kiteflyernmt

Seattle Airgear is an individually owned company out of Seattle, WA that manufactures dual-line parafoil kites of their own design. Their website, www.seattleairgear.com, contains a labyrinth of information and opinions on the kiting industry and can be quite a pain to navigate. Aside from this, however, they do make a good kite. Their model range is the WindDance 1, 2 and 3. This review is specific to the WindDance 2, which I have flown over the past 4 years. The build quality of the kite is very good, but not perfect. The seams could have been done slightly better, but in their current state, I have no doubts about the kite's integrity. The crossover bridle system used seems like a lot for such a small kite, but it does work quite well and the kite holds its shape nicely. There are two loops attached to the trailing edge which are used to secure the bridle lines for storage (a nice feature) and can also be used to attach tails to. Flying it with 10m tails looks quite beautiful. The tails also have the benifit of slowing the kite down and taming it if the wind is a little high for your tastes. The handles included with the kite are simple wooden dowels as long as your hand is wide, with the straps attached to the middle. While they seem somewhat odd, they are actually very comfortable. General flying with kite is very nice. It can be nice and relaxing or keep you on your toes, depending on the wind conditions. As their website advertises, it flies very fast. Their site provides a movie for download of the WindDance 1 which shows just how fast it can move through the air. The larger models, the 2 and 3, move a little bit slower due to their increased size, but are still very fast in their own respect. Another video shown on their websites illustrates the "trick" of running it downward at full speed and slamming it into the ground. "Wouldn't this blow out the cells?" you ask? Well, I've probably ran mine into the ground as fast as I could at least 30-40 times, and it has NEVER been damaged in the slightest way. In fact, if you hit the ground just right, it will create a very low frequency, loud thump which you will feel in your chest and will attract attention from everyone around you instantly, then it will bounce right back up and you can keep on flying. The turning characteristics of this kite are also unique. Most notable is that it pulls harder in a turn than flying straight. This will likely result in your arms being a bit more sore than from other kites, but it can be a nice workout. Also, it turns EXTREMELY sharply. It is capable of turning sharp enough so that the tip of the trailing edge stays in place while the kite pivots around it. Quite amazing. It also does not tend to luff when going through these turns, though if you put it through more than a single loop it will slow down some. The kite provides a fair amount of power in heavier winds, but nothing too drastic. The strongest I have flown it in is approx. 20mph, at which point I was really having to lean back or sit down on the ground to keep it from pulling me forward. It didn't have enough power to scud with, unfortunately. It is in these windy conditions that I have found what I consider to be the only flaw in the kite. As mentioned before, the kite is designed to pull stronger when it is in a turn than flying straight. While this does provide a much different feel from other kites, it obviously puts more strain on one line than the other. As a result, I have snapped 150lb line three times, always when in a turn and always on the line which I'm pulling back. I consulted the owner/designer of the kite and asked if it would be okay to use stronger line, and he advised against it, saying that he designed the bridle while only considering up to 150lb flying lines. Too bad. It could be capable of more. On a side note, one of the options offered (for free) when you purchase the kite is what they call "bumpy wind" adapters, which is nothing more than two 3m pieces of thicker line that have more stretch than normal line. While these do reduce the amount of control, resulting in your movements needing to be larger, they definitely reduce the effects of gusty winds. There are no longer any sharp jolts from a gust, very nice. Overall, it is a fun kite for the days when you wouldn't want to be dragged around, or if it is a bit too windy for your big power foils. While the power of the kite isn't as exciting as the larger kites out there, its speed makes up for it. I give it an 8 of 10. By : kiteflyernmt