the lei/foil rant is amusing and i have had time on both land and water.

i have currently have 6 lei all 2005 6m-16m flown them all on a regular basis... had 2 others 10m best nemi 05 and LF ASSault II 07. (sold 10m nem. while it was fresh, sold the LF the guy popped it first time out LE ripped open probably pinched it in a roll over )

anyway

got 5 ARCS currently in rotation and daily
and these are all 2005 models and have been on theses kites exactly one year this month.. and occasionally jump on someones tube if it presents itself. but total arc user

with all the noise about this kite does this... this kite dose that better for this, better for that ...this sucks this rules blah blah blah

all the foils up up and away fun all day to me old news never lets me down .

dig up a working pump and go to work because i want to ride a tube ....

.....hhmm a solid hour of pumping on 6 kites (thankfully at the house) ....nothing, zero ..the 6m was a weak maybe but it was not blowing 35mph either and LE went soft by the time i finished repacking all the GARBAGE! truly wanted to ride the 12m boxer probably one of don montague's best all around.

vuck repairing all that crap ...off to the beach and i won't get to ride a tube today. well maybe so ... some guys down the beach might give me a ride on theirs but first ..














































A 3 hour session on my PL arc demonstrating how it's properly done , a 4-mile downwinder with a returning up wind leg repeated about 1/2 dozen times.

i do admit all that pumping was a nice workout but left me kinda empty just like the lei's.

in this real time demo lei's failed 100%

(decent gear when it works but that seems to be the trouble) can't work with that

remember all these kites are the same age

and in 2008 all kites where maintained in solid repair

I ride all LEIs and never had one fail from sitting. Hell even my 2002 Naish AR-5 will pump right up and its been sitting for years. Must be something in the air where you live i guess.

Why would you bother pumping up everything from a 6-16M Didnt quite know what the winds were? I always pump up every one of my kites before i head out to the spot. Hmmmm sounds a little fishy. But im sure its the truth, i mean why lie?

And i thought everyone was sick of this Foil /LEI debate.

Even i let it die.

What would've been refreshing and informative would've been a discussion without anyone being negative. Just folks discussing their experiences without putting anyone elses equipment down. Trashing the reputation of the equipment chosen by someone is a personal insult because they put some of themselves into the choice of equipment. Giving a negative experience with a kite isn't trashing, but merely an experience. Insisting that one style kite must win in the debate was the downfall.

1 relatively new member here has significantly changed the climate on this forum.

Arguments and put downs used to be very sporadic and short lived but now seem commonplace. The negative vibes even permeate unrelated threads. I find myself posting much less because things I would say might generate the now-common flame war that follows an otherwise harmless opinion. The users of this forum significantly lean towards foils but heck they are all kites. I find that I am more polarized away from trying and using inflatable kites (due to the negative discussion claiming their superiority to foils) to avoid giving them credence. It is now a much more "us vs. them" attitude. Before, it was just a choice.

hey, bring our arch to the downwind race in the gorge this weekend. I never see any of those in Oregon. Once in a while during SOBB.

http://www.nwkite.com/forums/t-14224.html

I'm pretty proactive when it comes to keeping my 'tubes' puncture free, it's gonna happen, so deal with it, and Learn to quickly and effectively fix your tubes.

It's easier than repairing a foil. Easier than you might think.

off early cleaned out the truck and box, really wanted to fly the 12m boxer, it was 15-20 on the forecast with it increasing and waiting for the tide to push back a little quite crowded in my usual spot . the 6m i like to keep up best i can for obvious reasons and has been the most trouble free til yesterday. certainly did not intend to ride a 6m. seeing the boxer pack just kinda ignited me for a change. i'm sure you helped me in some motivating position.

i knew a ride was coming, no doubt!. LE with at center strut was criteria for good to go, 2 struts down is ok to go but gives a weak ride. the 14 and 6 pumped but leaked soft within about 20min. LE failure to hold was a zero.

but today repaired the 6 and 14 this morning and all seem fine left them pumped on the patio (valve stem adhesion) the 12 i tried but it had leaked before i left this AM.

i did similar " gear check" at end of winter some things will never come out unless you do it, actually repaired the 12m at that time and intended to ride it but opted for v16

trying to get this lei ready to sell , not the 6m and not the Fuel 13m.

the heat in the south i'm sure degrades bladder components esp. older stuff so yes it' something in the air.

i purchased LE bladder for the 16m boxer last summer $140! (ouch) still in the box if anybody interested. needs valves. this event really ended the love . the whole patch thing goes quick but the bladder replacement just exceeds value of the kite
and i just can keep up with it. thay were great fo4r a while and actually logged a 100's of sessions on LF 07 solid 100%, for me , but failed for the guy i sold it to, felt really bad about that (sold in late summer 08).

selling them will difficult because of the repair HX.

i do wish i still had the '05 10m nem/best. never did any repairs to it. moved it while it was good to go. actually went even on the $ with that trade.

i know i can get them all in the air and reap a great ride but hey, i'm gonna ride today! during this up keep issue.

death is but a change to something else.

repeatability is crucial to objectivity

Same thing happened to me and my Naish X4. Albeit considerably older, it was still in good working order. I pumped it up one night and it worked great, I left it in my car (arizona heat) and the next day it leaked. Looks like they don't hold up well in excesive heat.

But what does?

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob What would've been refreshing and informative would've been a discussion without anyone being negative. Just folks discussing their experiences without putting anyone elses equipment down. Trashing the reputation of the equipment chosen by someone is a personal insult because they put some of themselves into the choice of equipment. Giving a negative experience with a kite isn't trashing, but merely an experience. Insisting that one style kite must win in the debate was the downfall. 1 relatively new member here has significantly changed the climate on this forum. Arguments and put downs used to be very sporadic and short lived but now seem commonplace. The negative vibes even permeate unrelated threads. I find myself posting much less because things I would say might generate the now-common flame war that follows an otherwise harmless opinion. The users of this forum significantly lean towards foils but heck they are all kites. I find that I am more polarized away from trying and using inflatable kites (due to the negative discussion claiming their superiority to foils) to avoid giving them credence. It is now a much more "us vs. them" attitude. Before, it was just a choice.

I was refusing to comment on the lei vs. foil debate, but bob, that was very well put...

A kite is a kite, they all harness the wind for our enjoyment... why cant we just enjoy the sport instead of trying to slam everything different then our own... diversity in kiting (like the world) is what makes it a day to day joy... ugh, bob is right, this flaming stuff has to go

LOL

How can anyone argue after listening to that song? :bigok: