flyjump - 2-11-2012 at 12:32 PM
If you want an extremely lightwind kite for land based kiting take the time to test fly the montana 7.
I finally picked one of these up for myself to add to my collection. Wind was 9mph gusting to 13mph today. I would normally never go out in such
light winds because my field is very bumpy and wouldn't allow me to ride, but I've had this kite for a week and I really wanted to take it out of the
packaging.
Since I've already reviewed the make and chracteristics of this kite I will get strait to the more aggressive atributes of this kite.
I could just barely feel the wind in the field which isn't a good sign. I set the kite stake unwound my lines and opened up the kite. Launching is a
snap, just pull the center line and up she goes. very stable and smooth launch. Even in these low winds i was scudded down wind about 15 feet. That
brought a quick smile to my face considering the wind was barely there.
the kite likes to fly forward and doesn't back stall even in lower conditions. Turning is the best. it turns really fast which is nice when sending
the kite back to the zenith when you lose speed on a transition and want to change directions.
Freestyle is AWESOME! Since this kite builds apparent wind really fast it doens't take long to build speed and send this kite across the window. It
simply pops you up and you are drifting through the air. It has a bit more bar pressure than the matrixx which helps give you feedback when you are
using one hand on the bar and are looking to do board grabs.
Kiteloops are easy with this kite. When you send it for a jump just comit to it and turn your body down wind and you'll float down for a smooth
landing. It's a real confidence booster. I was so happy with this kite when normally I wouldn't even be able to get rolling across the surface.
A couple groups of people stopped to watch and were cheering everytime I went into the air. Its funny because they really wanted me to do "wheelies"
even though I was doing powered kiteloops lol.
I never had any issues with luffing or front/backstall. which is a concern with lots of foil kites.
I'm enjoying this piece of kit and I know that it will help save more low wind sessions in the future.
If there's anything that I missed that you want to know or any questions to answer please let me know
:wee:
B-Roc - 2-11-2012 at 01:04 PM
I love my 14m Eskimo. I always said if I weren't flying Gin I would be most interested in HQ. Hoping to get my hands on a Montana some day. Would
love to give a 7m or larger a go. I'm sure the 14m M is faster than my 14m Eskimo though I kind of like a slow, floaty redirect.
How's the length of the bar throw? I'm short and find the eskimos to have long throw but the Yetis to have quite a short throw. Somewhere in the
middle would be ideal.
flyjump - 2-11-2012 at 01:13 PM
I don't know the exact length of bar throw but I do know that it is more than the zero7 bar throw and matrixx bar. I would say that it is one of the
longest depower line lengths that I have used. If that helps at all. I also noticed that when you pull the bar in for a jump it accelerates the kite
giving it a bit more speed and a lot more lift of course. I guess its like adding a bit of break line pressure to a FB kite when turning or jumping
to get the extra bit of speed/lift.
I even accidentally jumped while grabbing the hand brake to land the kite. It was floaty and controlled so there was no fear at all.