Flexifoil Blade III 8.5M

My boy and me fly arcs quite a lot..... this has traditionally meant that 6-10mph has been a weird speed to fly in. The arcs make enough power for traction but not enough for me to jump... and nowhere near enough for Sam to compete in.

WE have sat and watched as people have had lovely air with the larger Blades, enough that we weakened and added one to the ever expanding collection in the garage.

Off we went to the kite emporium....... there was the Blade collection, tightly wrapped in the black straight jackets stopping them from savaging passing customers!

We gingerly lifted an 8.5m one down.... these kites demand respect.... never forget that!

The basic backpack that comes with the Blade is great, it contains the kite and handles/bar without taking up half of your car.....unlike certain kites!!! Ours came with heavy duty and colour coded Flexifoil lines which have not stretched or shown any sign of damage even after being put away wet and sand covered after a particularly "interesting" session.

Laying the kite out flat really shows where your money goes..... my gosh it's huge!! All the bridle lines look substantial and there seems to be enough of them. They are stopped from becoming too intimate in transit by the Croc clips in the centre of the trailing edge. These aren't rocket science, merely two bits of coloured velcro..... but SO handy!

We decided to stay with the bar that Sam is so used to flying with now.

This lead to a problem..... to say that an 8.5m turns slowly on a two line bar is to seriously understate the problem...... I have seen oil tankers turn in a tighter circle, and take less time to do it! We overcame this by fitting the flexifoil crossover kit. This wondrous collection of string and knots applies a little brake when turning..... this takes a little time to set up, even more if you retain the safety system as we have done.

The result of fitting it is to have the kite turning as fast or faster than a 6.6 blade without losing any power.... beware.... it CAN cut your bottom end by a few mph...depending on the setting you choose.

So, that's a bit about the settings and what you get.... what's it like to fly?

First tip...... learn to launch at the edge of the window for 10mph plus winds, otherwise you could REALLY get good at scudding! This kite will fly if you can feel a breeze, it will get you going on a board in 6+mph!

Second tip.... DO NOT attach the safety to your wrist.... the power this beast can have on the safety could easily do damage to you in the upper reaches of it's windrange.... it's different on handles, the strain goes through BOTH wrists then, giving even pull rather than spinning you to one side suddenly.

If you need to know the basics of launching and flying a kite then REALLY do NOT buy one, these are a real freestyle/experts kite, give it slightly too much wind and it will be lifting you very high with little or no warning. I can't remind you often enough in this short report that this kite needs to be respected!

They are fine, docile and predictable in steady low wind..... add some gustiness and things can change though.

So..... there you are, a great big blade sitting above your head at the zenith..... Move that kite! These are best not parked directly over your head, unless you are happy to suddenly find no floor under your feet. Keep it to an outside edge of the window and all will be well, if a gust should hit hen you just have a scud, much more acceptable. Step onto your board or strap yourself into your buggy, turn the kite down and lean back as you feel like someone replaced the kite with some kind of shunting train! The power is lovely, smooth and glitch free, pull the bar the other way and the kite starts to turn, lots of power all the way through the turn and as much feedback as anyone could ask for from the kite.

Don't want to jump just now? Fine, this kite will cruise you along happily all day.

Now.... this is where this kite REALLY excells..... AGAIN a warning DO NOT TRY THIS FIRST TIME OUT!!!!!

The wind is 10 - 14mph, people on arcs are starting to get farty little jumps going on.

Once the kite is up you will notice your arms being gently ripped from your shoulders as the kite lets you know it wants to go.. onto your transport and gently turn the kite down the edge to start you off...... get moving at a reasonable pace then turn it back up sharply.

Now look down at how pretty everything looks from up here!

Don't forget to redirect the kite to bring you down in a controlled slide through the air. The float available from this kite will make you giggle (once you are used to it!). We were out with it earlier this summer, Sam was flying it and having fun, nothing else was staying in the air.

He attempted a pendulum jump, we thought he was just burning energy.... virtually no wind. We had forgotten to take into account his 6.5 stone..... He went up..... and sat there with his feet at my head level... sort of hovering!

He put one hand at the end of the bar and let go with the other one to turn the kite and bring him down... ACE!

To sum up... buy one if you need to have a kite that flies in next to no wind. Buy one if you want to go really fast in a buggy or on a board. Buy one if you want an awesome fixed bridle freestyle kite. Buy one if you like to really feel the power of the wind in your hands.

One last time!

Respect the power this kite can produce, be careful in gusty conditions and don't let anyone who isn't already a competent flier have a play with it...... I don't want to sound like your Granny, but broken bones aren't fun!

By : adamski