Ozone Haka 5M

The kite package: The standard hakas come with ozone's new 20m lines, handles, bag (the bag is a new design and is half way between a riot bag and a samurai 2 bag). I advise purchasing a set of kite killers, the hakas are very powerful and it's always nice to have that fail safe.

The Kite:
The haka is a very good looking kite IMHO. It is a high aspect kite meaning its long and thin and very high in performance. The 5m I own had a couple of issues when I first unpacked it all though its previous owner seemed oblivious to them. Namely the fact it kept back stalling and it was like trying to fly a de-power unhooked with the power on full. What sorted it was tying a knot about 2 or 3 inches further up than the knot made by ozone on the power bridles (picture bellow shows what i mean). As with all kites the brakes may need to be adjusted to suit your flying style though the haka doesn't need it as it's designed to fly on the power. I have only flown my statically which is not what its designed for but I have had very little time to actually board with it. It was designed by a freestyle buggier and is a freestyle kite for boarders and buggier's alike.

Flying it:
The haka relies on air speed passing over the wing to keep it air born; meaning it doesn't fly like other traction kites. With the kite propped up a sharp tug and a left or right turn will get it moving in the sky. What is noticeable about it is it won't shoot to the top of the window like other kites and that's because of its design and the requirement for the moving air over the wing. This is why many have struggled, other kites generally just give them a yank and whoosh up they go but the hakas require a lot of rider input and need to be actually 'flown'. Once moving it's brilliant, I flew mine the other day in winds 0-7 ish MPH and is was pulling me around plenty. In wind maxing 20 MPH I was cautiously jumping with it and I did a 5 foot jump and floated about 4 or 5 meters forward. Obviously it's capable of much more but it was my first flight.

Characteristics:
Floaty, lifty, more stable than a blade but not as much pop which is not a bad compromise to me.

Sum up:
I'm happy with mine I know others aren't keen on them but I am happy with mine. Once you grasp the technique of flying it, it's a brilliant kite and im sure it has a lot to offer. Mine is a 5m; the larger 7m and 9m required a mod to be done to the bridles to improve the stability but the factory have now started building the mod into the hakas so it only applies to early models.