Power Kite Forum

slingshot foils

bigsteve - 5-11-2008 at 08:23 AM

I keep seeing adds for the snow ranger and bseries.. the snow ranger has even been on steepandcheap for.. cheap.

I don't really get it though, in my mind I would never buy a foil from a company that knows inflato's.. it doesnt seem natural and I wouldn't expect one of these to be their best kite. Still, there seems to be a lot of hype over them at the local shops as the winter is rolling around.

As for me, I'm quite content with my FS quiver, but am still curious about if Slingshot pulled off a decent foil

kiteNH - 5-11-2008 at 11:40 AM

I've seen the Ranger's going very cheap but don't know anyone who flies one on the forum. Ditto for North, Airush, and Gin. It seems that HQ and Ozone are the only depower (open cell) foils that anyone is flying.

f0rgiv3n - 5-11-2008 at 11:42 AM

And PANSH!! :smilegrin::moon:

kiteNH - 5-11-2008 at 12:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by f0rgiv3n
And PANSH!! :smilegrin::moon:


Yes, and Pansh.......sorry for the snub.

bigsteve - 5-11-2008 at 12:13 PM

Ya thats what i've noticed too. I've got a converted blade 6.5 thats pretty fun.. I kinda want a smallish HQ to play with for mountainboard/snowkite.

I hate collecting open cells though cus then I dont have that windrange on water..

krumly - 5-11-2008 at 08:25 PM

A few folks in Minnesota have used Rangers for snow, but most are into inflatos around here. Seems like no one flies kites on handles (well, hardly anyone...)

I've never flown a Ranger, but the general comments I've heard fom the locals were:

pretty grunty
turns rate OK, but not particularly quick
easy to get going 'cuz you don't have to pump [applies to about anyopen cell foil]
kind of in between an Ozone Access and a Frenzy, performance wise
Pretty good depower range and stability [but nothing like a bow]

My take is most who had them thought they were solid snowkites for cruising and moderate boosting, and good value for money, but nobody raves about them.

I spent a couple hours on a B4 with bar last winter. They are popular trainer kites for snow around here. Worked, but nothing to write home about. Part of it is the generally bad flying of fixed foils on bars. I'd take my Brooza 4m on my crossover bar before a B4 any day, or just ditch the bar and use handles to get the steering finesse back.

krumly

bigsteve - 6-11-2008 at 08:19 AM

ahhh no! now this whole conversation has really got me thinking about all the kites out there I have not tried (yet). Now on the list i want to see what Peter Lynn and HQ's are all about. I wouldnt mind a smaller, and inexpensive addition to the family.

domdino - 6-11-2008 at 08:53 AM

i had a b4 and b6 back in '05, i liked them, not very lifty but lots of traction :) they were pretty stable but didn't zenith at all - you had to keep working them. I had fun with them never the less, the b4 was really helpful for learning how to do unhooked stuff, my b4 was just two lines - to land it you just had to crash it :D fun fun fun