BenAli

After a few runs to the beach watching others and giving a try to somebody else's kite, decided it was my turn to get one and jump in the fray. The choice fell on the Radsail pro II 2m for mainly two reasons the first being the budget since I've found it for 99 euros at the decathlon shop, the second because I wanted something whose energy wouldn't have scud me around in light winds while training and would remain in use for high winds when starting to use the buggy. The package came in a backpack on which I agree with most of other reviews on the same kites, while the promo material and manual were just good for the recicle bin having already grasped the basics with the excellent how-to section of this site. The handles and bridles of the last version from Radsail are rather good on my opinion even though I've used the moulded caps for wrapping the lines only few times before start using parapacking (see further on this), but still think they are good to pack the whole thing for long trips. Since the very first time the kite looked fine and manufactured with sufficient accuracy. The only bad surprise was that the left brake line of the kite had the terminal of the same colour of the right one (green) but this is a minor mistake that I have forgiven within the first ten minutes. All the lines where the right length and the kite, once deployed on the ground with the brake line sides of the handles secured to the stake, sits half inflated without making a move until you wake it up flying. What can I say of a kite that came out of the bag since the first time and flew steady overhead without trying to overfly and never crashed unintentionally? I might have been lucky, but the training for me was very fast probably 'cause I had a sailing experience of more than thirty years and understanding of how a wing works and getting the feeling of it was a treat. After few days of static flying on the beach in Italy just few meters from my home place, I went to the middle of the Libyan Sahara (my actual workplace) with the kite and a buggy where I completed my familiarisation with both pieces of equipment. Here I found that in gusty wind, the kites as a slight tendency to be a bit "nervous" and I still need to keep an eye on it while making other manoeuvres like sitting on the buggy. This is the first time I've been using a buggy so that I can't yet make any comparison with other kites in terms of traction, but sure even with winds of 15-18 knots it gives me some hits of adrenaline on the rocky bottom we've got in this part of the desert. I've planned to purchase as the next kite a 3.5 m Cult from Ozone so that at that time I'll be able to make also some more significant conclusions by comparison. A nice addition I've made to the radsail set up, is an additional bag where I store the kite parapacking and that's why I'm no longer using the moulded caps unless I want to rationalise the stuff for a long trip. This allows me to be ready to take off in few minutes. The only suggestion I can give to those embarking into the adventure of parapacking, is that, when going downwind from the stake, if a portion of bridles come out from the bag appearing a bit tangled (i.e. loops of one line containing loops of another), just let it go for few feet and then grab the lines together with one hand and pull allowing them to slide a bit over each other, magic .... the loops are gone! and you can carry over with the rest of the job repeating the operation whenever required. I'll just add myself to the chorus of those saying that such kite is quite a bonus at such budget. Last but not least ... hope to come back again later on the same subject when I'll have gained some more experience and that somebody else can share these few impressions taking the decision to jump over the fence and go kiting. Cheers, Gianluigi (BenAli) By : BenAli