chixwithtrix

A little background on me before I start to give you a better idea. I have had a few flights on a Naish inflatable 12m kitesurf kite. Sent me sprawling 30 feet downwind across a beach. I am female and weigh 145 pounds (I live in the US). I will say now that this review is reviewing the kite thouroughly from my perspective...and to do this I will pretty much tell a story. If you don't want all the details scroll to the bottom for the overview of this great kite. If you have some time, then enjoy the rest! It got to be winter and I got a wild hare to get a foil kite and a mountainboard. I ordered a 5.5 Flexifoil Bullet. I was going to go with the 4.5, but the shop was out and I was able to get the 5.5 for the price of a discounted 4.5 Bullet. In the meantime I bought a 1.5m Boomer 2 line kite and messed with that in 15-30mph wind. Now for the review of the Bullet 5.5. It came in and the packaging was great, unfolded it and noted how nicely it was made and how light it was. That may be biased because my small kite is made out of heavier stuff and the inflatable is heavy. I ordered the bar one, not handles. The first flight was at dusk since I wanted to fly it in low wind and get a feel for it the 1st time. Very simple with the bar, pull and shes in the air. Amazing pull for such low wind(around 5-8mph). I had to jump over some small obstacles where I was flying...all I needed to do was fly it into the power zone and gracefully cleared 2 ft tall things. Landing soft. In the low wind she didn't want to turn too quickly...not a surprise for a large kite. Next flight I flew it in about 10-12 mph winds in between trees in a park. This was the first time I got a taste of the power. Unraveled the lines and hooked up the bridles. Ran back to the bar and yanked. Pulling as soon as she filled with air straight up to the zenith. At the top it parked well, pulling only a bit. The wind was a bit jittey and swirly inbetween the trees so it would get some mixed signals. Tried to overfly behind me a few times. She luffed and I backed up to get in front of it again and she filled happily with air. Turning was much improved in these winds. I sat down and let it drag me around on my back filling my clothes with grass stains. My first jump: sat up and brought it low and then up into the power zone. RIP..I was into the air so fast I didn't know what hit me. It felt like I was 8-9 feet into the air, but in reality it was probably about 6 feet up and probable 8-10 feet long. I held on, mostly forgot where the kite was, then impacted with the ground. I am glad that the Bullet it a docile kite because I wasn't doing much imputs on the bar in the air, heh. Landing was a bit rough...since I didn't steer the kite. Dropped me and I was able to keep my feet under me for a few steps and then collapsed onto my right leg/knee and slid to a stop. Steered it back to the other side of the window and sat panting. Tried to fly some more but the wind was changing directions and I didn't have much room to move. Landed and packed quickly. Today I flew it before work for about 30 minutes. Wind was 15-18mph. I was in a large soccer field this time. Launched so easily by myself downwind. Was sitting down and it was pulling me easily with my heels locked. Brought it back and fourth across the window for the first 5 mins getting a feel for her in the higher winds. Lots of pull, but not a huge amount of lift to catch you off guard. I was able to feel when a good jump pull was coming, it didn't just happen all at once. Parked it at the zenith and I could feel it pulling a bit more up...nothing I could be lifted with...just a bit noticable. Then I flew it to jump it, got more agressive in turning and pulling through the window. Left-Right-back again straight downwind and I knew it was going to be a big pull. From laying back, it went through the power, pulled me onto my crouching feet and I pushed up into the air and this time I jumped far. Probably about 6-7 foot tall jump, but much farther down at about 15-20 feet from where I began. I tried to steer her more in the air, but it still drifted to the edge of the windowand I had another hard landing, slid onto my right side and almost lost the kite into the ground. Just pulled on the left side of the bar and the Bullet gracefully turned back into the wind while I recovered. The few times I did crash, the Bulet was EXTREMELY easy to launch backwards/flip rightside up. The way I did it was hold the bar with one hand and pull the brake lines until it rose into the air, pulled on one side of the bar and it easily steered upright. That impressed me. I also took this flight to test out the rear brake likes on a panic let-go. I sat down adn let it go into power, then just let go of the bar with the leash attatched to my wrist. Instantly the kite dies and blows to the ground in a bunch. The panic let go was extremely soft with the elastic leash...didn't pull my arm at all. Well, didn't fly much longer, had another large jump after some pulls across the field. Hit the brakes and it floated to the ground. That was enough for 30 minuted before work. More grass stains, a terribly bruised right leg (about the size of my hand bruise) and a big toenail ripped off and bleeding from hitting the front of my shoe when landing/scudding. I have not used the board, and probably will not for a long time. I also have a water harness that I might try when I feel more comfortable because my arms are ususally over my head when flying in good wind. Overview: Kite was very docile in low wind and mid wind to high it started to be more of an animal. Was easy to read, didn't like to luff much and was easy to recover from a fall. Not incredible pull, but a lot to respect. Not extremely high jumps, but long. Graceful and very enjoyable, yet can be scary and out of control if you let it. Fly away from obstacles because the jumps tend to go far from the starting point. I was scared of it at first since it pull my weight around like a truck, but found that with practice it will get easier. It did bite me a bit, seeing as I have not had a WHOLE lot of kite experience (first large foil). Re-launch is so easy it isn't funny. I guess I am a bit jaded from trying to re-launch the water kites(def. not as easy). The bar is nice enough for my tastes and I like how it is color coded. Less nice than my carbon full depower bar, but like I said...works well for me. I think it was a good buy for the usually lower wind here inland on the south of the US. I would like to get a 3.5 meter Bullet/Samuri/etc for a less brutal kite in higher wind. I hope you didn't get too bored with the story/review , and hope that it helps you out in your decision. If this is your first kite...go smaller! I should have, but I cannot say I regret this buy for how cheap it was. Nice construction, price, flying, and fun. By : chixwithtrix