Epik Pig 5M

Bought this kite a while ago of eBay whilst looking for a budget kite a bit bigger than my 4m Samurai.

So kite turned up quite quickly after ordering. Taking it out of the backpack that came with it the backpack immediately fell apart. Appeared to be a backpack bought off the market for a couple of quid and not really designed for the job that it was sent for. "Never mind" I thought "You don't fly the bag do you". Inside the bag was stuff sack containing the actual kite. Stuff sack was made of much sterner stuff, heavy grade ripstop sewn well and looked like it was built to last. Pulled kite out and unravelled. First impressions were that the kite was very sturdily sewn, but this had only been possible since the ripstop appeared to be much heavier than the other kites I had. Bridle was also of much heavier line than I was used to and looked like it would be prone to stretching. Bridle was also not of the cascade variety adding to the total weight. Handles seemed too light. Did not feel remarkably sturdy and holes where leader lines passed through appeared unusually sharp. Lines looked stretchy. Not overly impressed but hopeful, I packed the kite up and waited for wind.

First trip out with the kite - 10-15mph slightly gusty. Took the kite out of the bag unfolded and set up on lines and handles that came with the kite. Brake lines set to the middle setting as a first guess. Attached Ozone killers. Kite appeared to sit up OK once got it filled with air once and knocked out the packing wrinkles although a little lower on the ground than I was used to with my Sami. Walked back to handles ready for flight. Launching just didn't happen. First thoughts were that the brake lines were too tight so adjusted to maximum brake length. And tried to relaunch. Still nothing and brake lines still seemed too tight. Shortened powerlines by putting an extra knot in the leaders nearer the handles and now the kite seemed a little more responsive but when pulling on powerlines seemed like I was trying to steer through jelly. But at least it was in the air. Then wind died so packed up for the day.

2nd trip out was a bit more ready for the kite. 12mph winds. Had decided that the lines and handles were next to useless so ditched them and replaced with the lines and handles off my Sami. Also had made some 12 inch extenders for the brake lines out of some 200lb dyneema I had lying around. Reattached everything with extenders set to give me 8 inches longer on the brakelines than the kite had come with. Now the kite flew. Fairly easy launch and the kite worked its way up off the ground a couple of feet before gently falling back on its backside. After a few more tries realized that I had to turn the kite immediately it got off the ground and give it a bit of apparent wind speed to get it to move and ended up sine-ing it up through the power to the zenith. But the kite didn't really like to sit still. Had to keep moving in order to not fall out the sky like a sack of potatoes. On the plus side when it was moving it did have a surprising amount of power which I enjoyed with a few light jumps (and considering I'm 16 stone that's not too easy). Turning on brakes was not really needed so might as well have been flying a two line kite.

Decided to ditch handles and connect up to Ozone bar with a harness on. This setup seemed to really suit the kite and as long as you kept it moving it produced a nice steady flow of power. Best setup I found for the kite.

I've had the kite about 18 months now and to be honest I think I must have only used it about 5 times. A lot of that might be because I bought a Guerilla II but I don't think I would use it much anyway. It has a very narrow wind window and luffs easily at the edges. When it is its sweet windspeed range (about 12-16mph) it is quite a nice kite but I'd rather have a Blade at the end of the day. From what I have seen these kites were the forerunners of the Pansh kites as seeing a 5m Pansh the other day,that a fellow kiter was having trouble with, it had exactly the same problems as this kite, looked to be made out of the same materials, and the handles and lines were exactly the same. I may be wrong but they look the same to me (just different amounts of flames)

As a cheap kite they are OK but not what I would recommend to someone as a first kite as it could put them off for life if it wasn't set up right. And in the right winds its a bit too unexpectedly powerful, i.e. at 10mph it barely flies but at 16mph it is more like a 4.9m Blade and could hurt.

By : Jimneybob