Prism Snapshot 1.9

disclaimer : wrote the first part of this review 6 months ago when I was first getting into kites. second part is from a more mature flying perspective.

I have been interested in kiting for some months now, and while shopping at Cabela's last week, I noticed that they had started selling Prism kites, and furthermore, that they had the Snapshot 1.9 for 30 bucks off, so I grabbed one. (only the purple one was on sale... guess no one likes that color)

Setup:
After reading the beginners guide on racekites.com, I headed out to the nearest park that had big grassy fields, determined to apply all that I had learned. The kite is ridiculously easy to set up: two larS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s head knots and you're done. (the velcro bridle/tail holder is ingenious) I unwound the lines from the winder, which struck me as kind of flimsy, but very functional. Ready to fly!

Launching:
This kite is pretty easy to launch, even in lighter winds. The first few times up I started by holding the bridle, walking backwards, and letting string out as the wind pulled the kite up. A few strong gusts of wind and a pair of burned hands later, I decided I was better off launching in the normal way, so I tried that. I had to run backwards a bit until the kite was 10+ meters up, but once there it was smooth sailing. Note that the windspeed that day was only 13mph with gusts to 20mph and not terribly consistent, can't help but thinking it would climb a bit quicker with more consistent wind.

Flying:
The kite has very predictable flying characteristics once you get used to it's quirks, overall a very pleasant kite to fly. If the wind is lacking, the kite will luff easily at the sides of the window, but the good news is you can usually pop it back into shape by yanking on the lines and running to the side. After a bit of practice I was able to keep it flying even after being folded completely in half. If the windspeed picks up a good bit, the kite will sometimes overfly you, but this is also simple to address by either walking backwards or turning the kite into a dive to bring it around. Much to my surprise, this thing has a decent amount of pull: while it wasn't even close to dragging me around (I weigh in at 235), I found myself using my arms to hold the kite back a lot more than I thought I would. Lots of fun.

Manouverability:
Despite being large and floppy (no frame) the kite turns extremely well, even in light winds. I was taken aback by how quickly you could execute s-turns and spins with this kite; it was almost as fast as a smaller (0.75M^2) framed kite I had borrowed previously, but considerably more stable when ending a fast turn. After a half hour of practicing I had the kite running back and forth in the window with little difficulty.

Landing and packing:
The kite was easy to bring down, I just walked towards it slowly and it settled easily. Getting it folded up to fit in the bag it came with required a minor miracle of spatial engineering, but I eventually got it in. The winder proved handy for storing the lines, although one of mine got tangled in a bush, but that is my own fault for not paying attention to it while I was trying to fit the kite in the bag.

Construction:
The kite is very sturdy, having been smacked into the ground a few times while I got used to steering it, as well as taking a dip in a pond and assaulting an unlucky duck who was in the pond when the kite crashed in it. The kite survived both the water and the angry duck with no ill effects, other than needed a quick rinse with a hose to get the moss off. Even after repeated collisions with a hard grassy field and one incident with some variety of thorny bush, the kite showed no visible wear.

Gripes:
In all fairness, they should have made the storage bag a bit bigger as it is troubling to make the kite fit in it; but maybe I'm just doing it wrong. The tail, while looking nice, doesn't really add anything in terms of stability, and is prone to getting tangled up in the bridle. While this didn't cause problems, it was extremely annoying to have to untangle the tail after the kite was landed.


Value/ final comments:
At sixty bucks American, this is a lot of kite for not much money. (if you don't mind flying a very feminine-looking purple kite anyhow) I found myself having tremendous fun with the kite, and it stood up to my inexperience (read: abuse) with aplomb. Can't wait for another sunny day to go fly it!

UPDATES:
1. kite is now on a bar of my own devising, a 23" oak dowel. flies just as well but can be flown with one hand. very much like this.
2. now that I know what I'm doing, I really appreciate this kite more and more. you can park it right at the edge of the window for great upwind pull, I mean to try it with rollerskates in the mall parking lot this weekend if I get a chance.
3. this thing rocks in high winds. I have flow it in 35mph gusting to 40-something (right before a big duststorm in west Texas) and the kite flew like a dream. note that at this windspeed, even a small kite like this one develops a potentially dangerous level of pull.