Carl Harvey

I've finally decided to give it a try.

I want to try buggying and am looking at a couple of kites at the moment:-

Advance Offroad 5.4
Flexifoil Blade III 4.9

Any one have any experience or advice?

care3

ive got a couple of flexis(blade 2s)- best made ram air kite ive seen
id try something a little smaller first,4.9 is rather large for starters.theres plenty of second hand stuff about, have you tried the flexi bbs on www.flexifoil.com
get some insurance first,you never know when youll need it,im with sportscover direct 01179226222 world wide kiteboarding cover is under £100.
i found a wind meter invaluable after a trip across a beach with too large a kite.kite killers are good as well,they attach to your wrist and are connected to the brakes,let go and your kite plummets rather than dissapear into the horizon.

davy1

Ive got a Big Handkerchief and a skateboard,gets stuck in the sand sometimes though

JayPSC

Don't buy a Blade 4.9 as your first kite - you WILL die. I have a Blade II 4.9 & it's too powerful for stong winds.

Tiggs

i started with blade 2 4.9.....no big deal if you start in gentle winds (i am 18st though)

i flew blade 2 4m, 4.9m 6.4m and a 9m and PKD 3.5 and 5.5 and used a flexi buggy and MTB


very cool but if you are gonna buggy find out where you can go 1st- i had a local field near me which was cool- i wouldnt want to have to travel miles if there was nowhere local- defeats the point of a sport where you need nothing other than your kite and wind if you have to drive 50miles to do it!

T

Carl Harvey

I'm thinking of going for the advance as it has the depower system on it so can be "softened" to start with.

krankyd

Hi,

I think that a larger blade will only be OK if you are either experianced with kites, or quite large (15st plus).

I've got a 4m blade 2, and with winds of over 15-20 mph I can get into quite a lot of trouble

If you're really into buggying, why not get a bullet to start off? less lift than a blade, but more 'pull' for the buggy. See the forums at www.flexifoil.com for loads of good info about traction kites.

I think the next buy I'm gonna get is a larger blade III (4.9). The number of days I seem to be getting with not enough wind to fly my blade 2 are getting too much!

Just looked for info on the advance kite, and this is what I found:>>>

The OFFROAD kite "powers up" more strongly than a lot of other kites. The term "powers up", refers to the sudden increase in power that occurs when you move the kite through the air. With the OFFROAD, more care needs to be taken than with some others plus the OFFROAD has more overall power. Once you know what you are doing, this can be a great advantage
>>>

hmmm. Seems like if you've never handled a kit before, you're cruising for a bruising ..
Have you had the chance to go on someone elses kite yet? One go on a large blade in 15mph winds will give you second thoughts about buying anything that large...


[Edited by krankyd - 6/27/2003 10:31:53 PM]

care3

the best value money kite you can buy is from your local bmw dealer(imvho).its only a foot wide but youll get a feel for flying and the power a ram air kite can generate,£20.
a lot of companies(unlike flexifoil and like wipika,single skin) do qoute there sizes as an equvilent in wind surfing terms not metre2 confusing everything
i think inflatable kites are the best as they serve all purposes,but its horses for courses


[Edited by care3 - 6/28/2003 12:14:56 AM]

[Edited by care3 - 6/28/2003 12:15:59 AM]

krankyd

>>i think inflatable kites are the best as they serve all purposes,but its horses for courses

Inflatable kites (proper professional ones) are only really any use on water.

With a ram air foil, if you touch the water, you kite is swimming. but inflatibles are water-launchable.

If you're getting interested in kites, mabey consider less money on an ozone or something like that, until you're sure you really want a freight-train?

easier to spend 100 quid on something you use occasionally, rather than 350