sassy666

Heres my review of Flexies blade IV 6.5m, any comments welcome. I brought this kite to start me off in the world of jumping and buggy freestyle, I have been playing around with straping my bullet 4.5m to the buggy and blitzin' up and down the coast ( something i dont recomend to beginers ! ) This was great but seeing people jumping and spinning with such ease just made green with envy, so after a chat with you people hear and the fella in the shop i decided on the blade. At the moment I've stuck it on normal 200kg/100kg lines with standard handles and kite killers just to fly it static and have some fun with before upgradeing lines and handles when i decide to try out freestyle buggying. I shall start at the top, the bag, a very strong and user friendly rucksack, the main compartment is of ample size and makes parapacking the kite easy, on the sides are 2 flaps each of which have 2 straps again ideal for the handles if you parapack and a zip up pocket that isnt really that usefull except for keys ect, Down the front is a seiries of diffrent size loops which although may be for show are great for hanging gloves on or wedging a groung steak through. All in all a very strong and robuse bag with many more features than my bullet bag. I will skip over the lines and handles as they dont come with the kite but will say all the lines are the same lenth coloured coded havn't stretched and the handles are comfy and again colour coded for ease of use. Now to the bad boy itself, I get it in midnight 1 because my wife has a petrol rage and 2 I have never seen a midnight flying in my local area and hey its nice to be diffrent. The moment I first pulled it out of the bag and layed it out my first impression was wow my second was ohh bridals they look a bit complex lets pray they aren't tangeled. I needent have worried in the center of the kite are 2 velcro croc clips which keep all the business end of the lines handy. so after atatching lines to the handles it was a simple case of red to red and blue to blue. I gave a little tug on the handles just to inflate it and with a race kite review in mind went to inspect my latest toy. First of all the quality of the stitching is great not one uneven line and all the ends finished really well, each cell is great and linked by a a seiries of holes between them to fully inflate and maintain canopy presure all look perfect and solid, The bridals are linked to the kite by a seires of loops and i did spend a bit of time to check these for equal distance, strenth and finish again all of which are really good. None of the bridals where tangled or twisted and sat there perfectly ready for inspection, I had all ready read up on the bridal ang wing adjustments which I will explain in a bit. The bridals again are good with the o-rings and adjusters of a really good quality so there is very little friction when the kite is in flight. The only down side and it is a petty one is over the knots and joints of the bridals they have put a yellow/brown glue over them i asume to stop fraying, but when your 20 meters away hanging on for dear life will you be thinking err that glue looks a bit odd............... I doubt it. Anyway enough of looking I grabed the handles put on the kite killers and pulled on the lines. Now to say there wasn't much wind was a bit of a understatement and wasn't holding out much hope of it inflating yet alown flying... But OMG with a couple of shakes on the lines and working it back and forth through the window it didnt just inflate but had me scudding and doing little hops OH HAPPY DAYS after about 10 mins i decided to land the kite and see what the diffrent settings give you. Basicly you can adjust the angle at which the kite sits. basicly on the max setting the kite is angled upwards creating a really punchy fun kite and on the lower setting it flatens the angle of attack which I would imagin will be handy when its blowing hard. the other adjustment is only found on the 6.5 and 8.5 to my understanding and this changes the turning rate again such a handy add on when like me i will be flying it solo and on a buggy and board. After a few more scuds and jumps i decided to pack up and wait for wind. I have had the kite for one week now and still no real wind although tuesday night wasn't bad had some real good hang time, and scuds out of the thing and in my opinion it is a wonderfuly predictable and forgiving kite without being tame. I would 10000% recomend this kite its super smooth and although not the cheapest on the market today it is great. I was nervouse of it at first now i JUST WANT MORE AND MORE WIND .Hmmmmmmmmmmm maybe a 8.5 next shhh dont tell the wife By : sassy666

This is my first kite and is the 05 model, previous modle may differ The kite comes with everything you need to fly, kite handles and lines and all in quite a well constructed racksack. Starting with the bag it has a double zip going over the top of the bag in a half moon shape makeing parapacking easier also there is a side pocket and adjustable strap to keep your handles and ground stake. Next the handles, these feel very strong yet light the is plenty of pading including over the power lines which makes the use of gloves not a esential, although i do use them in stronger winds. They also come with kite killers which again are of good quality and padding ( trust me you will need them if its your first time out on a buggy etc.) The lines are clearly marked and colour coded to make setting up very easy as I said before this was my first kite and had no trouble getting it right first time ( may have been lucky lol ) The kite itself is of very good quality and all the stitching and bridels give you loads of confidence from the off. It has velcro clips ( croc clips ) in the bottom center of the kite which are used to store the power and the brake lines both of which are colour coded again, although i havn't used these since new as on my first trip out i was tought to para pack Next flying: I will be honest the first time i took this kite out was in a feild down the road where i live in norfolk. As you may know norfolk is flat and the wind can blow fairly well, good you might say but as i had never flown a four line kite before and certianly not a power kite it was a eye opener into the power of these things. I will be honest after 5 or 6 flights with the kite i lost alot of confidence with it and found myself wishing i had started with a smaller kite, however all was not lost, a good friend also had a bullet 4.5 and after going out in sensible winds and up the coast the confidence came flooding back. Trust me this kite loves smooth winds and will drag you forever. Now that my confidence is at a all time high and have got into buggying with it I feel i can do a proper review of the kite. The kite is great if the wind is stable which is what the instructions tell you. if you like skudding then keep this kite moving in a figure of 8 ( on its side ) and this is a great kite. also on a buggy have it s-ing in the power window and it still does not disapoint. However turns in the buggy and static flying at the edge of the window can cause the kite to deflate and then reinflate close in on the power window, which can be nasty as my earlier buggying try outs show, but you soon get use to these and compensate for them conclusion for the ff bullet 4.5m is that it does exactly what the manufacturer says its a low lift traction engine designed for intermidate kite fliers although beginers with four line experiance in lighter winds will love the kite. Keep the kite working and the smile on your face will follow shortly ( then to will the muscles you never new you had ) dont let it get the chance to bite you and it wont. if it does let the kite killers do there job ( I have ). i hope this is usfull to someone and happy flying. By : sassy666

This review is on behalf of my wife as i brought this for her about two months ago as her 2nd kite. Weboth got into kiting about 18 months ago, I started with a 05 bullet 4.5m and she started with the sting 1.3m (ish). Over time she has lernt all the 4 line skills and it was not long till she want to be skuddin after laughing at me wizzing past her on the beach. So we decided to get more toys and i got a ff buggy and my wife got a ff rage 2.5m I have flown this kite only a hand full of times as I cant get a look in edge ways, my wife compleatly loves it, The whole package is there you get the kite handles lines kite killers ( recommended for beginers ) instructions etc. The kite its self is the usual quality you come to expect ie: lines are colour coded bridals look strong and well put together and the croc clips are there from the bullet the rucksack does the job to although there is no storage for your ground steak gloves etc and this really is mad (does anyone no why thy have stoped putting pockets on the rucksacks seems mad to me but hay) but on the plus side very good if you parapack your kites like we do. this kite really is great fun and seems very stable and also fast through the whole wind window, we found the kite didnt deflate as easy as the same size bullet towards the edge of the window. also i have used it to buggy in a strong wind ( sorry dont now how strong but fairly ) and if you work the kite it pulls me along quite happily and im 6 foot 6 On a whole i think every one should try one, a great starting kite or just a fun quick kite depending on your skill level also one last thing try just tweeking on the brakes it acts like a turbo good fun when chasing down your mate on his buggy i will be buying a larger one very soon next one up from my 4.5 bullet...... hope this helps a bit and happy kiting Now wheres that flexifoil link i want one By : sassy666