Flexifoil Sting 1.2M

Very funny! I made a comment in my last review that it would be kind of nice if Flexifoil produced a race kite for buggiers. The next kite I get to review is the Sting, Flexifoil's entry-level four-line trainer kite...

What is it?

Well it's 1.2m of Chikara Nylon with sleeved Dyneema bridles and two of the dinkiest little four line handles you ever did see. Thirteen fully vented cells coming in a four very jolly colours and the neatest drawstring bag. Surprise, surprise another nice package.

Getting it out of the bag!

Flexifoil are leaving very little to chance with this one. The kite comes out of the bag with the lines already attached (18m) to the kite and once unwound you would have to be profoundly stupid to fail to attach the red lines marked top and the grey lines with red flecks marked brake to the red handles – ditto with the blue handles. Kite killers, as ever, come as standard.

I am half expecting that with their next range of kites that a clone of Matt or Mike from Flexifoil will pop out of the bag and fly the damn thing for you – such is Flexifoil's dedication to ensuring that you can pretty much fly the kite out of the bag; until then a ground stake might be a nice idea next time. Sticker and repair voucher and you are pretty much there.

It looks nice a sort of mini-Bullet.

Small Kites

I love small kites. Big kites are slow, hard to turn and will happily carry you a long way up in the air when the conditions get tough. Small kites are quick, forgiving and in a decent wind will only dump you on your arse if you are not paying attention; they are always entertaining. This kite is, however, very small and you will need some serious wind to get some pull. My nine-year-old daughter was flying this very happily in 15-20mph winds.

Who to buy this for...

OK so no one with an ounce of kite cool will actually want to own one of these will they? I mean it's a "trainer" kite; that's a bit like going into a pub and asking for your pint in a Tommy Tippee cup – real men/women fly Blades and Bullets. Well there is a bit of that, but actually this kite kind of oozes serious credibility.

I mean two line kites are... well... soooh: newsagent/toyshop on the way to the beach on a windy day with the kids; and, while a Super 10 is great it's still a two line kite and unless you got lots of them it kind of lacks a bit of oomph. This however is a real kite; for a start its' got four lines and for a second it's a proper foil. It also does all the things that a proper foil can do; land, launch, reverse launch, turn on its axis and fly backwards – OK so its not very big and you are not going to get towed anywhere serious but that's not the point.

The scenario you need to fully appreciate this kite is as follows:

1. Bloody windy day

2. Beach

3. Some keen kids – two is great

4. Some other foil flyers on the beach with 3m kites (or above!)

5. A slightly knowing looking and confident flying style.

So having achieved all of these. Get Sting out. Give kids safety lecture and do some ground work. If anyone looks over this will establish your cool credentials (i.e. I did not buy this for myself …really…!) and the size of the kite will become less of an issue. The fact that the kite is sitting fully inflated on the brake lines means that you already know what you are doing. Launch kite and start doing some overly showy manoeuvres; brake turns etc. If you ever feel a bit lacking in credibility hand to a kid and "give a lesson". You may even want to say (reasonably loudly) – "Of course with a 4.9 you have to work the brakes a bit more to get the turn that tight".

Within minutes your credibility with kids is sky high – they are flying a "traction kite" (Dad's. Mum's, Uncles and Aunts please note). Your credibility with the other kite flyers is also rising as they are struggling to make their 3m kites do anything other than make them run forwards every time it gets into the window. If they are sufficiently far away they will not be able to tell what size it is but will see that it is a proper foil that you are making dance round the sky with consummate ease. Flown with the right degree of skill you can actually give a very convincing impression that you are on a day out with your family but can actually handle a 14m Wipika with little problems, or are more used to skimming down a very big beach at top speed in a Chameleon.

So this is a proper toy! And all the Dad's I met during the above day were: (a) itching to have a go; ( losing credibility by the second with their own kids; © already decided on what their father's day present was going to be.

But really... what's it like?

As a trainer kite I think that this succeeds really well. It does all the control things that a big kite does. The brakes actually work and are not just there for show and you can practice landings, turns and reverse take offs to your heart's content. It was great to use for practicing manoeuvres that you might think twice about with a bigger kite; such as walking though a tack turn and practicing low passes and down turns. It is a good deal less twitchy than most small kites and moves well through the air.

My daughter is becoming a very keen kiter and thought it was fantastic. On the second day with the kite she noticed that some boys of her own age were having some difficulties with a 2m Buster and immediately unpacked and launched the Sting on her own to show them how it should be done. She fell over three times as she was so busy looking over her shoulder to check out what the boys were doing – they eventually gave up – in shame, or so my daughter said!

Having said all this the problem with this is the same problem with all "recreational" foils having flown it a bit you will want something bigger and with lots more grunt. It also needs quite a bit of wind to fly well. Flexifoil make it clear that this is not for traction activities and I would certainly not feel confident using this as a very high wind kite for any traction activity. At ninety quid this is quite a bit of money for a kite that you will only really use down the beach and on picnics. It seems to be priced at the dad buying for son (ahem!) market.

Conclusions

If someone gave me one of these I would keep it. I might also buy one for a niece, nephew (if I was feeling very generous). As a birthday present for a guy who thinks he is a bit of an action man on the beach, this would also work. I would recommend this to anyone who is about to buy a Super 10 (this will take you a lot further a lot faster). Anyone who teaches kite flying should also get one. For Dads with age/toy issues this also might help a bit (ditto, to a lesser extent, Mums).

Having said all this my trip to the beach with the Sting proved that on a windy day there are a lot of people with big kites up in the air that do not have a clue what to do with them. They seem to spend a huge amount of time running forwards and very little time actually learning how to fly. I even saw one "cool dude” fly his 4m using just the bridles and his fingers….he looked very wicked with his face doing an ostrich impression in the sand. The Sting will not make you look stupid and may even make you look cool as you will be flying and learning a lot more than the guy with his arms over his head wondering how the hell he is going to get it on the ground again. On that basis alone a Sting might be a good investment!