frankm1960

First a bit about me: I'm a beginner kiter, 68kg. I used a 4 line traction kite with handles a couple times prior to the purchase of this kite. I've been flying the beamer for three weeks as of this review. I used the reviews on this website to make my decision to buy this kite. All my kiting to date is done on a froze river with hard pack to frozen/crusty snow conditions with some open ice spots using my snowboard, haven't tried skis and I may not cause I'm training to get on the water. I have 8 yrs alpine snow board exp and 17yrs windsurfing experience which I think is serving me well so far. My plan is to get on the water this summer with a fully depowerable kite of some sort, arc or bow, 2006 and newer. Packaging: Opened the package and was very pleased, kite was neetly folded and crisp as corn flakes, lines all neetly wound, everything packed within the really cool backpack. Bar was still in plastic, so I could tell this was new stuff and not some demo that was kicking around. Unlike the mountain board I recently got but thats another story 😐 Manual/dvd: The manual appeared way to short at first glance but turned out to be very complete and incredibly simple to follow. Within about a half hour I was confident I knew how to set up the kite. The dvd has a good demonstration of the safety features of the kite. The kite tuning instructions are real easy to follow as well. Setup: The next day was about 10kts. I found a good spot on the river and set up the kite as per instructions without a glitch. I used small sandbags and set them on the trailing edge to keep the kite from flying away. I Attached the brake lines first, power lines second, made sure the lines were not tangled which is real easy because the lines are real stiff. The colored lines make setup a lot easier (previous practice kite I tried did not have colored lines which was a pain). I think most kites now have colored lines. Attached the bar, attached the safety leash. I tested the safety leash a dozen times in my apt the night before so I knew I had it. First Launch: Once I was sure the lines were correct and the kite was perfectly downwind from me I gave it a bit of a tug and poof, the kite filled up and took off. That wasn't a good idea cause it's better to start the kite a bit to the side of the wind window, which is explained in the manual, when there's a good wind. It yanked me around hard but I got it to the top and was pleased, it flew easily and was very controllable. I let go of the bar to see what happened and just as the manual says, it came down and sat on it's trailing edge down wind, ready for re-launch. I manipulated the kite a bit to the side of the wind window this time before I relaunched. I tried the quick release (total release from the kite) and that worked as it should. I didn't plan that so good because it took a while for me to recover the kite Since then: I'm so pleased with this kite I can't say enough. I've put about 20hrs on the kite in the last 3wks and it works like a charm, no trouble at all. I don't worry about it lofting me at all. I've been out in excess of 25kts to date and working up to stronger winds. So far the kite has exceeded my expectations. It's got plenty of power that I could keep up with others on big kites (10 - 16M kites). Even in the light wind I could sometimes fly when the larger kites couldn't. That seemed strange to me but that's what happened. In the gusts I could easily keep up to big kites, but that was likely due to the fast snow conditions I'm guessing. I haven't had it out in deep soft snow yet. I have yet to use the harness but that's the next step. Conclusion: I feel Very safe using this kite so far. It's easy to fly, handles so nice and predictable. I'm glad I made this purchase. I'll be keeping this kite as part of my winter quiver. I hope the next kite I get for water surfing is as good as this one. PS: A friend of mine has been flying a two line 3M training kite for a while (bought it last year) and brought it out the other day and intended to use his skis with it. The wind was 15 - 25kts, -25 wind chill. He got the kite flying, stepped into his skis and before I knew the he was thrown violently to the ground and the kite drifted into the trees on the shore. He sat there for about a minute before moving. I didn't see it happen cause I had my back turned tending to my kite. I just turned around and saw his kite way away in the trees on the shore and he was sitting on his butt. We were concerned for a bit that he may have been hurt bad, it was that violent a spill. Why do I bring this up? Well, loaned him the beamer. I showed him the safety features, took 30seconds, and brought the kite down for him. He grabbed the bar and started some traction kiting. He was totally impressed. Within a minute of flying he got on his skis and took off. No hassle, no swearing, no frustration. Just pure flying and he was absolutely sold on the kite, he offered to buy it off me. It was that easy and that good a kite. He was absolutely amazed. To me that's a good product. I hope I get this lucky with my next kite. By : frankm1960