Hi everyone! I am new to the forum and new to power kiting.
My interest lies in kite landboarding at the ocean beach (lots of packed sand). I am pretty good flying a delta type stunt kite, but have no experience with larger power kites.
I'm trying to find a good beginner's kite and ease into this, so as not to get hurt and build my skills gradually.
I'm a fairly big guy at 6'3" and 220 lbs, but not sure how I can equate that to sizing my first power kite.

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.

Chris

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=21246
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=20743

Some general reading for you.
What follows is my own humble opinion ... hopefully others will chime in with advice

First kite .... 4 line, somewhere between 3.0 and 5.0m fixed bridle(FB), my preference is handles .... My Pansh ACE4.5 has yarded me off my feet static flying and I am 6'1", 235. Lots depends on windspeed ... if you are near ocean, static flying a 4.0 to 5.0 will have you scudding across the beach in the right wind. Since you want to landboard, there are kites that are on a bar or on handles or both so you need to do some research or ask the forum guys for specific brands.

Gear? Helmet and kite killers ....ALWAYS ... add gloves, elbow and knee pads once you have a board or buggy ... even motocross style body armor and hip padded shorts are used by many once speeds increase.

Kites ... Look at my Signature ... everything below the Pansh kites was purchased new or used from members of this forum ... look for used kites to help keep initial cost down.... check the "good traders list" ... nobody here sells JUNK and they stand behind their sales. If you are gonna kite board, probably depower kites are in your future and they are way cheaper used. I snowboarded this winter with FB, but its a hell of a workout at times because I won't harness myself to a FB just yet :evil: ... I have PL scorpion and Phantom depower arcs now, but not flying them until I can meet up with a "teacher" and do some lessons or at least some buddy flying.

New first kite?? Pansh has a bad reputation from the past but they are getting better. Inexpensive kites, but for a newbie, they are good teachers .... Flux probably their best newbie/intermediate kite, Blaze good too .... Ace has a bit of a nasty streak (lifty) ... sprint is a race kite .. don't go there yet. Don't be too concerned with online purchase from china ... I ordered my 3 and they arrived in western canada in 8 days ... no additional costs (customs, etc) at all. www.panshkite.com

There are some killer deals on higher end kites too ... Dakitez has new Peter Lynn ViperS on for great RTF prices ... you'll have to decide www.dakitez.com

Welcome to the forum and the addiction :wee:

Thanks for all the great info!! Seems that there is quite a learning curve, so I am going to spend some time on research before I take the plunge. I guess as long as I don't get some huge thing that carries me away I should be OK.


Chris

At 6'3" and 220lbs I'm thinking a 4m would be about right for a start. Make it a 3m if you have windy conditions.... 4m should be enough to have you moving on a landboard. You would probably want something reasonably gentle for a start. Zebra Z1, Flexifoil Rage, Peter Lynn Hornet, HQ Beamer, PKD Buster, Ozone Flow/Octane ? (think that's the Flow's replacement) - all quality kites. 5m would be a bit much for a start - you need to be training your reflexes, not getting pulled all over the place. And a 4m can still do that in 15mph or so.

Check out coastalwindsports.com for some down loadable tutorials.

+1 hornet/beamer

Welcome!
First off. everyone has there own preferences and this forum is an awesome place to get as much info as possible as long as you willing to ask and are patient enough to wait for the responses to come in. (i wasn't in the beginning and am slowly learning patience now) There are guys on here with insane amounts of experience will to share and even newbies sharing what they learnt/experienced that day.

i too am new to this-
Started this past xmas, my sister got me a training lesson and learnt on a HQ 3m on a fairly windy day.Now i'm hooked.
i obsessed about it for the following 16 hours, barely slept as i was surfing the web in bed on my laptop trying to cram as much info in my tiny brain as possible.
The following afternoon i purchased my first kite on Ebay.
HQ Apex III 5meter de-power kite.

A week later i bought a Pansh 2m legend thinking my daughter would love it. (she does)

So-I am 6'4" 260 lbs. wind speeds here are generally between 5-15mph. once in a while we get 20-30.

My first mistake was to purchase the HQ kite.
I thought it was one of those kites that would be good for anyone to fly seeing as it is a de-power kite and that it has such a wide wind window.
Its a lovely kite and fun to fly but i find it needs lots of wind to get it up in the air and make it fun for me-
Bottom line- it scares the crap out of me- i don't trust my sister to fly it(120lbs soaking wet) or anyone else for that mater.
Its a kite that needs skill, there are a lot of adjustments to the de-power side and seeing as how it takes so much wind to get it up- it doesn't take much more to make it crazy. in a 25mph wind, not properly set up, de-power all you want and that thing has dragged me across a field with ease. Even my 2m pansh was pulling like crazy that day.

Just recently i purchased a Peter Lynn Viper 5.3 and a buggy
the Viper is a kite with handles. The beauty about this is there are kill straps that attach to your wrists.
Get scared? let go... easy as that. Maneuverability is awesome. want the kite to turn faster? pulling the kill line a touch and watch it roll on its wing tip. Phenomenal and such a blast to fly.



Sorry for the novel- i have been accused of being a windbag but my suggestions are as follows:
Ask piles of questions
consider your size
consider the average wind speed where you intend to fly(HUGE FACTOR) and choose your kites accordingly.
consider if anyone else will fly your kites or is it just you.
ask piles of questions.
as much as some people will roll they're eyes at you when you tell them that flying kites is an extreme sport-make sure you have safety gear (another HUGE)
as more questions.
Enjoy... I know i am.

greencarnia definatly check the tutorial at coastalwindsports.com super helpful at this point in the program.
Short sidetrack. Beaudryjoel on that 5m ApexIII make sure the front lines are attached to the knots closest to the bar and , if you have to , pull the depower adjuster rope/strap in a little to improve light wind flying. It may sound bassackwards but you have to depower it to fly in light wind , this will also make it more managable in high wind.