Power Kite Forum

i bought a kite :D advice on handles and killers

elfasa - 30-5-2009 at 03:37 AM

first off, as i put in my title, i bought a kite :)
im super pleased, and cant wait till it arives. its a eolo radail 3m.
i know this isnt the best kite on the market by any stretch of the imagination, but i picked it up for only £45 (uk) so im thinking you cant go wrong. i saw in another post someone had bought the same kite of a friend for £60 and people thought that that was a good deal, and you can buy these new for 120-130 uk pounds. i have also read many good reviews of this kite, and know that many people fly the 2.4m version of the kite.

secondly i need some buying advice on handles and kite killers.
if anyone has seen the handles that come with the radsail, they look pretty shocking, cheap aluminum tube with some foam on them. and they dont come with killers, which as a newbie i think is a must have.

so im looking for some new handles and kite killers that can be used with the eolo radsail.

does anyone know or any particularly good handles and or killers ?

im thinking about these

http://www.powerkiteshop.com/accessories/flexifoilfourlinesf...

because they come with the killers and are fair priced, what do people think ?

thanks, tim.

bigben91682 - 30-5-2009 at 04:37 AM

Flexi makes nice stuff. I have handles very similar to those with my Rages and they are very nice, comfortable to use. Flexifoil kite killers are very robust as well.

If you want to spend a little more you could pick up some pro-links, I don't have any but I've used them and they are great handles. Pretty much the gold standard from what I've read.

http://www.powerkiteshop.com/flexifoil-pro-link-prolink-4-fo...

acampbell - 30-5-2009 at 04:47 AM

The Flexi stuff is fine. Those are the short handles sized for up to 2.4 m and would be tough to use on anything bigger. HQ Gear is also excellent for the money as well. Simple but sturdy.

The Flexi ProLinks are great but very heavy for a small kite. You don't notice the weight as much when a more powerful kite is pulling you.

lad - 30-5-2009 at 06:08 AM

I already put in my modest vote for the HQ Ultra quad handles - which have a very comfortable, innovative and safe design. (but may need leader line reinforcement). The other top-off-the-line brands mentioned are all good, for sure.

The Lynn KKs look interesting to me, but I never tried them. Avoid KK w/ puny lines and padding.

elfasa - 30-5-2009 at 07:58 AM

with the HQ Quad Handles Ultra , when it says "Quad Handles Ultra with Safety System" does that saftey system mean kite killers ? i know it seems a really obvous question, i just want to make sure.

and lad, what do you mean when you say "may need leader line reinforcement" ? is it a hard/expensive job ?

thanks
tim

DAKITEZ - 30-5-2009 at 08:57 AM

yes .. the safety is kite killers.

They used to come with special kite killers that had a real short leash so the killers were not in your way, but i haven't seen those for awhile so I'm not sure if they did away with the special killers for these handles.

Kamikuza - 2-6-2009 at 01:01 AM

I've got the PL KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s which I'm using with FF Pro-Link handles on my Rebble 5.0 ... I find both the PL KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s and the FF KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s that came with my Bullet are too small for my wrist - there's a gap of about 1-2cm end to end of the nice padding. Otherwise they work fine :D My Kitewing came with the best most comfortable wrist leash yet ... and it fits!

Oh actually ... I've tried to do the double knot like on the RaceKites suggestion, but the PL KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s have a strap type loop on the end and all the pics on the PL site suggest they should go on the brake leaders next to the handles ... ???

I've got another kite on the way that's coming with the FF standard handles - the same as with my Bullet. They're crap :lol: and while the Pro-Links are nice, I'm wondering about others ...

Thoughts please gentlemen on :

Ozone Comp Pro (I like the idea of large diameter to avoid the wanker's cramp ... and carbon fiber is cool :D )


Peter Lynn 09 handles (they'd match my PL kite :embarrased: )

heliboy50 - 2-6-2009 at 05:19 AM

elfasa, I think you will find that model of FF handle to light for a 3m kite. I have a set that came with my 1.7 sting and they work OK for that until the wind gets really strong. I've got a set of the PL 09's on the way- let you know in a couple of days how they feel (thank you Dakitez.) As for KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s, IMHO Ozones are the best. I use only one killer with a y-line made of Q-power line (thank you bbrex-this works great) and it worked just fine to kill a 7.5m that got me way sideways in the bug on Sunday. Because of the way my strop is set up, I don't use the flexi prolinks, but they sure look nice. Don't know about the Ozone comp pro but the older Ozone pro's (AWOC still sells them) rock. Some retard broke one of his and still feels really stupid about it.:(

Kamikuza - 2-6-2009 at 06:00 AM

Ta!

elfasa - 2-6-2009 at 08:46 AM

thanks people !

ill wait untill hearing about the handles before i buy any heliboy50

thanks

mougl - 2-6-2009 at 09:04 AM

I fly with PL handles and KKs and they are great! The handles are very comfortable and the KKs bring my 5.6m twister II down quite nicely when needed. The KKs fit nicely and when flying I hardly know they are even there. (I imagine this is how it is meant to be lol) I highly recommend PL :)

BeamerBob - 2-6-2009 at 09:15 AM

Ive said before that at this time, you can't go wrong with the Flexi, PL, or HQ kite killers. They are all top drawer quality. I would have a hard time picking one brand over the other. I just have matching brands on all my fixed bridle kites. The ozone models are a different design and you might like them better just as a personal preference. On handles, the PL models are almost exactly like the HQ handles AFAIK. Like Angus said, the Flexi prolinks are awesome but would feel heavy with small kites unless they were well powered up.

elfasa - 2-6-2009 at 02:57 PM

okay, thanks guys.

so im basicly fine, so long as i go with one of the "big names"

heliboy50 - 3-6-2009 at 12:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by mougl
The KKs fit nicely and when flying I hardly know they are even there. (I imagine this is how it is meant to be lol)


I did forget this past weekend. Landed, staked, walked away and pulled my stake most of the way out of the sand. Oops.