Whew! It has been a long time since I have posted on here. I have still been riding and have progressed well landboarding. Today I had my first snow kite session of the year. I put up my 15m Guerilla in a 13-17mph breeze I was off! I did much better than I did last year, probably from all the landboarding. Very few falls and I attempted a few jumps. My board was killing me as I don't have snowboarding boots and the heel plate dug into the back of my lower calf. I couldn't hold much power before the pain became to bad. I'll have to make inserts for my boots so I can walk after a day of kiting.

Anywho, my guerillas are lacking in the areas I want the most from my kite. They are crazy stable and forgiving. Very easy kites to fly. For jumps they are okay. I never really get more than a few feet off the ground with a board though. Great kites but not my cup of tea.

My venom is a step up and is the only kite I usually attempt tricks with as it is faster. It is still a bit slow in lower winds where I am most comfortable. It's my baby, my first depower, though I oddly am not that fond of it. It might be that I broke my foot with it and high winds where it shines scare me. I can ride with it though I don't feel comfortable unless the wind is behaving and is in the sweet spot for it.

I haven't flown my f-arcs in a while. I am rather scared of them after my 1200 picked me up, carried me over and entire soccer field, and set me down, like a feather, 15m away from street. In a larger field it would have been a blast. snow kiting with them should good fun since the lake I fly on is huge.

Now, here is the shocker, I am thinking about a 12m speed 3. It seems like a good choice for my needs as I feel limited by my current quiver. It would become my go to kite. I would keep my f-arcs as they are something special, and my venom, for the time being. The venom may go along with the guerillas if there is to much overlap.

Is a 12m a good choice? Would a 15m be better? How much should I expect to pay for one? ect. I would like to know If this seems like a good idea. I changed my mind on a charger 2 as I already have arcs and would like to wet my beak in something new. Would this make progression harder? There would be a learning curve but in the long run?

Any advise would be helpful. Thanks in advance guys!

There is a very good deal on here at the moment on a 12m Speed II . Hard to beat that price and a very reputable seller.

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=26932

Closest I have had would be my 13m Psycho III and it was a great kite. Hard to say if the 12 or 15 will suit you better? 12 should offer a bit more range . Not the ultimate low wind kite but it got my 13m going in 5+ kts on good snow.

Hmm... that speed 2 looks tempting. Speed 3's are still super expensive. I thought the price would have dropped more with the speed 4 being out. How much performance difference is there between the speed 2 & 3? From what I have heard the main difference is turning speed and bar pressure. I am used to high bar pressure and slow turning kites (G18 ). So it may be easier on me learning and my wallet to go with a speed 2?

I was thinking a 12m would suit my better than a 15m as I have a my f-1600 to get me going up until around 10-12mph. I only weigh 130 lbs. so smaller should be better? A 12m would turn faster than a 15m too.

Welcome back Snake!

I was thinking of the exact same for sale post as BR.

I'm no depow guy, but I've seen Phreerider on Jekyll Isl. with his 12m Flysurfer and it really seemed to do the job. ... GREAT price too.

Big difference between the speed 2 and 3. The 2 was more volatile and not as predictable, stable or safe, from what I understand (I don't own one, myself, so take that with a grain.). The speed 3 or 4 is an endgame kite, so get a pulse 2, a unity or a psycho 3 if you wanna check out the flysurfers but don't want to spend a mint.

You and I started almost exactly the same time with almost exactly the same kites. We clearly have similar tastes. I would bet real money that you will LOVE any of these, but I think the speed 2 is a waste of time for you. The Psycho 3s are a pretty good deal and wicked powerful all the way through every turn, but you have to pay like 1000% more attention to them over the arcs. The Pulse 2 is smooth and predictable, but a little slow to turn. It is, however, my most used kite because of its versatility (it says on the side that it covers 12-17m, depending on trim /depower.).

The 6m unity is amazing. Had her out yesterday static flying in gusts up to 40. I wouldn't suggest that, TBO, but the point is that it has loads of depower. If I had to do it over again, I would go 6m, 10m, 15m. That would cover like 90% of my days. An argument could certainly be made for 8m, 12m, 19m, too, if you're into big air. I tend to like to be just slightly underrpowered, though. Perfect-world-money-is-no-object-model-choices? Unity, Psycho V, Speed IV.

Last, anything you get, make sure it has (or upgrade to) the infinity 2.0 bar. The old crap is #@%$#!e and really annoying. The new stuff is a ton safer and makes life a lot easier. I still have an old bar on my psycho and I don't want to fly her until I replace it. Oh, and my experience is that FLS sucks, but FDS is fantastic. Aside from Cabrinha, it's my favorite safety system out there. (Chad disagrees and says you should just cut thee whole thing g loose, in case of emergency, but I'm always surrounded by people so I use FDS.)

Good luck stealing the kites I wanna buy, Snake :)

Actually, I got a shoulder surgery coming up (unrelated) and was considering selling the 12m Pulse 2 so I can save up for a Speed IV by the time I'm recovered. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you some pics. It has the infinity 2.0 bar + FDS on it and will happily fly in 5mph winds (but no BIG air until 8) Great float, and no surprises. She's in cherry condition.

Definite jump in difference between speed 2 and speed 3. But I can say that the 12m speed 2 is a real versatile kite. It can be a handful in gusty winds, at times. Biggest issue is standing around with the kite in the air. It likes to be on the move (launch and get riding). I have done buggy(only once) kite landboarding, snowkiting, and a tiny bit of water riding with my 12m speed 2. It has performed quite well for me, once I had it figured out. They do like park n ride, so you should have room to let it stretch its legs, not the best for a tight location. They are great jumpers. I weigh 200 and 220 with snowboard gear on I was boosting close to 10 feet in 28km winds just before Christmas. The bar works well with the kite, and FDS is highly recommended. You can skip the complete bar upgrade and get a chicken loop upgrade from powerzone, for less than $100 (not as fancy but it gives you a better safety release that is easy to reset). There is definite bar pressure from this kite, some like it some don't for obvious reasons. Personally the speed 2 is a great kite once you get it dialed in. Just depends on the type of kiter you are, whether it suits you.