Well I purchased a SlingShot B2 and a Flexifoil Bullet 5.5

I can fly the SlingShot with no problem in winds to 15mph. That's what it was when I went out this Saturday.

I flew the Bullet in winds of 8 - 10mph also. I couldn't believe the amount of pull it produced.

My question is: I can fly through the power zone at that wind speed but any higher and it seems like it's not going to be fun just tiresome.

I can land the kite, park the kite, reverse take off.

What do I do now. I have a land board but my kite has handles and not a bar. And also I need an XXL harness and I have yet to see someone selling one of them.

Can I put a bar on my bullet and if so what do I need to look for?

Where can I get an XXL harness for myself.

Thanks for the help. The pull is sooooooooo much fun.

Chad

I'm still learing to landboard myself, so take these comments for what they are...

First off: get yourself a bar, rather than handles. I learnt to fly on handles myself, but the bar will allow you to lean your weight against the kite's pull more easily - as opposed to having 2 handles that will move independently. Handles are fine for buggies, but I haven't seen many landboarders on them.

Next: Don't harness into a fixed bridle kite - unless you want to risk flying off and not being able to let go. If you want to harness in, you should be looking at a depowerable kite - like an Ozone Frenzy or a Flexifoil Sabre etc. (or a bow style LEI, for that matter).

Based on my own experience of flying blades and bullets, they are OK but not great for landboarding - basically, because you can't control gusts well. In order to power up the board and get moving, you'll have to swing the kite around in the power zone and if you get a gust of wind, you're yanked off the board sideways. I did that a few times and succeeded in dislocating my shoulder!

My advice to you is to practice scudding (getting dragged around) on your bullet until you're very comfortable with it, then invest in a depowerable foil kite + harness.

In terms of where to get a bar for your flexi bullet - any flexifoil dealer will have them. Look online.

hope that helps and good luck!

Yes, you can put a bar on Bullet. I started from a bar and moved to handles recently. Handles are great for flying just a kite. You can use break lines for faster turns (I have blade IV 6.5) and it gives more freedom. But I still prefer a bar when I landboard. Fixed distance between hands gives more stability while you are moving.

Check with Scoopy in this forum. I just ordered a bar for my Blade from him. I am sure he has something for Bullet as well.

you dont need either a bar or harness to landboard, you might want a bar as some, including me, find it easier to board on a bar than handles, and you will want a harness once you are more experienced. Cloudy says that you shouldnt hook into a harness with a fixed bridle kite, and to be honest thats not true, beginners shouldnt hook into a harness but most experienced kiters use harnesses with fixed bridles aswell as depowers. if you get a bar it may well come with a strop/harness line with a quick release so if you get into trouble you can activate it and the kite killer comes into action

You have the kites with handles, and you have a board. Get started. You can board with handles and no harness, despite the general preference for bars and depower kites.

Realize when you get into bars and a harness, depower kites are generally hooked up opposite to fixed bridle kites: With a depower foil, the FRONT lines meet at the depower strap and run through the center of the bar where the chicken loop or a shackle joins it to your harness spreader bar. Letting the bar out lets out the rear lines, lowering the angle of attack of the kite, and decreasing its lift.

A bar on a fixed bridle kite generally has the brake lines connected and running through the center hole on the bar, and the line then connects to a wrist strap or to the spreader bar on a harness. Letting the bar out pulls in the rear lines and applies brake.

You can operate a kite with handles and a strop between them that runs through the spreader bar hook on your harness, or through a pulley on same. The strop runs between the handles near their top, tranferring much of the force of the kite to your harness.

Note I haven't said anything specific about safety systems, quick releases on chicken loops or shackles, etc. That's an whole other subject. Be careful with any kind of bar and harness system, so you don't create something that won't release under load or keeps you attached to the kite when you need to let loose.

Chris Krumm

Quote:

Originally posted by jumping_jim ....Cloudy says that you shouldnt hook into a harness with a fixed bridle kite, and to be honest thats not true, beginners shouldnt hook into a harness but most experienced kiters use harnesses with fixed bridles aswell as depowers.

I just wanted to clarify what I was saying. You can certainly hook into a harness with a fixed bridle kite, but I don't think it's the best way to learn without hurting yourself.

Although it may seem initially counter-intuitive, I have found - based on my own experience working up the learning curve with bullets, blades and now an Ozone Frenzy - that the bigger, depowerable foils are actually much safer and easier to learn traction with than the smaller, fixed bridle kites.

With a big depowerable kite, you can park it where at the edge of the window and then pull the bar (sheeting in) to generate power when you want it. In contrast, with a smaller, fixed bridle kite, you will probably end up having to work the kite in the window (ie doing power strokes) to get moving. If a gust of wind hits you while you are whipping your kite around in the window....that's when you risk getting hurt. Especially with a bullet - which has a very horizontal (rather than vertical, like a blade) type of pull and needs to be fairly low/horizontal in the window to get full power out of it.

In contrast, with a depowerable foil, you can just sheet out the kite and dump out the extra air. No sudden horizontal yank off the board...

Once you've mastered the basic technique, by all means go for a fixed bridle kite, if that's what you want. As you've already noticed, kites like blades and bullets generate tremendous pull for their size, so there are some advantages to these kites + they are generally more fun to fly per se because they move faster than larger kites do. However, for what it is worth, I see plenty of buggiers on harnessed fixed bridle kites, but most of the landboarders I see are on depowerable foils like Frenzys.

Either way, enjoy and be safe!

Cloudy

If you really want a bar setup on your bullet, check out my X-bar setup (on this website) Unlike other bar setups, it steers using both the brake AND power lines (just like handles). It has an incredible safety system that not only instantly depowers the kite, but also lands it for you (in launching position) and requires no resetting. It can be used with or without a harness.

That being said... Learn to fly a 4-line foil the way they should be flown... On handles... No sense in buying a 4-line kite only to treat it like a 2-line kite. There is much more benefit to flying quads than just sharp turns and reverse launching. Yes... it can seem very tiring. You're just not used to using those particular muscles. (it is an athletic sport after all)...

And get a harness now (a seat harness is better than waist harness) In case it's not already there, hook on an 18" piece of climbing rope on the back end of your handles on the power line side, so you can hook into your harness. Now at first, hook into the harness only in between moves to give your arms a rest. This will keep you from getting worn out. As you progress in your skill level, you'll be able to do more and more while in the harness. Most skilled pilots still unhook sometimes when launching or jumping, then hook in once they've gotten moving.

And finally, (this is just my opinion) sell/give away/burn the B-2....
now!!!!.....Really!.... Those things are a biggest waste of money on the planet! They're a gimmick. A "trainer" kite that teaches you a nothing about flying traction kites!!

Cloudy, what kind of harness are you using?

Quote:

Originally posted by scott540 Cloudy, what kind of harness are you using?

I'm using a Dakine Fusion seat harness. Love it!

Quote:

I'm using a Dakine Fusion seat harness. Love it!

I second that about the fusion. I still use handles but want to convert one of mine into a depowerable with a bar... just have'nt had time. I use my fusion for kiteboarding and for cruising down the beach with a strop on my handles...

The surface your riding on makes difference too... it takes me a bigger kite to get cruising on soft grassy fields as opposed to packed sand or parking lots.

But for new kiters/landboarders... nothing beats learning to drag/scud to start with. For added bonus... find a large old ice chest lid... sit on it, lean back and wedge your feet... and dive the kite.... incredibly fun... dangerous of course... but fun. Hard packed baseball infields are great for sliding around on :evil:

Just remember these things are powerful as heck... and respect it or they have a way of teaching you respect...