chewy

Excellent news. Thanks again. Purley way, though, appears to be a road...?

Thank you so much for the speedy replies. London -> Rye 1.52 by train, with a couple of miles to walk to the beach. £20 for a cheap day return, though. Ouch! Is Camber quite busy this time of year?

I've been riding in Primrose Hill for a while, and sometimes make it down to the Witterings. However, I'm sniffing around for a much bigger kite. I'm thinking 15m(ish). So, I'll need a lot more space, and the Witterings aren't ideal to get to on a regular basis. So, can anyone recommend somewhere for a relatively new boarder to play around safely, with lots of free space? Beaches are preferred (I like sand), but if there are any big parks/open areas you can think of, I'd also be extremely interested in knowing about them. Thanks in advance for any advice..

I've got the 5m beamer. It's lots of fun in low winds (5mph) and will let you scud a little bit. The lift's crap in low winds, though, and you do have to work it quite hard around the window to get much out of it. I've flown a little with it, but that was in strongish winds, and it was very floaty. The lines that come with it are great. The bag and handles not so much. The bag shredded after a week, and the handles gave me blisters. I could have bought some neoprene to fix them, but I ended up buying flexifoils w/ kitekillers. It's much more about the pull than the lift, though. And it pulls like a herd of donkeys (in the good way).

I've sold old games for the xbox on ebay, and got more than £40 for them, when I've seen in the the shops for under £25. People assume that because it's on ebay, it's a bargain. Silly internet bidders.

Given the almost daily occurence (occurAnce?) of bego vs blade threads, perhaps there should be another section created specifically for these discussions?

Listing the kites there like that, B has to be the favourite first letter for a kite, right? Blade, Bullet, Buster, Bego, Beamer, Bora, B3, B4. Do any others letters even come close?

I've got a Kheo Air-S. It's fairly solid, but light enough for tricks (7.5kg). I've done a little downhill on it, and got a little (very little) air with it. I paid £170 and it's doing the job for me. It's the only board I've ever used, though, so I don't know how others would compare, but it seems to be perfectly suitable for learning on.

I started by flying left to right (or right to left) at about 10ft off the ground to get an idea of where the pull was. At that height, it's almost all the way across the window, though, which is nice, but if you don't work it in the middle you end up with long slides that break left and right, which leaves some cool patterns

Heh. Yeah. Sorry. I should have mentioned that I've only flown a 6.6 Blade III. Never flown the Bego or the 8.5 so I can't compare. Apologies for sending you down the garden path..

Check out the Bego, then. Apparently, the best light wind kite around. Have a read of this before committing to the blade: http://www.racekites.com/reviews/kite_mac_bego600_3.asp

Only if there are purple/pink stripes involved, too. Actually, in other news, I was thinking about hooking up some el-wire to my kite for night-flying. Has anyone tried this?

Got it. I was being a fool. Thanks DMB.

Uhm, I'm attaching them exactly as you describe. But to take them off (unless I'm missing something) I have to detach the handles from the brake lines, remove the KKs, and re-attach the brake lines. Ok, it's not -that- much of a hassle. I'm just painfully lazy.

D'oh. Brilliant. Thanks.

Exactly, Tim. I couldn't agree more. It's easy for a beginner to be overwhelmed in 5mph winds that gust to 10 for the first few flights. My girlfriend is tiny, and loves being picked up and thrown around in 8mph winds (by the kite), but feels really nervous without the kite killers, even though she's never had to use them. I think it's partly psychological. I put them on even in 5mph, because, well, better safe than sorry. Plus, it's a hassle undoing the brake lines to take them off and then put them back on

I like's em. A lot of people say that you shouldn't need them, because you shouldn't fly in conditions you don't feel comfortable in, but I consider them vital for beginners (i.e. me), because they give you that extra confidence to push the limit, knowing that if you let go, the kite won't end up in a tree/horrible tangle/both/worse. They can be a bit annoying at times (easy to tangle), but I always hook them up, even in low winds. Better safe than sorry. I'm sure that eventually I'll stop using them, but my friends are quite comfortable flying a 5m kite with them, knowing that they can just let go if they're freaking out.

What size Beamer, Chom? I've got the 5m, and I'm having trouble getting any lift off it (at least in low winds). Can you supply any tips for me, please?

Absolutely. The 5m is for very light winds. Apologies if I didn't make that clear. In another thread over in the the Newbie Q&A there's mention of a board/pads/helmet/kite package or two. check it out. I think it's called '3.6m Beamer' or similar.

I'm new to boarding, and bought a Kheo Air-S and an HQ Beamer 5m. I also spent a little extra on flexifoil handles, which really make a difference (the beamer stock ones are awful). The 5m kite is entirely manageable in winds up to 15mph, which is all I really want to be out in right now, and it means I can get powered and learn about balance in winds as slow as 7/8mph. The Beamer comes with lines, handles and a rucksack (although the sack is very bad quality, but the kite is excellent) and the Air-S is so flexible, and seems very easy to steer. I was silly, and didn't do try-before-you-buy, but did do a lot of reading on www.kiteatb.co.uk, www.racekites.com, these forums, and spoke to a couple of shops on the phone, just asking for advice on a cheap easy setup. For me, living in NW London, I get to play on Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath. There isn't a huge amount of wind on either of these parks - at least, not where there's also lots of flat ground and no trees - so a nice big kite is what I needed. I know 5m sounds big, but it's really not. If you get a 3/4m kite, you'll be wanting something bigger within a month. Spend the extra few pounds and get something a little bigger, and start in lighter winds. As the others say, too, buy a kite first, and just learn to fly it. Go to places where other people fly, and speak to them about boards and flying technique. Argos do a (very) crappy board for £30. I've used it on playing fields, and whilst I wouldn't want to get air, it really is a very cheap way to practice balance and slow moving before committing a lot of money to a 'real' board. Read reviews, and work out what's best for you. I'm 12 stone (tall and skinny), and the Air-S weighs 7.5 kilos, so I needed something quite light and easy to manage. Apparently the Air-S can suffer from 'speeed wobble' but I'm not planning on lots of speed. If speed's what you're after, however, something else would probably be more suitable for you. The best advice I can give is to read lots and speak to as many people as you can. Also, don't worry too much about lift vs traction for your first kite. You'll probably need to spend at least a couple of months just learning how to move before you jump, at which time you'll have a much better idea of how different kites perform. Finally, don't forget insurance. Oh, and I re-iterate, I'm totally new to this, so what I say might be completely wrong - I'm just trying to share my start-up experiences. I hope they're of some use.