ftp2leta - 2-10-2012 at 09:46 AM
First hi from the cold country.
Where I live there is no beach, no flat land, not much I can do summer time. But what I have is miles and km :-) of snow.
I have move from the city in farmer land.
I just built my first snow buggy (picture to come), I have a few 1.5-2.2 foil kite so I'm not a beginner. I'm a shop owner and can built about
anything. I'm into land yacht also (see image), they have wheel now but they are built for snow.
I'm on a budget for now and for the next few month. I can only afford 1 kite for now. My buggy is about 20 pound and I'm using 3 modified snowboard. I
live is a valley and winter wind can range from 5 to 40mph with scary gust. My weigh is 190lbs.
Snow can be anything from icy, wet, deep, fluffy.
After reading a lot of thread /post I think that a 4 -5 sm kite would be a good starting kite and it's in my price range. When things will settle up
($$$) I will buy a 6-7 sm kite.
Any feedback would be appreciated as to size and make.
Best regards
Ben
shehatesmyhobbies - 2-10-2012 at 10:33 AM
Hello and welcome. Nice little land yacht you have there!
For the buggy, the 4 or 5m range will cover you from 12-15mph winds to 25mph winds max. comfortably. If you go with say a 5m or 7.5m Apex or
something depower, you can up the range a bit more. A depower would help you with fatigue as well. (I have not ridden in snow as of yet, but I am sure
it can be much more tiring than the grass or beach). There was a 5m Apex on here for sale somewhere. That's where I would start. If you prefer to have
fixed bridle and fly on handles, there are several good kites on here as well.
markite - 2-10-2012 at 11:19 AM
Hey Ben
Welcome to PKF - more fellow Canadians. Where are you - right in Montreal or outside. Do you get over to the field in Varennes where a lot of the
Montreal guys will buggy on weekends?
Steff (Stephane Diprose) is on this forum and he might be able to steer you to some local gear as well as connect up with Claude Gravel or Benoit from
Concept Air that might have some info on used de-powerable or other local kites.
If you have the choice and the budget I'd definitely go depowerable. Being inland our winds are all over the place especially in the winter when it's
high wind it's always going to be gusty. When we were all dedicated fixed bridle fliers it would be rare that you would get the perfect wind for one
kite size all day and often either underpowered or overpowered in the conditions and we'd change kite sizes a number of times through the day. Usually
out on open lakes for the lighter winds they can be a little steadier in the winter but higher winds will be punchy.
Are you also checking Kitezone?
Nice to see the home builds
Mark - from just down the road to the west....
ftp2leta - 2-10-2012 at 11:39 AM
Thanks guys. Thats some good feedback.
I'm... here:
http://youtu.be/9wsy6IMHmkA
This will be my field:
http://youtu.be/Cutkrh7STwM
Having fun on the neighbor farm, I'm like a kid wile driving those tractor. Of course I help him (them) for free. I did a lot of land work (tractor)
for a few of my neighbor and I never charge them 1 cent. So trust me their field are my field whenever I want.
30 min from Montreal, yes I head about Varenne. I just met a local guy (forgot his name) that goes there once in a wile. My sail boat was there for a
few years.
I could surely use some hint on used kite.
If I can get my hand on a nice used de-powerable I would jump on it. Funny, I use to hate winter and spend part of it in Mexico but now... I drive ATV
on provincial trail also, winter only. The trail is at the end of my neighbor field, no need to drive anywhere. Now 2 land yacht:
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/Constr...
2 kite buggy (one not finish) I may now love winter more then ever.
For now, budget wise, I may use the land yacht in higher wind and the kite buggy in lighter wind. So, I thik I need at least 5sm.
Thanks again.
Ben
ftp2leta - 2-10-2012 at 02:45 PM
Ouufffff, that is all I could find on the net...
I hope I can do better... (funny, go half way)
http://youtu.be/CsgwD5IT8Cg
Ben