mikeskor

Picture a never-ending almost perfectly flat, expanse of light brown, sun-scorched nothingness baked by 100 degree F. temperatures. This forbidding locale comprises the shores of the Sharm, a bay area near Yanbu Al-Baha, a fly-blown town on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. This is the only Saudi location marked on Race Kites' map of world locations. This expanse was once living coral. But over eons the water receded, the coral was flattened and worn smooth by wind, sun and sandstorm, leaving a gritty surface of small gravel, and seashell with the occasional small outcrop of resistant coral rock. This is where mikeskor and his MBS Comp 16 call home. I ordered the Comp 16 from Kite-High, an American online dealer for $450 U.S. plus $150 for express mail shipping to the college where I work. Less than two weeks later, I picked up a large rectangular box in the mail room. Clutching it tightly under one arm, I scurried off to my digs and ripped open the box. (I am after all a big impatient child of 56 with a new toy.) I had no idea what to expect. I'd waffled over what to order, having never even seen a mountain board before or anyone on one. Was it to be Core this or Comp that? Was it to be the biggest board or something smaller? I am, at 187 lb. unclothed (an unpleasant sight indeed), near the upper end of the prescribed weight for the Comp 16. Add clothes, pads and boots and I'm at the upper limit of 200 lb. In the end I ordered by price and image, thinking if I paid a little more for this racier model, the quality would be a little more. Later I found Race Kite's website and was vindicated. People said nice things about the Comp 16. I also vowed to keep my weight down by dieting. I didn't want to crush the thing. On ripping open the box, I found this shiny, black and blue thing, like a large skateboard, only without the wheels yet. In the centre of this simple uncluttered deck was a splash of white with the name mbs Comp 16 and a dark-blue graphic of an eagle in flight. It really wasn't very impressive. Also in the middle were holes to affix a grab handle Then there were the bindings! As a snowboarder, I could relate to these. They are the ratchet-type. You click them down until they are as tight as you like. Under the bindings, sandpaper material is glued. Your boot can be firmly fixed to the deck and won't move around. But as a new mountain boarder, this wasn't what I wanted. I wanted the bindings loose so that I could jump out quickly in case of imminent crash or loss of balance. And in fact, I did jump out quite regularly or fell out as my kite pulled me forward flipping the board over. As a result of these mishaps and not having the bindings tight, the padding on the bindings has become prematurely worn and frayed. As my balance and skills improve, I have developed the confidence to gradually make the bindings tighter and tighter, which give you wonderful control over the board's steering. Next I unpacked the wheels and tightened them onto the hubs, then released them half a turn so that they would spin freely. The instructions were fairly straight-forward. The 8-inch knobby tires came already inflated to about 50 psi. However, they don't look particularly robust. Nevertheless, after running them over quite sharp-looking coral rock without a puncture during the last six outings, I have to concede that they are holding up quite well and I am developing more confidence in them. One of the biggest problems initially for me, was that once I got mutant kite flying and pulling (I call my Venom 10m mutant because it has been patched so many times and has even had its broken battens replaced with aluminum tubing) and I was moving joyfully along on the board, I would inevitably put more pressure on the heel side and go upwind to places I did not want to go. Then I realized I could adjust the turnability of the board by depressing the springs using an allen key. By depressing the springs the board became harder to turn, and I went (more or less) in a straight line. Then it dawned on me that if I depressed the spring on the heel side more than on the toe side, I could make it harder to turn upwind and easier to turn downwind. Now I was really onto something. I've left the board with this turning bias and it works a treat. I can now steer anywhere I like. Initially, I was worried that the hubs might give way under my weight. The fear was there as I first practiced on the board in my living room while watching Martha Steward on TV. It was especially there when rattling over rough ground and rock. But this fear has proved to be unfounded. The board is robust enough to hold me but I'm not sure I would exceed the manufacturer's recommendation of 200 lb. This board is plenty fast, as fast as your nerve will allow (mine usually doesn't allow much.) And no speed wobble. I've lately just gotten up the nerve to go out on the road near my spot with it. During a three-hour stretch on weekdays, you might see one car on the road so it's safe enough. Nothing like humming down a deserted two-lane, highway with your kite pulling overhead. What a rush! The board goes upwind fine too, really as close to the wind as your kite and nerve will allow. I'd like to be able to make knowledgeable-sounding utterances on jumping using words like "pop" and "float" but I just can't. I'm not at that level yet and I don't know whether I ever will be. (I use a kite which is mainly too small for the wind conditions and short lines to boot.) I'm content just cruising around on my coral field and moving serenely up and down my deserted highway. Is this board worth the extra coin you pay for it? Definitely. I like it very much and feel I am getting my money's worth in sheer pleasure. The only thing I've been wracking my brain about is what exactly does "Comp" stand for? Is it "competent, composed, competitive or compelling ?" All of these might apply. For me though, in this lonely desert kingdom, it can only mean "companionable." By : mikeskor

I've been putting off writing a review about my Venom 10m until I have a little more experience landboarding with it. ( I've been out less than ten times as yet so I'm still at that shaky stage.) I originally bought the Venom for about $900 from Kite-line, an online dealer and had it shipped to Saudi Arabia where I work. The kite has mostly been used to learn kitesurfing. Lately, I've been landboarding with it. I've had it for about a year. I have two other kites, both LEI pump ups but I bought the Venom because I was never happy self-launching the other kites while alone. Something always seemed to go wrong. With the Venom my self-launches have almost always been successful. The kite hovers a little off the ground while it fills with air then it heads to the zenith. This procedure is generally gentle and predictable, so predictable and confidence inspiring that I have given up using the other kites altogether. And I love the fact that I no longer have to pump up the kite. With the Venom, you just open a zip at either end of the kite and it inflates automatically. To deflate the kite, you open a deflate zip, put the kite ends together and start rolling. Then slip it in the bag to put it away. I've flown the Venom in winds of anywhere from 9 kt. to perhaps 30 kt. on land and in the water. The kite will go up in very little wind. I vary the line lengths depending on wind strength. However, I use my 13 m. lines almost exclusively for landboarding in almost any winds. I like the control the short lines give. The kite seems to fly mostly on its front lines. It turns easily and seems to stay wherever you put it. I like the auto-zenith because you can do almost anything while the kite just hovers overhead. You can put on your kiteboard in the water or adjust the landboard trucks with an allen key, all with the kite hovering above. The kite just seems to give you confidence that it won't do anything unpredictable. I can get going what seems quite fast on my landboard, an MBS Comp 16, in very little wind. So little, that it would be almost impossible to launch my 12m LEI. Even in high winds of near 30 kt, I've tried landboarding because the kite is so stable. I'm just not ready though for the speeds I think you could attain in such conditions. I can't comment on jumping with this kite because I'm not at that level yet. But the way it seems to yank up my hook when I'm hooked in at 15kt., I'm sure it has a lot of lift. And I feel this even with my 13m lines. At 15 kt. with 23m lines, this kite will, when power stroked, initiate a water start and I weigh 90kg. So I guess there's ample power there. I've crashed this kite on land a few times, always my fault. On one occasion, the kite ripped and the strut broke. I patched the kite with a long piece of sail tape and fused the strut together with a plastic collar and screwdriver shaft. It seems to fly fine again. On occasion, I've made a mess of the launch and the kite has twisted into an unpleasant bowtie shape. I've landed the kite, sorted out the problem and relaunched. If the kite lands on water, in high winds it will almost always relaunch easily. However, in low winds there can be a problem. The ends stick together and almost no amount of tugging on various lines can get them apart. Water can enter the kite, making it almost impossible to relaunch, at least for me. Then I have to wind in the lines and drag the soggy kite to land where I let out the water. This ordeal can be an unpleasant mess. The bar that comes with the kite is pleasant to hold and the bag a very good quality. It expands long so that you can put the kite with struts in it. Despite some drawbacks, I would recommend the Venom 10 for landboarding and kiteboarding. It is my favorite kite. I plan to sell my other kites. If I destroyed the Venom entirely in my clumsy way, I think I would buy another Venom 10 and use it as my one and only kite. By : mikeskor