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First impression:- Good strong bag, nice touch with the key pocket. The kite is massive, especially as I had unpacked it in doors. Quality:- spot on, well constructed. The Velcro wing tips are a good idea for emptying out any sand taken at the beach and the small Velcro straps in the middle of the bottom edge are a must for holding the bridle lines in place for packing it away. Flying:- The first time with the 6.6m was interesting as there was hardly any wind. I was amazed that I could even get it off the ground, although this required running with it. But once over head it wanted to lift me. This seems quite a unique feature of the 6.6m. With a canopy so large it can easily support your weight, thus giving the potential for plenty of hang time once airborne. Problem:- I wonder if the bridle lines are not set right on the one I've got because the wing tips keep folding in and wrapping around the lines. The other noticeable problem is the two horizontal creases across the kite. It looks like it's not fully inflated. Under full power, or there about, it will fly over head and beyond until its behind you and then on its way to earth. WARNING:- I flew it in strong wind using only the handles. With a second person holding me down, the pressure on my hands and arms is too much. Time to let go! Kite Killers are a must. After re-launch, and over powered, the sky's the limit. Once air borne and still rising panic can set in. DON'T let go. At 20' high, that kind of fall could be fatal. Remember this is a massive kite with massive jump capability. Unpacking / packing away:- I feel that this is a very important part of kiting, a little extra time spent packing away will give you more flying time the next time you get it out. With a kite this big it needs to be folded neatly to get in the bag to start with. I always start by getting the bridle lines together as pairs and placed on top of the kite, i.e. the left lines neatly gathered and placed over the left wing then drawn to the centre and secured under the Velcro strap, followed by the right hand set. By this time the kite would be fully deflated, so I then fold down the top edge about a foot just to give a moor uniformed shape before I start bringing in the wing tips. Each wing tip I bring right to the centre and thus covering all the bridle lines with only the leader lines showing. From here I just keep folding the ends to the middle. I leave the kite lines attached to the leader lines and pack these last, whether wound around the handles or the bar. Once stuffed into the bag its ready for a quick unpack the next time and because the lines are the last thing to packed then these are the first things out of the bag. I leave the kite in the bag until I have unwound the lines fully and stake them down, then just remove kite from bag, undo the Velcro straps holding the leader lines and have full confidence that there will be on issues with untangling lines. Overall:- This kite is a must for those who want big air with plenty of hang time to master jumps and tricks. By : Wozy

Here comes one more review of the well known Blade. This is for the Blade mk1 4.9m2 flying with 500/300-30 m lines. After a lot of search for a bigger kite I decided to get one used Blade. This search included one month intensive internet research, endless conversation (forum and local flyers) and of course testing some kites. So, I got this blade for amazing 175 euros = 120 pounds. It came in the traditional Flexifoil rucksack with the big logo on top. The construction’s quality of the kite started already with the rucksack! Before unpack was my heart beating at 200…..was finally the time to open a fulfilled old dream. Since 2001 I wanted to get one of those, but doing voluntary work around the world (England and Ecuador) I could never afford to get one of those. The kite didn’t fit in the bedroom, so I had to open in the sitting room. So big and beautiful (blue /red /purple). The construction everybody knows…it’s just great. I checked the kite in all the details and it was just perfect, as new. There are two cells in each side which are closed (I think is the main difference to the other Blades, the II and III has just one) which flying doesn’t make difference at all. The bridles were a bit tangled, but in 10 minutes they were again perfect. It’s nice to have a kite which is made with care in all the details. Heart at 250, nice weather and good wind 20 – 30 Km/h, almost too much for a first trial, but you just can’t hold yourself to put this beauty in the air. Went to the park and saw two friends with Radsail pro 6,0 and Blade III 4,0. They were doing fine, so I prepared my equipment to fly. The blade sat nicely waiting for the time to fly. I walked a bit to don’t launch in the middle of the window and of we go…. 15 meters scudding just to launch. It went straight to the Zenith and I automatically adopted the traditional Blade position, praising to God above. After that I wanted to see a bit what it can do so started with a few movements to the sides of the window. It was just amazing the lift it generates. Just a bit of movement (or a gust) and you are 2 meters high. After 15 minutes I was exhausted and almost having a heart attack so I decided to take a break. To land was not difficult. I was amazed about the control you can have over this kite. The brake lines are not hard to pull and the kite is really responsive to every command you give. At this day I flew also the Blade III 4,0 and the radsail pro 6,0. The Blade III 4,0 is just fantastic and much more controllable and faster than mine, but generates less power. The radsail pro had less power than the other two and also was not behaving alright with the gusts. I’ve been flying my Blade everyday since I got it and every time I fly, I have something new to learn about them. They need a LOT of respect, especially in gusty winds. Comparing with my old Symphony 3.3 it’s a lot slower, but for the size it’s fast enough. It’s a kite you can fly almost without wind and still have fun. It has loads of power in the middle of the window, awesome lift, very stable, and very responsive. I’ve been scudding and jumping with it and now I will start to land boarding with it. First I wanted to get more confident and secure with this beast. One more time, it needs a lot of respect, and that what I’m doing. Learning and respecting a bit more everyday. It’s a kite that allows you to fly in a wide wind range, from almost nothing till you can hold yourself in the floor. But is very sensible to know when there is too much wind and go for the old smaller kites. Conclusion Cheap, beautiful, excellent construction, awesome power (respect), stable, very good handles, not worse at all than the mk2 and mk3 ones….and everything else that people already knows since time. Author : one more

Well first of all i brought this kite 2nd hand to be my high wind kite so when it came it was know supprise that the bag was to big and the lines were not flexi (i think they were Ozone 25mtr) but the handles were standard if not a little worn. The kite itself though only 2.6 mtr was easily as big as my old radsail 3.0, it was slightly faded as you would expect for a kite as old as this but as for build quality it was so much better than what i have been used to with my passed kites, the little things like the mesh covered leading edge and the stiched bridle and the bridle itself was nice and stiff so as to decrease drag all nice touches that made the flexi experience good for me. On first flight the little Blade flew steady and sure straight to the zenith in a mild breeze and happily flew around the power zone with no luffing or overflying,the experience of my first Blade was not that exciting though as it was only giving as much pull as my old Rad 3.0 so at the time i started to wish i had spent my £100 on a new Rad pro 3.0 but i gave it the benefit of the doubt and saved her for bigger winds. The next time was in winds of about 20 mph but i didnt get much flying done as i connected the brake to the power on the Beamer 5 it went into a spin and broke the brake line,i then got out the Blade which in bigger winds performed much better though still not as fast as i would have expected, but then tragedy as i felt something give way, I landed the kite(which to its credit did not give up flying)and found that one of the bridle legs for the power lines had gave way and all the rest of them on closer inspection were on their way out,it turned out that over some time the bridle had twisted itself so they were chaffing against oneanother(something we should all look for and sort out occasionally). Anway i got in touch with flexifoil who quoted me £44 inc delivery and then thought Bugger it! 2nd hand kite ive spent enough as it is so i promptly ordered some 100kg dynamee bridle line and done it meself for £4.50 !job well done,Took it down the field rejuvinated and in hurricane force winds and BAM!!!KINNELL little kite massive in shear power i couldnt beleive it ,so passive in milder winds yet such a monster in high winds she really come alive,so responsive still not that fast but now i could feel the lift of the Blade i hadnt felt before ,such was the kites power that i had to spread my weight over the ground laying flat cause i just new she wanted to beat me up,and then it happened,all you Blade fans are acustomed to the lift and power but in a split second my 14.5 st 6ft frame was 10ft away from where it was laying ,hoisted up like a rag doll as if i was attached to a landrover or something!anyway abit shaken by the way this little kite had tried to murder me i packed up vowing to fight another day, This little ,Old and faded kite may have seen better days but its got plenty in her yet and i am so glad i chose her above the Rad pro so why not give a mark 1 blade a go she'll always try to kill you in the right conditions but you'll love her for it!!!! By : jarv

Problem with kite reviews I've read is that few seem to say which size kite, or compare them with other kites, so its hard to know where the reviewer is coming from. Maybe this isn't so much a kite review as a quest to find the mid wind kite. Maybe a Blade I review is of little interest to people as its well out of date, but seeing as I bought it second hand as the culmination of buying various other kites in order to find an ideal mid wind kite, I think it is relevant. I started out with a 2m Elliot Sylus as a toy - but got into buggying with it when a friend bought a couple of blades and flexfoil buggy. Being tight on funds I bought a Nasa Wing 4m and Peter Lynn buggy. The wing was good in the right winds - it would fly in almost nothing and turn on a sixpence. Power to performance was impressive, but once the wind got up my arms stretched longer than the lines, and I found myself loosing beach and a long walk back to the bag. In came my 6.5m Firebee. Again, the value was impressive, upwind performance improved - though not in the same league as my mates 4.9 blade. Mind you, in a light wind I can use a rowing action with the kite and steel the lead on him. The gap now between this and the 2m elliot (brill in strong winds) was just too much. The obvious choice was a 4m Firebee. What a bad move, a green lettuce leaf on 4 lines - at least I had the sense to buy it with proper flexi handles rather than the nasty aluminium crap they send with firebees. https://www.extremekites.org/uploads/rk/reviews/blade1.jpg I had about 2 decent goes with this kite, but in too little wind it had no oomph at all, then when it did have pull the upwind performance wasn't there - such a contrast with the 6.5. I swapped this for a chap with a peter lynn 4.2 with bar. That also turned out a bad move. More power than I wanted for a medium wind kite, a bastard to set up, and worse than that to fold away and carry around. I walk about a mile to the beach - so carrying an oversize yellow frisbee while dragging a buggy wasn't really on. Impressed with it when all was well, but at £12 a spar it could have worked out expensive. Sold this on ebay for bugger all - the chap got a bargain. An finally... the blade 3.3. Oh yes. Pull-a- plenty, upwind performance, easy packing and carrying. Bought it second hand for £175, but in excellent condition and new lines. This kite has made up for my dissapointment with the other kites, and has been such a hoot. I sped down the beach at Calais the other day at huge speed, and that was without the buggy! Hot tip, wear cycling shoes (not cleated) for smooth sole performance scudding. Great laugh for me and all those froggy people sat watching. I'd like to try the newer blades, but I can't see me forking out for anything else for some time. By : John