Hi, ill try and keep this short, so i don't bore you all.
I havent posted in many years, due to University (boooooo! ) but im all done now, and want to get back into kiting.

I currently only have one kite, a rather old and sorry looking, but usable 3m eolo radsail. i live near the beach, so do all my flying there.
I also own a crappy mountain board, and I would like to get more experience on that, and become a competent kite land boarder over time.

i have a hugely limited budget, at the moment im at the buying rate of 1 kite every 4-5 years, lol. my current budget is £170 (approx 268 USD) i want a kite that will let me be able to get out in more wind conditions and not kill me if i make a mistake.

I had a couple of accidents, not major, but enough to knock my confidence, so im a bit of a nervous flyer sometimes.

At the moment on eBay im looking at a used - like new PL Bomba 8.5m RTF with harness that is in budget.

Does anyone have experience / know much about this kite, characteristics, wind range (for a hesitant flyer) etc etc etc ? ive looked for reviews but not much out there about it.

I would like a de-power, for a number of reasons. so i have some general questions about de-powers. i spoke to the guy in the local kite shop and he said if i (6 foot, 200ish lbs) were to get a de-power there's no point in getting one less than 10-11m. and he recommended getting a decent 4m foil instead. Would you agree with this ? ive been reading, an i think a de-power between 6-8m would be good, i even though 8.5m would be a bit big for me..

I welcome all and any advice from you guys and gals. please feel free to comment on what you think would be good / bad for me in my situation.

Thanks,
Tim.

i was also looking at a Flexifoil Sabre 7m. what are your thoughts on that kite ? it is in budget (just) but no harness...

I have no experience with either particular kite, but the bomba is sized for fairly high winds. It isn't going to have much power below 18 mph I'd guess. It's projected area is 5.3m.

The 7m sabre wouldn't need as much wind but is still a smallish kite for depower, so it would have a fairly high top end for you.

I've never seen an 8.5 Bomba or flown one but I bet it would be a wicked nice highwind kite. Like BB said it's basically a gonna be like a 5m flat foil but really good in gusty and probably low on the twitchy end of things. In lowish winds it wiil be a good kite to practice handling with and as you progress it will still be an awesome kite for higher wind days.

I used to fly Sabre 1's and then Sabre 2's and both are great kites. I prefered the Sab1 as it was a little smoother power deleivery and really straight forward to fly. The crossover bridle is a little bit of a PITA but you get used to it. Loved the Cobra cleat.

Sabre has a fair amount of depow and the 7m is a good goto size for me @200lbs on ice in winds up to 20mph and down around 12mph without too much hassle.

thanks for your advice guys.

ive seen another good coulpe of options, neither depowers. how would you say the PL bomba 8.5 would compare to the flexifoil blade 4m, Mk2, or the bullet 3.5m ?

What about the ozone Manta 2 10m? Any thoughts? Would it be too big for me ?

Manta is a great intermediate/advance rider kite, but beginner will find it frustrating as it need to be moving, during static flights it will easy overfly if not watched.

Okay, thanks I'll avoid it then. I think in going to bid on the sabre, which is more expensive but ends sooner, and if I don't get that I'll get the bomba.

If you are just getting back into buggying I think it would be a bad idea to start out with a depower kite. In my opinion you should fly a standard fixed bridle kite and not harness in untill you are comfortable with turns and stopping ability. You should be able to come to a stop without using your feet at all to slow down.

Keep in mind if you ever get into a hairy situation just let the kite go. This will save the kite from damage and most importantly keep you from getting injured. The kite won't go far from you after you let go and you can just walk over and pick up the handles.