Pansh Ace 8M

Righy ho, looks like im gonna be the first one to write a review on the mighty Pansh Ace 8m, In order to try to give something back to the site which has helped me so many times.

Intro
To start off with, most people have heard of Pansh by now. Most people also say they are sh*te, without even having flown one. They also tend to be quite bitter about the fact that they have spent hundreds of pounds on a kite, when a decent enough kite can be picked up for less than a hundred pounds.

A little about myself first; well i first started off with a 3M Firebee . Which wasnt a bad kite, It wasnt particularly great either!
Since then ive flown a fair few kites, although i only own 2 in total at the moment; Pansh Ace 8m and a Blade 2 4.9m. So whilst im not exactly an expert i do know what im talking about.

I have owned the Pansh now for nearly 3 weeks, already its been used about 10 times in all wind conditions. So i feel that i can finally write a review on it.

Build Quality
The one thing that completely shocked me was the build quality of the kite, for £88 its incredible! Even at £200 i would still be happy. So far i havn't found any stitching coming undone etc. All the high stress areas such as the inlets are protected by dacron.

The kite is a complete contrast to my blade in terms of inlets and overall shape. The Inlets are only in the middle of the kite, as opposed to all the way along the leading edge.
The bridle is of the unsleeved type, but is very strong looking. I have found with this kite that it is so easy to get the bridle tangled because it is so damn huge!

The stuff sack isnt particularly huge, and is often a real struggle to get the kite back in.

Set Up
Nothing special to report here, although i found that the brakes need to be pretty slack. I find that if you bring the mains about 3 inchs in on the handles is about right in normal conditions.

On a beach with the handles staked down, the kite may occasionally flap around due to the wind getting underneath it. If im taking a break for a while i.e leaving the
kite; I find a bit of sand on the traiiling edge keeps it under control.

In-Flight
In-Flight the Pansh is a very unforgiving kite. This doesnt mean that its flies badly, i just wouldnt hand this thing over to a beginner, because some serious Spankage could occur!

What hit me most about this kite is how much input is required to turn this thing, The main lines do not do much on their own. Once you get used to this however it becomes second nature. The downside of this however is that it is impossible to fly on a bar, i found out yesterday!

This kite can overfly, although this is easily counteracted with a touch on the brakes.

Static jumping on this kite is very fun, although i found it hard to perfect because it requires a very different technique from my Blade. Although after some practice, i can now do massive floaty jumps which makes me smile every time

Once mastered, this kite is surprisingly agile for its size. The time that you spend mastering this kite; will pay you back tenfold for the fun that you will get out of it.

To summarize, yes it is quite tricky to fly. That doesnt stop it being fun

On a MountainBoard
I have only just started boarding this summer so i have very little experience, although i have tried the Pansh on a board in 10 mph winds. It is truly a park and ride kite, if long easy cruises are what your into then you wont be dissapointed.

Durability
Obviously i havnt exactly had this kite long, but have used it a fair bit on both sand and grass. Being white it does show the dirt and muck, although it is very easy to get looking new again with just a scrub and soak.

Summary
Yes this kite does have its bad points and obviously wont compete with the big players like Flexifoil and Ozone. You have to ask yourself however if theres any point in spending over £400 on an 8M, because they dont get used that much relatively speaking.

Its true that i use my Blade a hell of a lot more than the Pansh, But when the wind drops and other kiters start to pack up. Out comes the Pansh and on comes the Smile!

By : revilo88