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Hi all, I have never posted a review on this site before but thought the HQ Montana IV was a good place to start! I have just moved off fixed bridle kites to a full quiver of HQ de-powers firstly for the safety aspect and secondly to cover a larger wind range. My previous quiver of kites included the 3m, 5m & &m Ozone HAKA. My main use for the kite was for Frestyling, boosting and the occasional club race. With a tight budget and fairly big expectations it was a choice between the Ozone Frenzy FXY & the HQ Montana's. In the end the Montana was unbeatable on price (at least here in Australia) the spec's also looked great, and a demo of the 9.5m Montana sealed the deal for me. I encourage you to demo one before you buy it. Overall bag & Kite quality: The bag's all three kites come where great, large enough to fit the kite and all the accessories you might want to take with you. Overall kite quality across the range is up there with anything that the major manufacturers have to offer. This was my single biggest worry buying my first HQ kite, was I going to get a quality product for the price. Short Answer 'Yes' I couldn't fault the kites build in any way. All bridles where sewn, all kite material was up there with comparable Ozone and Flexi products. Bar and lines: I was surprised when I unpacked the kites to find that the lines and bar where already attached to the kite. Now this might not sound like a trivial thing, but to someone that hasn't seen the new line setup on these kites (Y-bridle plus single center line It save's heaps of head scratching and time on the ground. The other thing I found in the bag was a data sheet with a line QA report from the factory. Line Lengths checked a recorded, nice to have this included as well. One thing missing in my opinion was a ground stack. Most of the other HQ foil kites come with it and don't see why this model should be any different. Now to the Bar; the bar on the kite is probably the biggest bug bear I have. For a 2009 model kite the bar and chicken loop where a let down. They seemed like they where after thoughts, a little old fashioned for my liking. Don't get me wrong they work well and are sturdy but they just need a bit of jazzing up. Otherwise they did what was expected of them. 7m: I have only just got this kite and have flown it once in less than stellar conditions, 30 knot NE. I'm please to report that the kite preformed well considering the circumstances. Kite was predicable and power came on nicely. After about 30 mins in the driver's seat I was throwing the kite around the sky. In this wind the kite had heaps of pop and loads of float. I'm an 80kg buggier and it didn't have any issues. Bar pressure is nice with very positive feedback from the kite. I'll update the report once I have had more time with the kite. 9.5 m Flight characteristics: I've had the kite for the past month and have taken it out in everything from 5 to 25 knots and can report that it's amazing. The first thing I noticed was how versatile this kite was in most wind conditions. I was buggying in 5 knots and starting to do small jumps at about 12+ knots. The kite turned well and bar pressure was nice and positive. Coming from Fixed bridle kites I wasn't disappointed. If you are considering buying a Montana and can only afford one go for the 9.5M it's the pick of the bunch. The performance of the kite inspired new levels of confidence I didn't have with the fixed bridles. The kite has heaps of pop and loads of float, enough for most average sized buggier's and land boarders. Comparing it to a 7m fixed bridle kite was like chalk and cheese. The 7m felt a lot more on the edge compared to the Montana which provide very smooth power delivery as you would expect from a de-power. 12.5 m Flight characteristics: The 12. 5 has only seen 2 sessions so far and both in less than ideal winds, what I can report so far is, for a light wind machine it works fine, heaps of low down grunt. I managed to take the kite out yesterday in what seemed like about 3-5 knots and was moving along nicely. I'll update this review as I get more time with the kite. Summary: In Summary my introduction to HQ kites has been a very positive experience and would recommend these kites to anyone that is looking for some serious freestyle machines. Overall the kites are up there with anything that the major manufacturers have to offer and at a great price. While these kites are marketed as a freestyle kite for the average club racer out there they work well as suede race kites too and seem to hold there own against many of the popular fixed bridles out there, a pleasant surprise. These kites are not perfect but the areas I have highlighted for improvement in the review don't detract from the solid flight characteristics that you can expect from this range of kites. Overall I'm very happy with what HQ have come up with. JOLLI By : JOLLI