Power Kite Forum

Flexifoil Blade II 2.0 RETRACTED

sTEPSIDe - 4-9-2010 at 09:39 AM

My 8 year old nephew wants to fly a kite like uncle Brian... He does really good with my ozone imps (1 and 1.5) and he has his own Stacker 6, so i figured I would try and find him a small Blade to fly...
If anyone has one in good condition they are willing to part with, please drop me a line...

sTEPSIDe - 4-9-2010 at 09:43 AM

Oh.. this would need to be shipped to Colorado Springs, CO, USA 80906

arkay - 4-9-2010 at 10:34 AM

I don't think they make a blade that small, but you can get a flexi sting which is sorta similar in fabric design and much more gentle.

sTEPSIDe - 4-9-2010 at 11:31 AM

They actually did make them that small at one point. The series II blades came in a 2.0, that is what I would like to find.
Here is the smallest in each series.

Blade I 2.6
Blade II 2.0
Blade III 3.0
Blade IV 4.0
Blade V 4.0

Arkay, if I cant find one I was considering getting him a Rage 1.8m...

sTEPSIDe - 21-9-2010 at 11:36 AM

Ugh... I almost had one. I talked to someone who had one on Ebay in the UK and they said they would ship it to me. However when I went to bid on the item it told me the "seller doesnt ship to your location"

I had it worked out with the seller. CRAP!!!!!!

Brian

shehatesmyhobbies - 22-9-2010 at 04:58 PM

Good luck in getting the kite. I bet that thing will be a blast to fly!

sTEPSIDe - 28-10-2010 at 07:14 PM

Bump

sTEPSIDe - 20-11-2010 at 07:18 AM

Bump

nocando - 20-11-2010 at 01:29 PM

Hey dude have a 1.5 Bullet RTF handles or bar

and I will ship to the US

sTEPSIDe - 20-11-2010 at 04:48 PM

Thanks nocando... but I am really trying to find a 2meter Blade.

nocando - 3-12-2010 at 02:12 PM

hey stepside

Have a Bullet 2.5 or a Sting 2.4 that is if you cannot find your blade

or if bigger a bullet 3.5

sTEPSIDe - 6-12-2010 at 02:22 PM

Thanks nocando. I will keep them in mind. I just got a Blade I 3.3 we are hoping to try out sometime this week. The wind in Colorado is just not cooperating right now.... been having gusts of 60+ mph. My Imp 1.0 has never seen so much air time!

nocando - 11-12-2010 at 01:35 PM

Hey Stepside spotted this on the pommy chanel

http://forum.kitecrowd.com/sale/flexifoil-blade-mk-3-3m-150-...

sTEPSIDe - 12-12-2010 at 01:44 PM

Thanks again nocando. I sent him a message

kiteboyza - 12-12-2010 at 06:08 PM

the widow maker, i would advise against this kite for a kid

sTEPSIDe - 15-12-2010 at 10:14 AM

Kiteboyza - I have heard them called that before... lol. The name is well deserved I have plenty of experience with Blades and he only flys (his kites) when I feel comfortable and that I feel he would be safe. I try to teach kite safety and let him know what is appropiate and when conditions change our kites change with it. As much as I want to always fly my larger kites, there is a reason I have so many in my quiver. He is VERY well supervised when he is with me and I want him to get hooked so that the sport always has new members. If I can get him a small Blade, I hope not only to teach him the increased skills required, but make him feel like he is progressing. If I keep him on "trainer" kites and do not show him what is required with the more advanced kites his "willingness" to come to the park might stall out. I would NEVER (EVER) at his current skill level (and weight) put him on my larger kites... there is no way he could control a 4.9 in a gust... He may not even like the way the Blade flys (at which point it will go into my quiver) and we will talk about what the differences were between the Imps and the Blade and make a different choice. However, he has to start somewhere and I'm hoping with the increased performance of the 2m Blade the differences in the kites and his "style" will shine...

sTEPSIDe - 6-1-2011 at 09:41 AM

New year bump...

awindofchange - 6-1-2011 at 11:53 AM

I would highly suggest you fly one of these first before buying them.

(IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE)
The Blade II 2.0 was the WORST kite out of all sizes blade II's produced. We had three different kites at one time or another and every one experienced the same behavior. It would launch through the power, suddenly stall out, drop back down in the window and then launch again. There was something seriously wrong with the design and build of this size kite. I would hesitate giving this kite to an experienced pilot and would NEVER consider giving it to a child.

The 3.0 was awesome....actually all sizes from the 3.0 to the 9.0 are excellent kites. They pull like a tank and have tons of lift, but that 2.0 is a demented demon kite.

The first one we had was brutal. We chalked it up to a fluke or possibly bad kite. The owner exchanged it for another because we couldn't keep the thing from stalling / falling in the middle of the window and then exploding through the power zone. The second replacement had the exact same behavior. The kite was so bad that my fellow flying buddy (strong supporter of Blades as his only kite of choice) sent it back and got a refund. A few months later another friend of ours showed up with yet another 2.0 Blade II. It too had the exact same problems and ended up hurting one of the people in our group as we tried to get the issues figured out.

This is not to bash or trash talk the Flexifoil Blades, they are very impressive kites and deserve the respect and hype that they have earned. Only the Blade II 2.0 is the one that has these issues. All other sizes were awesome and flew perfectly.

Of the 3 kites that I have personally flown, two of them were brand new, the other was slightly used but still in excellent condition.

Again, this is only my personal experience with this kite.

Please take this into consideration when deciding on purchasing.

Hope this helps.

sTEPSIDe - 6-1-2011 at 03:46 PM

Thanks Kent... Thats good to know. We went out today and were flying a Blade I 3.3 and Blade III 6.6. Winds were light 6 to 8 and steady. He did very very well with the smaller blade. He had a huge smile on his face the whole time.

I respect you opinion very much and based on this I'm rethinking trying to find one of these... maybe I'll just get a small method for him.

nocando - 7-1-2011 at 09:58 PM

Stepside after reading various reviews it seems that the Method may be the one to buy.

Would like to own a couple of these myself.