Power Kite Forum

Rage on the Oregon Coast

arkay - 3-1-2009 at 03:55 PM

Manzanita started blowing this week... It was sunny, rainy, it haled, there was sleet, it snowed, all in one buggy session. Didn't think I'd ever buggy through so many seasons :) The beach is pretty clean towards the water but there a bunch of pallets (don't know why) all over by the dunes.

I was psyched to try out my just obtained rage 2.5. I'm used to my Montana 5 in 18-25 so how hard could this little guy pull ;) It moved the buggy pretty well in 22-27 g32... downwind was a blast. I always try to head up wind way to far, and the kite wasn't up to it or even dragging me sideways much.

At one point I stopped to just skudding some more to get a better feel for the kite and I figured I'd pass the kite through the window a few times, like I did before I get in the buggy. ...in my moment of weakness... Apparently my timing was bad and I hit a gust and did my first superman! Oh $#!+ was all I thought of in the air but luckily I'm good at falling and rolled my way out of it, stupidly still holding onto the handles but at least braked. Wow that this kite has some good drag in the window. It almost seemed like the kite has more power in the window than my Montana 5 but near the edge it's power is just completely gone; which I guess is nice for taking off an landing in high winds... And as advertised it had pretty much zero lift in my experiments. All round fun kite in fun conditions but it seems it needs a good bit of wind. Anyone else have a similar or different experience with this kite or know of comparables?

kitedog - 3-1-2009 at 04:34 PM

Try the triple A adjuster on that badboy. Big fun in monster wind.

dylanj423 - 3-1-2009 at 09:51 PM

Yeah, people swear by that AAA adjuster kit for the Rage, I own 2 of them and love them ( no adjuster kit, though)... My 6m was probably my most flown kite last year... it needs lots of power to go upwind, compared to some other kites I have.

Fixed bridle kites like the Rage catch wind more efficiently that a depower kite will, so it seems weird that a 2.5 can pull harder than a 5m, but it is because the depower spills air, and changes angle depending on its input. The fixed bridles catch as much air as they can by design, and therefore can deliver just as much, if not more, power as a larger depower kite.

arkay - 3-1-2009 at 10:27 PM

yeah... I've checked out the AAA and it looks like a good buy. Probably better for a larger kite, but still potentially fun for the 2.5 and it might let me go upwind further ;)

Here's the manual I found for it.

http://www.flexifoil.com/downloads/instruction_manuals/blade...

I'm impressed by the rage 2.5 and am looking for a 5m-ish kite to fill a gap between a 7 fixed and 5 depower... maybe I'll look for another rage; the blade and blurr seem a bit too hi performance for when I'd be using a kite in this size.

WELDNGOD - 4-1-2009 at 08:34 AM

rage 2.5 was my first kite. And it is still a fun kite. The AAA kit will make it more useful. I use mine for the land board when winds are too high for the 4.7m.

pokitetrash - 13-1-2009 at 10:17 AM

So, anyone have a great success story for the 2.5 Rage with the AAA kit? I have the 2.5 which I mainly use for others to learn on now, which my first kite and I'd love to get more versatility out of it. I'd like to know if the upwind is greatly improved for the 2.5 with the AAA.

arkay - 13-1-2009 at 11:41 AM

I'll let you know my take in a few months after I get the AAA and fly the kite ;)