in the red corner is the heavy weight big cheese weiging in at a shocking 379.95 pounds. sure to scare away all but the serious contenders. Trained and prepared by non other than the great kite designer andy preston.
in the blue corner we have that fiesty little spanish under dog weighing in at a mere 139.99. a slip of its rival and not anywhere near as intimidating. managed and coached by errr again andy preston umm.
ok we have all herd comparrisons between these kites and ive read them all. well i am going to look at it from a comletely new angle i will probobally take a few liberties and contradict a few peoples beleifs but for a moment forget the stigma and listen to reason
there has long since been a divide between the Budget kite and the Quality kite. we have all herd terms like "get what you pay for" "cheep and cheerful" "great for beginners" "cut your teath on" "a cheap alternative" i decided to take an imparshal look into what all this means. so lets look at the stats
both these kites are designed by the same person so we can assume the same time care and effort was put into them. sure enough the designs are different and the blade is higher in aspect ratio but wew are not looking at this we are simply looking at what it would mean to buy either.
so they compare equally in design that leaves quality of materials and construction and handling.
lets look at quality and construction
why do we want better quality? so it looks better and lasts longer am i right. understandadly there are different grades of material, but we are looking at the end result. So i phoned a few kite dealers and they all told me that neither of the kites were returned in droves. suggesting that neither has any majour floors though there have been a few on both sides returned. so we know all batches have bad examples. one of them told me that as the radsails are cheaper they sell more and therfore have had more returned this however compared equally to any brand of kite mesuring amount returned for every hundred sold thats even taking in to count that you would generally take greater care of a kite costing closer to 400 quid. it is true to say that based on appearances the radsail is roughly sewn together where as the blade is fairly neat. because we can't test exactly how long each kite will last im going to give the point to the blade in theory it may last longer.
handling
why is this important. lots of people will say this kite handles better than this one and so on. but face it, it comes down to purpose. weather you are boarding, scudding, static, jumping its simple, can the kite do what you want. will it pull you will it lift you wil it drag you and so on and i think its safe to say yes they both do otherwise no one would buy either.
sure enough people will argue that one is fater stronger or turns quicker than the other but what does that give you. i spoke to two guys at my local beach one flying a 5m radsail and one flying a 4.9 blade both riding mountain boards. i asked them both to describe their days flying and both stories were simmilar "wow great wind tonnes of speed up the beach a few scary moments" etc. both were grinning like mad men and keen to get back out there.
ok so i suppose i have to give another point to the blade. again we cant prove anything as the two kiters i saw looked evenly mached but we will assume the blade was a bit quicker stronger and faster.
in summary
the blade appears to win hands down but look again quality blade may, (not proven) last longer but then with the money you saved buying the radsail you could buy another if it did fail and still have saved a hundred quid. as for looks of the two kites on the beach i couldnt see either's stitching at 25m so who cares.
secondly handling
both kites met their purpose and both kiters had fun (main aim) their non kiting partners probably wouldnt notice any decernable difference or care that the blade pulled faster and stronger meaning its rider topped 25mph on his board where as the rad pilot only hit 22mph i suppose you could say that greater handling statisticks will mean greater useabilty (time in the air) but again cosidering with the money saved you could buy a radsail pro 3m and a 2.5m and have three kites giving a much bigger wind range and flexability and of course spare handles and lines an another bag should you need them. so i think really its not a question of which kite is best its more about competition and status, people pay the money to be better than the next guy or so they are not thought as, as cheap. in material cost i really dont think that blade is worth in materials what they charge for it the profit made on one kite will be more than the radsail and therfore in my oppinion think the radsail is a better value for money it will give you practically the same experiance at a fraction of the cost.
i think if they cost the same we'd all buy the blade but they don't. so i think its time we all stopped running these great kites down saying "good for a budget kite" "great for beginners" they are good full stop and undoubtedly a better deal than the dearer option.
i challenge anyone to show me somthing that their flexifoil can do that my radsails cant thats woth the extra 200 odd quid. its just madness and with the new extreme range they have even sorted the handles out. so go and buy a radsail and spend the money you save on your wife/ husband it might just save your marriage.
please feel free to express the full range of your views as all are welcome and i truly wish someone could tell me why its worth paying more
i challenge you convert me if you can.
By : DNash
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