Rev 4-8

These kites are flooding e-bay at the moment; you can get a 2.5m version for £26 and a 3m version for £36. And by the look of the forums, quite a few Race Kiters have got one (but not all admit it). The description reads: KM7001 250X80cm Quad Line Power Kite Family Fun Quad line kites are a completely different feel to flying. They are a controlled stunt kite using four lines instead of the traditional two lines. These kites fly in all directions up, down, left, right and reverse. Most quad line kites can do a stall in mid air and fly back in to the sky in reverse. If you are ready to step up your kite flying experience a quad line is the kite for you. The nylon sail comes completely ready to fly with line and handles. Further Details • Size is 250 x 80 cm • 2-6 Beaufort scale • Suitable for 4-31 MPH wind speed This is obviously a Bullet rip-off, but is no-where near the quality you would get in a Bullet. The material looks like spinnaker nylon (not Rip-stop), the sewing is passable, and generally the build quality seems OK. However, the lines were completely different lengths, which is a problem that a few people have mentioned on the forums. The 25m lines don’t seem to stretch too badly, although other people have mentioned that theirs have snapped or stretched. The handles seem comfortable, but the grips slip a bit and there is no loop for a ground stake. Fortunately I had fixed the line length problem before I started. So I managed to get it flying first time. I took it out in very strong winds (20mph+), it stood fine, launched first time, and was quivering like an enraged bull on the end of the lines. It responds well, reverses clean and straight, turns crisply (hardly a surprise in 20mph), but was impossible to get to the zenith. Even in those 20mph winds, there was no real pull. Sure I was leaning back, but this thing wasn’t going to pull me along, and I’m not exactly a heavyweight. In lighter winds, it just about limped up to its zenith, but once there, there was no real lift. It is completely unusable for either traction or lift. This is an OK kite, not great, not dire, but OK. In terms of value for money, it is actually quite good. Fine for learning how to control a quad line, but not much more. It’s really just a quad line stunt kite (which is what it was advertised as). Knock it around, see if you like the sport, it’s not a lot of money. As for the issue of it being a Bullet rip-off, I’ll neatly side-step that dilemma and leave it for you to discuss in the forums. If I had my time again I would go for the 3m version in the hope of a bit more pull, but that might be a bit too hopeful.

OK, I freely admit that I started off badly in the world of power kites. I looked at magazines, I looked on the internet, and I ended up on e-bay. I plumped for something called a Powerfull Parafoil Stunt Traction Kite - 2 Line 3m span. My batsense should have been tingling when I saw Powerful spelled with too many Ls. The full description read: Powerful Parafoil Kite ,Comes with Bag and Control Handles.Colourful design.Powerfull 2 line KiteSits low in flying window and pulls hard for its size3m X 0.9m55 Meter Lines20 Ram air pockets Why on earth would anyone want 55m lines? I honestly thought that this was an HQ Symphony, which isn't a great surprise because that is exactly what it is trying to look like. A 2.2m Symphony that happens to be 3m wide. Well how bad can it be for under £50? Dire, absolutely dire, unredeemably dire. But it looks pretty. It is a full rainbow of glorious colours, almost exactly like the 2.2 Symphony, but without the HQ logo. The material is low grade nylon, the lines are sewn on, and the handles are small and uncomfortable. The same handles you would get on the cheap plastic kites you can buy in seaside newsagents. To my shame I took it to Woolacombe, where there were people flying 'proper' kites. I dragged it's sorry hide out of it's cheap nylon bag, and attempted to fly. Being a 2 line kite, this sorry bag of air cannot stand for a self-launch, and so I ended up trying to launch by holding the lines below the bridle, and just pulling it into the air. After many attempts I managed a couple of launches. It was up! And down. It crumples at the slightest touch, it crashes in the slightest gust. It CANNOT turn without the leading edge folding like an empty bag of crisps. No matter what you do with the bridle, it cannot fly. I even resorted to attaching a thin spar along the leading edge in an attempt to keep the cells open, but alas, one light spar was too heavy for this flying bag of shame. Dear reader, learn from my error, these kites should be avoided at all costs, no matter how cheap they are. By : Rev 4-8