How about a kite story?

We'll call it The tale of 20 kites. How and why I have 20 kites.



Every kite has a story behind it. If I could only have one kite; I'd just have the first kite I ever had. My 2m Flow. That is my most used kite by far due to the wind conditions here I buggy in and I'm most familiar with and comfortable with that kite.

The second kite I got was my 5m Flow. The opposite end of the scale for those lighter wind days. I got that kite on a bar for the chicken loop. Sometimes it's hard to unhook a strop when dealing with a lot of power. But light wind flying I feel would be a lot better with handles. I got the bar with the thought of cruising around in lighter conditions and being hooked in. It works alright when the wind is alright. In light conditions though; handles would be much more ideal.

During the time I had the 2 and the 5; I always wondered about the 3 and the 4. There were times when the 2 was too little and the 5 was too much. But those times are rare. My 4 has the least use. My 3 has been getting more use as I feel more comfortable getting it out more. Or maybe it's the wind conditions I've been experiencing.

At some point I felt like maybe I was missing out or maybe there were better kites out there and I also wanted to experience different brands and models.

That Skydog 2.8. Interesting kite to say the least.. A wind range of 10-25mph. Believe it. Mighty powerful in the upper end of the range. I've had to put the kite away numerous times due to being over powered, dragged around, being pulled down wind, and a general feeling of being out of control. It's a handful. I haven't yet found it's absolute ideal wind range yet. Our wind just isn't that stable due to the gusts making the wind cover a wide range all the time.

2m Hornet. Grunty, darty, powerful kite. Lives up to it's name. Just feels like constant power all the time.

2m Beamer(V). More pleasant to fly then Hornet. Although has tendencies the Flow does not have. Wing tips folding up, bow tie, can be at full power and suddenly it's as if it just got shot with a shotgun as it collapses in an instant. I'm starting to see Mike's opinion of it not being an ideal buggy kite. I need to spend some time static flying it.

2.3 Core, 2.8 Reactor II. I need more time with these kites. These are my two least flown kites. I have been lifted out of the buggy more then once with the Core. The Reactor is freakin fast.

2.3 Method, 2.7 Yakuza. These are interesting kites. They seem to have no low end power. No speed going slow. For a small riding area that involves not going very far before needing to turn around; they just don't work that good. Get these kites up to speed though and they are really, really fast. They just need room to run.

3.9 Viper. This kite is my session saver. It has what I feel to be a narrow and low wind range(4-15mph?). Insanely powerful. When the wind is really starting to suck; I pull out this kite. It surprises me every time with how powerful it is. The first few times I ever attempted to buggy with it; I was severely overpowered with it. I still haven't found what the least amount of wind needed to buggy with this kite is.

3m Beamer(IV). It's been quite some time since I've had this kite out. All I remember is it's kinda slow and version 5 is way better.

The story behind those two Pansh kites. I had a friend who thought he might want to fly. Didn't want to spend much. Bought that 2m Legend with handles for $99. Got the 2m Flux prototype free. He flew the Legend a few times in both under and overpowered conditions and lost interest. The Flux would have been a much better flying experience for him. The Legend is a challenging kite to fly. I have briefly buggied with each of these but it's been so long now; I can't recall the specifics. I would definitely recommend the Flux though for a first kite to learn to buggy with for one not wanting to spend much money.

Why do I have have two(!) 1.7m Stings? Because when I got the first one; I was so impressed; I bought a second as a backup just in case they ever stopped making it. Back when a 2m was the smallest I had; there were times when the wind got to be too much and I had to pack up. There were times when the wind was too much and I couldn't buggy. Now I can buggy in any wind. The wind has to be blowing 30mph gusting upwards of 40. At least in the mid to high 20's. Otherwise it doesn't have enough power to get upwind with it. I've never felt overpowered with it. It's never too much to hold on too.

1m Imp. I bought this kite to let first time flyers fly. It's safe because of it's size. The only downsides are it needs a bit of wind so it flys easy but that makes this a really fast darty kite. If a person is determined though; they won't let that stop or hinder them. We just don't seem to have quite light enough wind to get something a bit bigger out ever and it not have too much power that it turns people into superman flying through the air.

When our wind is really light; the only thing I can get around with is the 6.9 Reactor II. Interesting kite. It always has me thinking about the two larger sizes. When the wind is really light(on the verge of not being enough); this kite wears me out just keeping it flying in the sky. Being a bigger kite; it gets real powerful; real fast. I'm always leary of bringing this kite out. I have been way over powered with it many times. So I tend to bring it out when it's super light. Good lightwind video illustrating it. I've been freaky fast on the buggy before in somewhat lightwind and it surprised me that I was going that fast in that light of wind. Fast kite.

2.4 Sting. Another interesting kite. I bought this kite on the assumption of "since the 1.7 is so good; I bet the 2.4 will be too". I thought since the 1.7 was so good with gusts, the 2.4 might be too. It might be. This kite needs quite a bit of power to work.

I was slightly underpowered one day with my 2m Flow. So I got this out thinking it would be just enough. Nope. It needed more power. I need more time to find the ideal wind range.

That last bag is my Ozone harness. Simple and works. I haven't had any problems with it. Although a buggy specfic pulley harness would probably be ideal. I really only ride with the strop when the wind is more steady or lighter. It is handy though for those times when you need a free hand briefly and can hook in for that. I don't tend to use it much at all on gusty 2m days. More so on lighter 3m and up days.


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My mind was in one of those expressive moods and I felt like writing. I enjoyed it. Maybe some of it was insightful or enlightening?

Thanks for this post. I love that you have a storage unit

I like showing people (ok, girlfriends!) these threads when they start on about "why do you need so many damn kites?"

OK i could probably lose the X3's, one of the 12m LEIs and 4 of the fixed bridles but to be honest I like kites more than money so not that fussed about selling them.

I sold my 16 & 19 venoms and have always regretted it so now the collection just keeps growing. Everything gets flown though the 14m X3 doesn't get out very often!!!

:bigok:
Love this post! Fear I'm heading on a similar path :embarrased:
Is there such a thing as too many kites anyway? :dunno:
Heck, I've almost got wifey talked into a smaller Bullet of her own
Besides, any man that takes down the China to display his kites is officially in my Cool Book!!!!!!