ish

If swinging the kite to the left, then run to your right and forwards slightly. - You'll then be leavering against the power of the kite, rather than pulling against it. Be very carefull though as when you to catch it correctly, you'll find yourself off balance when you come to land!

The blade III is a great kite... but don't be lured to think it's the only kite you are going to have fun with. A Blade will fly exremely well through the air, it won't pull consistently hard, but with a gust of wind it can pull you straight off your feet... it's a kite that accelerates with lift instantaniously.. Something like a LD, Bullet or Samurai will provide you with a constant pull. - It won't have as much lift as a blade, but this is not necessarily a bad thing if you not an extremist My first power kite was a Blade III 6.6. i had experience flying other kites and always flew under instruction for the first few times. - I've now sold my blade as where i fly, the winds are gusty and i have been picked up and dumped by the blade. - It's not my cup of tea... I use my 9m LD as my recreational kite, I'm not bored. Hope this is help.

I personally wouldn't worry too much about shin guards. - I think they're more for bikes / motorbikes where the pedal / foot guard could damage your shin if you slip. I don't think you'll take any impact or grazes on your shins.. it will be one of the spikes of your body, i.e. knee, elbow, shoulder etc.

They will be traded in for beer and women in a couple of years

Hi, I've just sold up my stock of land kites to get into kitesurfing! - I've decided to go down the WRF route. I've narrowed my choices down to a flysurfer (titan?) and Guerilla. From what i've read the guerilla is more difficult to self launch / land... so i'm swaying towards the flysurfers. I'm 13 stone, flown big blades etc. with land boarding experience... I've only briefly flown a depowerable 12m frenzy... I've been recommended a kite size between 12-14m, so have been looking at the 12.5 titan and 13m Guerilla. - Would a 15.5 titan be too big? - Presumably a Psycho would be too much to start kitesurfing? I'd be grateful for your thoughts!

Have a look under the term 'travel bag' on ebay. - I've noticed they've had a few 48" bags on there for sub £10.

I'm a fickle lad. LEI's now interest me! Why are LEI's so cheap second hand? I see some people have recommended Co2's. - Any other recommendations? - I basically want a decent start kite that i'm not gonna get bored with, but want to utilise my experience with larger kites on land. PS - Thanks for everyone's advice so far.

Horsham! - Where abouts are you? + Do you fly in Shoreham? I haven't really investigated LEI's and didn't realise they were that cheap. I do understand having someone to help the first few times i fly, but like the idea of being independant just incase there's no one around. Stupid question, but are LEI's depowerable? PS - Cheers for everyone who's replied so far.

Hey Guys, I've been landboarding for a while now and want to get into kitesurfing. I have briefly flown a depowerable (12m frenzy 03) and want to go down the closed foil + depowerable route instead of LEI. The main kites I board with are my Blade 6.6 and 9m Little Devil. - I like the predictablity of the LD (but only because I've been bitten by the blade and chewed by the hard ground ) and not a complete nutter (rarely do jumps on the board!) - Although getting decent air on the water is quite appealing. I'm 13 stone and probably looking to sell my blade to fund the majority of the kite (around £300) + would want to buy second hand. My initial feeling is that i would learn in lower winds. Any recomendations?

How do you find it difficult to board with the 4.9? - Do you find that you get 'yanked off' (not hating americans, but pulled off the board whislt the board is still)? I had this problem with my 6.6, until i watched a few others board. - I found the trick was to stay fairly rigid when dropping the kite into the power zone, so the energy / pull of the kite got transfered from my upper body, to legs, feet then movement.. rather than upper body, bent knees then chin into the ground!

Ive just got a 9m LD to use as an alterative to my Blade 6.6 for boarding. - The LD rocks, especially in the lumpy winds i fly in. - But then everyone's different, the 6.6 is an awsome kite, but i prefer the stability of the LD. - What kinda stuff do you do, recreational, board or buggy?

Go for an MBS Core 16.. (Currently around £225) and well worth the the extra £25 if you can give or take £20! - Excellent trucks, very springy deck and light. - Everyone who i've had try one have said it's the best board they've ridden.

Hmm, I've got a core 16, but they use the same matrix truck. - I've had the wheel off already due to a puncture, but didn't have any spacers... - The hub should split in two with a bearing in each side. The trucks contain nylon lock nuts, so there's no need to overtighten. Saying that, no matter how hard you do up the bolt, the wheels should spin due to the nature of the bearing. Do all the wheels wobble? Does the wheel move side to side with free play between the axel shaft and bolt? - if so then there's a spacing problem. Or does the wheel sit snuggly, but the wheels wobble? - This could be a fault with the hub, i.e. bearing has been pushed out of it's seat, not sitting at 90 degrees to the axel.

i ordered some pads with wiggle.com and had to send them back as they were hulk size. - The service was excellent + seem to be one of a few websites that give feedback if products are in stock etc.

Hmm, interesting i've been having similar problems with my 6.6; in my flying spot (horsham, west sussex - kinda nr tadworth).. the 6.6 was awsome in the winter months, but now the trees in the area have leaves, it makes the flying really gusty + swirly.. got a 9m LD on its way so interested to see how that does in the summer winds.

I used to motorbike + had all the protective gear.. decent set of leathers, boots + good helmet... all for my saftey in the unlikely event of me coming off. And then i get into kiting, flying with no helmet or pads etc! - until i got picked up by a gust and landed very badly, smack my head on the ground... Luckily, i was ok.. and thought of this as a yellow card from the big man in the sky In my view, kiting is more dangerious than motorbiking, i always wear a helment + pads. I'd rather do this than drink dinner through a straw every night.

Was learning to do pendulum jumps and caught a gust of wind with my 6.6... got whipped around in the air and landed on my side - my head bouncing off the ground, knackering my elbows.. - Ouuchh! - I wear a helmet + pads now!

Hi Scooby, Do you know what kind of wind speed it takes to inflate the Neptune? /Ish

FYI, I spoke to the helpfull chaps at www.atmospherekites.com who gave some excellent advice below. There are a few differences between the Bego and Neptune apart form the venting, but mainly minor handling characteristics Neptunes are extremely stable because of the inflated style of the canopy - you will seriously have to work very very hard to get any luffing. It stays fully inflated throughout the window, especially at the edges so will give very stable low wind performance ( sub 6mph) but is slower through the air than a Bego. Not much, but a bit - this is good for boarding though and used abroad a lot for boards Obviously the Neptune is excellent on water and can be used up to much higher wind speeds than the Bego . I put my Bego away after about 13mph of wind where I have seen people using 20mph plus on water with the Neptune Mac versus Blade. Right the Mac involves a little bit more input from the flyer than the Blade but will give a lot more back. Having done a number of comparisons with the 6.6 people say it has quite a bit more power - as to the 8.5 ?? Depends who is flying it, how experienced they are at flying Begos and how old the Bego is ( I know that sounds odd but they develop more power the more they are used - my 2 year old Bego is better than my brand new demo - its all to do with settling down)

Cheers k, thanks for your comments

Hi All, I'm considering replacing my bladeIII 6.6 with something having a bit more low end grunt and stability. I've considered the blade 8.5, but quite impressed with what i've read about the bego 600. I mainly do landboarding with a view to get into kitesurfing and noticed that the neptune is the same architecture as the bego, but with a closed LE... so in my view, an ideal kite to use on land and to take + learn on water. Does anyone have any experiences of flying both? + is there any performance loss between them? Cheers! /Ish