Kite Size for me?

Welcome MagillaG!
A 3 meter is a good size to start with. Check out the For Sale section on this forum or google the offerings from Ozone, PKD, Peter Lynn, HQ, Flexifoil, Prism. Once you get that kite, take it out in 10-15 mph winds to begin with and try to get a half-dozen hours or so in this wind range on the kite before taking it out in greater winds. Be sure to note the recommended wind range for your particular kite as a guideline for the winds you should be flying it in. The more hours of fly time you get under your belt, the higher the wind range your skills will allow you to fly in. It is recommended the hold off shopping for larger kites until you feel that you can fly that 3m kite with you eyes closed. Even though you can fly a 3m kite in winds from 5 to 35 static, once you hop on a board or skis, the usable wind range will narrow - this is why folks here have a variety of kites, to cover more wind ranges, thereby allowing them to kite more often.

Quote: Originally posted by MagillaG

Thanks a lot guys. I'm looking at 2 kites right now. They seem to be almost identical. Any thoughts on the two? 1) HQ Rush 3 300 2) Ozone Ignition 3-line 3.0 Thanks!:D

No, respectfully. You have the snapshot to teach you the dynamics of the wind window so blow past the 3-line gig and go straight to a four line rig. Beamer, hornet etc". I have some tips here...
http://www.coastalwindsports.com/TutorialMenu.Html

My site is going non commercial later this year but will keep the tutorials and community links up.

Quote: Originally posted by acampbell

Quote: Originally posted by MagillaG   Thanks a lot guys. I'm looking at 2 kites right now. They seem to be almost identical. Any thoughts on the two? 1) HQ Rush 3 300 2) Ozone Ignition 3-line 3.0 Thanks!:D No, respectfully. You have the snapshot to teach you the dynamics of the wind window so blow past the 3-line gig and go straight to a four line rig. Beamer, hornet etc". I have some tips here... http://www.coastalwindsports.com/TutorialMenu.Html My site is going non commercial later this year but will keep the tutorials and community links up.

+1 more for 3rd line safety snap. Happened on my 3m 3 line JoJo trainer.

WOW,

CWS is going non Commercial ? SO glad you will keep the tutorials up. Pretty much the best place I have found to send new Folks. !

2nd Bladerunner. When I am independently wealthy, I will run a commercial kiting shop, because it's basically charity thanks for all your help in the kiting community, Angus. Those tutorials kept me (mostly) out of trouble early on.

Spoke to mi Madre and we are good to go for a trip next weekend. I'll text you details, Jeff, but we can either leave Friday night or Sat morning. Either is cool.

Magilla, check this thread Call or text me at your leisure, but not too leisurely If not, Jeff and I will be forced to go hit the salt flats and have an awesome time, but it'd be cooler if you joined us.

Also, are you going to be at JIBE this year, bladerunner? It would be nice to finally meet you in person. Just missed you at sunset last year, I guess.

Okay, thread officially hijacked

Heading to Alamosa tomorrow and bringing my (JIBE-provided) 3.3m PKD Buster and 3m Hornet for the new guy. Also bringing a buggy, a board, Jeff, and 3 flysurfers... You know... Just in case

Quote: Originally posted by Proletariat

Two words for you, Kazedoka: White Sands ... just watch out for missles. But seriously, I popped into the Great Sand Dunes NP last year and talked with the park ranger and he said "no" but he didn't really seem very sure about what constituted a "vehicle." I intend to call NAPKA and ask them to help me figure out the political part of this. San Luis Lake, for instance, is an almost completely dry lake bed that gets very little usage from the general public, but it would be fantastic to kite there. I asked those rangers and one guy said "sure" and the other guy said "NO!" Still scouting southern Colorado land like crazy. Mostly, the BLM land seems to be the best bet, although I haven't yet contacted them directly. There's some stuff southwest of Alamosa that I'd like to check out on this scouting trip, but maybe we can join forces and lobby the sand dunes, if necessary. They seem pretty reasonable and there is a TON of space on the dunes themselves, so it seems like a match made in heaven, but I'm trying to tread lightly in order to not screw anything up (thus involving NAPKA for some advice, hopefully).

Rangers are always going to err on the side of caution for any activity they are not familiar with.

Better to contact the offsite administrators and have them talk to the Rangers on your behalf. If you get cleared, get permission on letterhead that you can take to the Ranger's station.

Was kind of surprised that they allowed Sandsledding and Sandboarding at the Great Sand Dune National Park. As long as you are not a perceived danger to the other visitors, you might be able to make some headway.

Assume that others ALWAYS have the right of way.



The sands sleds and sand boards look like they just have a clear coated bottom. Something like a "door" with a PTEX/HDPE/Surlyn base would probably move with even less drag across the sand.

Probably the biggest hurdle would be that a kite with a sandboard could crest a blind ridge under power and possibly collide with someone on the other side. It's a lot less likely that something like that would happen to the people that are just downhilling like in the video.

ATB,
Sam

speaking of gusts... Here's some video of Magilla's first flying. He picked everything up real fast and got away with all kinds of nonsense because of his size.

The winds were nuking pretty hard. That hornet has taken a beating in the last few weeks @ ~35 mph gust max.

Enjoi!

Big points for teaching how to go to safety 1st . + to Magilla for wearing a helmet !

Isn't it fun turning somebody else on to the sport !