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Originally posted by live2hover My point still remains, "Pansh kiter" doesn't inherantly mean "stupid kiter."

I hope I didn't call all people who fly Pansh Stupid. That isn't the case and Pansh isn't the only source of cheap kites.

I do find it frustrating that people can buy dangerous gear unchecked and then we all get hurt when they make the news.

Na, didn't think you was saying that.

But I have never seen a Pansh kite make the news. The only national or world news I have seen where someone got hurt was kite surfing kites and a couple fixed bridal kites that looked like higher end products.

Pansh can make you or break you. If they make you, you will move on to better kites. If they break you, well the whole kiting world will end as we know it.

Insurance company's that don't sell to kiters now will not sell to kiters then.

All the plover beaches that are ban now will still be banned.

The public beaches that don't want 50mpg bugs running down the little kids, will still not let us bug.
and the list goes on.

Whats interesting to me is, of all this Pansh fuss, I bet not one ban, restriction or prohibited area was ever the result of a noob with a Pansh.

I'd bet hard earned money that all the bans we see today was from the PRO’s ripping up the beaches, getting big air in the local parks, scaring the precious little Plover with the big PL riding the surf, bigfoot bugs destroying the dunes or maybe it was the insane snow kiter blasting by the great white Owl.

Yea, I think we can say several thousands of dollars in top of the line gear cause a bit more problems than a noob with a Pansh.

But hey, one day I hope I can get in that list above, until then I’ll have to fly a Pansh from time to time.

IMHO.

Good synopsis hardrock. That was kinda what i was getting at. What do you you ride/own?

I gotta say, my first was a flexi and I have other flexis. But I also got some panshes that I fly, regularly. I love them all and have cussed them all at one time or another too. But that moron in Fla. that tried to fly the day a hurricane was forecast to come ashore,did more damage than any noob ever could.
And he was not flying a pansh

"Money AND brains seldom come in the same package"
- WG -

I have a couple of HQ's and 5m/ 7m ace. I learn more from the Ace's when the wind is right. The HQ kites just fly too good and causing me to be a noob forever. Got to mix it up some. Don't know what or where I'll go from here.

Might get to see some Arc's this weekend. Might change everything.

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner I hope I didn't call all people who fly Pansh Stupid. That isn't the case and Pansh isn't the only source of cheap kites. I do find it frustrating that people can buy dangerous gear unchecked and then we all get hurt when they make the news.

BladeRunner
I wish I could say Pansh were the only the only company selling advanced gear to beginners. Ricki thinks there is no way I should have sold Carl a 3m Reflex; I think he is safer with it than the 5m Cult that he got elsewhere. I saw a girl at Clover Pt with her first kite, a Blade 4.9. It was blowing hard and she was was being tossed around like a rag doll.
That said, I am inclined to agree with the guy who says it is the pros who are going to get us banned. One of TDM's recent videos shows Ricki just about braining Diane with his board after a jump. Phontaine's amazing jumps just before NABX had the fire trucks and ambulance out. Need I remind you of our first meeting where you did those two amazing scuds and then put your kite away. Never mind when I nearly took the head off that stunt kiter from Surrey; it was only that the Rev flyers saw him create the incident that he did not complain to the authorities.
S

I think it is TRUE that Pansh kites haven't caused us our troubles.
We had issues right from the begining with people getting blown downwind and crashing their expensive kites in to the bath house or tourists. While no one got injured it helped get us banned from English bay and Centenial park even before Pansh existed. We are risk taker by nature. I only hope that people understand their actions can potentialy effect us all.

I am sorry that I singled out Pansh here.

I think you did Carl a good deed when you sold him a 3m. Fortunately he has not been around lately.


On Canada Day I chose to NOT fly my Syn. the conditions and my lack of experience with the kite made me stop. After a high wind session with Rip' I see I could have handled it but the LAST thing I want is to lose Vanier park .

i live in alabama and ive never met another powerkiter. i was exposed to power kiting through youtube...ive always loved flight and when i saw a man being flown by a kite i knew i had to buy one.

100 bucks shipped for a used 5 times pansh ace 4m. had i not been able to find such a cost accesible kite, i might not have not been able to spend more money on something id never experienced. launching my newly bought kite was the first time i flew. since then ive outgrown the 4m for lower winds and gotten a 6.5 blade IV...i do not think that the ace 4m is any more or less fun than the blade. i enjoy both kites just as much. i have much love and affection for my ace.

although the quality differences between the two are obvious who ever said that quality always means fun? there are some days that i enjoy the feel of the ace more than the blade. you actually have to fly it.

you can have just as much fun hauling ass in a mustang as you can in a porsche...its all about how hard your pushing the machine and yourself. refinement doesnt always equal fun.

anybody who says that pansh sucks is either too old or too rich too appreciate the value of a pansh. good kite...AMAZING price.

for a first kite i could not recomend more the pansh ace 4m...it will get you going, if you have patience...and can beat the mess out of you if you so desire. at 115lbs the pansh ace 4m become to much for me at more than 20moh. for beginning keep it around 12mph and youll have a blast. oh yeah...theyre tough as nails too. ive had neophyte friends slam a pansh in to the ground so hard i felt it in my chest and there where no issues with the kite.

flame on naysayers.

Just to mix in with my first discussion...

Cheap (second-hand) materials make it possible for people with smaller budgets to enter kiting activities. 3 weeks ago I had my first kitesurf lesson, first part was all about equipment and safety.

After playing with a trainerkite (Like the Evo 2m trainer) we had lunch and just before entering the water with our Cabrinha 9m we noticed a guy who had obviously purchased a 14m C-kite at our local Ebay (weird dutchies )
Somehow ignoring all experienced kiters at the surf spot (for which they are lobbying really hard to make it an official KITE-surf spot) he launched his kite ON HIS OWN, got dragged along the shore and crashed the kite right in the crowd watching, luckily nobody got hurt. People there warned him, because they are fed up with people buying a set without knowing how to handle it and making authorities prohibit kite-surfing at that location.
Biggest example on how safety works and glad we had extra information on how to launch kites with this much power.

After playing around in the water, bodydragging I had some go's on a board, managing to stay upright for 5 meters and being pulled off my board, crashing serveral meters upwind. At the end of the day the instructor signed of my IKO lvl 1 and 2.

Now I bought an EVO trainer with bar just to have some fun and playing with a kite and learn about the wind. To step it up a bit, too practice some more on dry land, I'm looing into buying a de-power kite. Panch Blaze II 7m seems fairly priced to practice on land (and have some snowboarding fun in winter).

Would it be possible to fly it with any kiteboard brand (North f.i.) de-power bar ? Thats what I need to buy anyway... not yet the money or skills to buy a inflatable bowkite.

Sorry for the topic hijack... at least to end it ontopic:

Safety starts with common sense