Summer Kite

[Raven666]

Some advise needed. What kite should I be buying for use in the summer when, most of the time, the wind will be less than winter. I want a 4 line. Do not intent to use it for boarding and jumping. Just a good kite for recreational use. Should I consider a small bullit ?

[fatwoul]

Well, I was asking the same question but for the winter, only a few weeks ago. I was advised on all sorts, but eventually after discussion, I plumped for a 3.5 Bullet.

I want the same things from my kite as you - just a good recreational kite. The Bullet has delivered beautifully, but I have had to learn to respect it. I took a tumble a few weeks ago because I took it out in a wind that was much too strong, but since then I have flown my confidence back, and now I am really enjoying it.

However, because I am still learning, I am finding that a lot of the time I am not flying the Bullet 3.5 simply because the wind will be too much for me while I am still learning, to the point that I am actually looking around for a 2-2.5 of some kind to put in my bag for when I am reluctant to fly the Bullet.

I am hoping that as the year progresses, the winds start to drop and my skill level improves, the 3.5 will be out flying more and more often. I remember before I decided, some people were still advising me on a 4 or 4.9 Blade for the winter. I am very glad I didn't do that, as I think it would have scared me off.

I spent weeks trying to decide upon the 3.5, as it was my first quad. But in the end I decided that I had to start somewhere, and that I could use that first kite to learn enough to figure out what I wanted to do, what my abilities were, and what the wind was capable of. To be honest, I think your first kite is not as important as your second.

All that rambling brings me to say that while I have been reluctant to fly the 3.5 in the recent winds, I have had no hesitation in flying my 1.5 two-line power kite, as it very rarely gets too powerful. As a result, and from a decade of summer disappointment from that 1.5, I would say that if you went for a "smaller" Bullet (ie a 1.5 or 2.5) in the summer, you could be disappointed, and find that you are never able to get flying.

I'm only a newbie myself, but based on the small amount of experience I have I would imagine that a "small" Bullet for the summer would be a 3.5 or 4.5, or perhaps a 4.0 Blade (based only on the size, as I have no idea of the performance - I plan to find out by getting one in June or so!)

[bryan taylor]

Yeah, that'd be fine. If you have loads go for the Blade 3.0 or 4.0, if your tight go for sumthin like the smaller PKD's.

[Jangla]

It's all down to personal preference I suppose. Try before you buy is obviously a good thing to do as you get to see which kites suit your personal style. The Bullet has plenty of traction but not much lift, for example.

If you're not using ot for boarding then I assume you will at least be skudding and jumping? If so then you need something with lift and/or traction. Blades and Bego's have lift in abundance. Bullets have traction. 'Budget' brands like PKD also do some excellent kites for less money - the Buster is great and pretty stable.

If you just want to get a kite in the air and stand still at the end of the lines then it's arguable you could go for something like a delta, a revolution or an airbow. That way you can pull tricks but with no lift or traction.

Can you give us more of an idea of what you consider to be recreational flying? Do you wanna get dragged about a bit or would you prefer huge tails and making pretty shapes in the sky?

[Raven666]

No tails or pretty circles!! A 4 liner with enough power to be fun in the summer winds.

[Jangla]

No tails or pretty circles!! A 4 liner with enough power to be fun in the summer winds.

Excellent! You could consider a buster, a radsail pro, a beamer. Depends on how much you want to spend. Size-wise, I would say around the 4m mark would be a good size for the 70-75kg adult. The bigger you are, the bigger kite you'll want.

[desciple]

Gin:

Zig or YOZ you choose you wont be disappointed.

[Raven666]

Thanks Jangla

[beamerboy36]

Best advice, as always, is go and try some out. If you can get to Weston at the weekend there will be plenty of people flying all sorts of kites from Stackers to big beefy blades!!!

 

Most people will be more than happy to give you a go - hopefully I'll be there with more new toys but if not I'll be there with everything else if you want to try them out:)

[batty]

try before you buy is good abvise .

your local kite store will help

buster.or bullit both of these are nice to fly .

my 1.4 buster pull me all over the place when it`s blowing