treetops

Blade III 4m last October, was out in very gusty conditions.. Flying along on my airdeck and stopped to go in the other direction. I wasn't watching the kite properly, and next thing I knew I was flying through the air and landed on my head and shoulder ( thank god for the helmet!) Spent 5 hours in casualty waiting for an x-ray. Shoulder still hurts occasionally now! The Power of the Blade.. When it bites you, it bites you!

ahh.. now I understand how it works.. cheers Rasga!

Been flying the Blade III 4m for a few months now, and getting into landboarding I am wanting to buy a bar for it. I'm sure I heard somewhere that you can't use the Blade II cross-over kit without rebridling the whole kite? Does anyone know if Flexifoil are planning on bringing out a cross-over kit for the Blade III? Do you lose that much manoeverability with the current Blade III bar without the x-over? Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I would be very wary about using a lid that the manufacturers describes as "aid to help protect against the elements eg wind, rain, cold etc".. I spent a while looking for a helmet for use on water and on land, and found that in the most instances they are either - or. The one helmet i found that can be used for both ( Wind Things in Edinburgh use them I think) is the Xtreme helmet. It's EEC approved which you need for land, and is also designed for kitesurfing ( has non absorbent foam and covers the back of the neck..) I spoke to a few shops about this, and they recommended it. £59 from most places, but that's peanuts if it saves your head.

apart from the footpads peeling off mines fine ( so far..) have replaced the rubbers for some decent ones though. footpads peeled off the first time out with it!

local bylaws in my park state that " no wheeled vehicles are permitted" wonder what the parky would say if you were using a sandboard?! I saw on that thread about sandboards that you can buy a cheap snowboard for £12 from sport and ski. Anyone know the URL? I reckon one of them with teflon paint on the bottom would be pretty good!

yeah, I don't really have a problem with just sticking the plate back down, just a little disappointed that a supposedly good brand is starting to fall apart after only one ride! just wondered if it was common.

should have added that I am very much a learner and haven't quite got the hang of tacking upwind yet, so have to kick it back with my feet...! bloody annoying when you push it with your foot and it won't go straight!

Has anyone else had problems with their non-slip footpad peeling off their Airdeck? Used mine once and it's coming off already.. Also, when you are pushing it back upwind with your foot, it steers to the left the whole time, the back wheels are not in line with the front wheels when not riding. Is this normal??!

i have been recommended the 3D Xtrm helmet. Is EEC approved. Looks pretty good too! Recommended for any use apart from Parachuting according to the distributor.. There is also a 3D Jingl, which is only for Land Use ( Xtrm is for water and land use) Try powerkiteshop.co.uk ( says xtrm is for water use only, but I checked and it's wrong apparently...

ahhh I see.. the penny has dropped. Kg/Lb!! i may be slow but I get there eventually..

reading the previous posts regarding line strength.. would the 225/135 lines I got with my Blade III not be suitable for buggying/ jumping in winds over 15Mph then?