of how much experience he has or whether or not I like it, he's probably going to use it, so I'd rather point him along the right path. Taking the time to read the context of his question, it appears as though he's been given some info that runs counter to what he thought. I don't believe that makes it a stupid question or one that is not worth answering.

My winds are garbage where I live, but I've still gotten a good bit of buggying out of the last 3 years I've been at it. My "low wind" kite is an 8.6m PL Reactor II, and it will get me moving in the buggy in as low as 6-7 mph wind.... It takes A LOT of work but it's doable. My free time is very limited so it can be a real session saver. I have flown this kite in up to 11-12mph (guessing) but that gets to be a bit much for me in that, given my cruddy wind conditions, I typically fly underpowered. I like the 8.6m in wind around 8-10 mph. Not knowing where you are comfortable, I imagine a range of 8-14 mph would suit it for me. Now I have heard that the 7m Blurr is a little heavy and doesn't perform as well in light wind, but I can't speak to it personally, but I'm guessing on the basis of its size that just around 10 mph would be a good comfortable place. I have no experience with the AAA adjuster so I can't speak to that either. With the kites I own the wind ranges I work in are as follows: 8.6m = anything under 10mph 5.5m = 8-12mph 4m = 10-14mph 3.5m is new to me so I'm not sure of its butter zone 2.6m = high teens to 20mph The wind here very rarely gets up to or over 15mph and is very shifty and more full of lulls than gusts, so it is often difficult and I've found recently that the 8.6m is my most frequently used. Hope this was helpful.

Hasn't been a problem for me,... I may not ride as hard as you though. However, A LOT of buggiers stateside have gotten this upgrade, and I haven't heard of one having a problem with it... I mostly hear of the PL Folders and Bigfoot buggies having welds break. I've converted my XR to a tandem rig which I pull my family around in behind a bigger heavier VTT/ homebrew buggy, so I really don't ride the XR all that often.

There is a guy in Texas who manufactures an upgrade for the XR+, it is a rail kit and seat upgrade. He goes by Van and does business as VTT (Van Tan Tech). He sells the kit through several US vendors, one in particular: Kite Buggies | VTT Custom Kite Buggies they typically sell for right around $300 USD This upgrade does exactly what you're wanting, it adds length as well as height making the buggy more comfortable and adds more back support. I'm not sure if it is worth while with international shipping would make it worth your while or if it would be better to just get a different buggy.

I had a killer session on my 8.6m RII today... Started out really light... So light that I almost packed up and went home, but ended up around 9mph wind gusting in the low teens... It got to be a little bit of a handful at the point that I almost crashed it into a light post ... That's when I pulled out and ended the day with the 5.5m The Reactors are really great kites; like I said above, super stable, very low lift and really fast.

Mick, Yes, Reactor 2's and what I hear of the 2013's fly great inland. They have a higher AR (4.5) (edit: relatively higher) so they go upwind very well. They behave much better than other kites I've flown in the same genre. I have the 8.6m Reactor 2 and can buggy in 6-7mph wind and static fly in lighter stuff. It just drops off in the lulls and does require patience. My 5.5m Reactor 2 is a dream in anything Over 8mph. Their benefit is their stability. They are super stable indeed. Both of these vids are of me using the 8.6m and fighting through the lulls with 5-8mph stuff. Dreams on Vimeo OOBE field 11/30/2013 on Vimeo

Just finished up the 7th annual JIBE hosted by Angus Campbell of Coastal Windsports on the well love Jekyll Island, Georgia. It took a little time to cull through all the video footage I had and edit something decent together. I was only there for Wednesday, but did end up with 2-3 hours worth of footage, which doesn't seem like a lot, but when you edit it down to 3-4 minutes it can seem like a lot. Enjoy:

This footage was filmed during my 2 last session; one in February and one in March. As you can tell by the difference in attire from one cut to the next, it was much colder in February... The March session was one of the best I've had in a while, though the camera battery ran out before it got really good with the 5.5m RII. In spite of that, I still got some great stuff. Please forgive me the camera shake, it was the first test of that buggy mount with the GoPro. I have plans to fix that. Enjoy

I thought the word was that chrono is a depow... To put up against the flysurfers... Someone said they saw a mixer in one of the shots, not to mention the size is more in a depow range These shorts have it looking to be depower Ozone Chrono - YouTube

A lot of guys like to fly dp here in the states. One buddy, I've only ever seen flying a 15m phanny 1,... He says if he can hold the bar in one hand and a beer in the other, he's good I've thought of trying, but I just prefer not to... I fly FB for 3 reasons: wind conditions, set up time and price. 1. My wind is pretty sketchy with more lulls than gusts, and typically blowing less than 10mph. It's my understanding that depow doesn't like those conditions and that FB will beat out depow in low wind most any day. I'm finding my 8.6m is becoming my most frequently used kite. 2. I know once you get depow set up how you like, it takes relatively little time to set up, but both Arcs and LEIs require some sort of inflating. My flying/riding time is limit and often abbreviated (I haven't buggied in almost 2 months) and I like to have as little set up and break down as possible. 3. I'm often tempted by the prices offered on some for the used Arcs but I remind myself of 1. And 2. And realize it's not worth it to me. I visit Jekyll Island regularly, but not often enough to make it worth it. Long and short... I'm an FB kind of guy.

Uh... I just want more kites