I like the topic so thought I would invite others to contribute.

My quiver is varied . I have my go to kites and then some others that I think are classics / quirky.

I keep my Peel and Quadrafoil mostly for posterity . The Peel is signed by PL himself.
I keep my C-quads because they are a real departure from anything else and fun to fly. I only wish I had more time to play with them. Same with my Rev's.

My 9m Blade is a good low wind kite that has paid for itself many times. I use it in situations that will be hard on the kite and loan it out without concern.

My 2.5 Profoil is the kite I take out in winds that scare me. The kite is very well behaved and low lift. It is always in the bag to loan to beginners.

I grew from having a FB quiver to finding Depower suits me more. I think I would call all my depower kites my go to kites but our winds dictate that the large ones get used most. I am an OG and look for a forgiving kite but something I can jump with when conditions are right. My Synergies fit that bill nicely. The 18m Phantom as well. I turned away from arcs back when I had Guerilla I's and found them too slow. Later, I had Chargers but found them too fast.

Between my arc experiences I moved to Flysurfer. My 7m Pulse is like my 9m Blade and has paid for itself but still has a place as a loaner and rough duty kite . + fast set up !

The 19m SA II is a recent acquisition but I can already tell it will be my " day saver " kite !

So .. 16 or more kites but I have an excuse for owning every single one ! :smug:

So ... How come you've got all those kites ?

Got a few kites, kept them all so I can give the newbies a kite or two to play with.

Started off with FB kites, ozone flows and methods, plus a Beamer, these have been semi retired. My FB quiver is HQ toxics now, these are for nice onshore winds and a bit of speed. I've also got a huge vapor which rarely gets used as its a LOW wind kite( low and smooth ) or it wants to hurt me .
For the gusty days I've got 3 Ozone access kites, a 4,6 and a 10

There's always room for more kites, hoping to have a look at a speed 4 8m kite if it's as good as the raves, it could be on the shopping list.

Believe it or not, I enjoy just static flying at my local schools and on top of the North Carolina dunes. So I built a full static quiver of Ozone Flows for different winds. They also serve as excellent buggy engines for when I'm feeling mild, not wild :evil: .

For our VA winter winds, I find the 1.8 Rage, 2.5 Bullet, and 3.5 Rage more than get the job done for ramped up buggying! the 4.5 Bullet, and the 6.9 Reactor II are for the lighter wind days (which are few and far between in the dead of winter here).

I wish my buggy quiver wasn't so mixed and gapped at the end, but I do enjoy what I got and don't regret any purchase. Most were steals from the good peeps here at PKF. Hell, that's how most of us here stay in the "dog house" anyway It's a never ending cycle. When someone is forced to unload a kite, the next guy/gal is forced to buy it :evil:. So please PKF Peeps, stop posting such awesome deals all the time.....

Oh, a complete set of Methods, or Toxics would be nice if anyone is feeling generous

Hmm, My answer is here->My Quiver and Why I Fly what I Fly

Quote: Originally posted by riffclown

Hmm, My answer is here->My Quiver and Why I Fly what I Fly

Yes, I just didn't want to take over your thread.

Fun topic!

Would have been fine
:D

These boys are paid for in full...maybe the the only things I don't owe on..I can make that work

Most know I have a full Phantom Original Quiver. I love flying the Phantoms and do great with them, works in the buggy, on the board and in the water, and when I get some snow, it will work for that as well.

My go to is almost always the 18m. I fly it in winds from 10mph to about 15mph. I could probably get more out of it in the grass but at the beach it just starts pulling sideways.

Next I usually jump right to the 12m after 15mph. That will get me to just over 20mph winds in the buggy then it gets sketchy. Over 20mph winds I grab the 9m and have a blast. I have only tried the 6 once, but the gust were way to strong and the wind was not real clean.

The 15and e 6 don't come out much, but that's ok they still get some love on e in a while.

I ride hard with them and will pretzel them up in a heartbeat to make them turn as fast as possible.

I will be working on a FB quiver soon, for those smooth as silk days and I want to go a bit faster.

After trying quite a few different kites, it became that a foil design is what works for me. Easy setup and take down, light, no pumping, and were the easiest design to teach myself with. The access handles our gusty crap like a champ, and the flysurfers have saved my sessions lots of times.

I can't just give you a couple of sentences on this subject. It has to be half a page.

I used to have enough race kites to fill a shop but not anymore. Like Bladerunner I found that depower suited me better and grudgingly sold pretty much everything else off.

I still have a few Blades, a couple of small race kites and a c-quad. Nowadays I just fly 3 kites. Genetrix Hydra 7 & 9m and a 15m fuel.

The fuel is the only kite I can really use to execute a deadman's turn, my only trick on my trick list.

The Hydra's are for high winds.
I've spent years buying and owning various LEI's to finally settle on these two. I must be the only person on the planet who uses these in a buggy and I'm curious as to why nobody else does? Of course we all love our kites for our own reasons. I'm only teasing. :D

The Hydra's are simply amazing in the bug though. The 7m has the largest wind range of any kite, period.
The official spec wind range is 20mph-63mph !!! and it's grunty throughout that range.

You can easily trim the kite so, that even in 40mph+ winds you are able to complete a broad sweeping downloop, flying static! That's 40mph wind!!! COME ON GUYS! :D Try that with any other kite and it's good night Vienna.

Sebastien Cattelan used the Hydra to be the first person to kitesurf past the 50 knot barrier and later 55 knots at the 2010 Luderitz speed challenge.

The Genetrix hydra is unlike any other LEI in that it's bridle is attached directly to the strutts. This gives it enough support to make the kite look like a stiff flat board when in flight.

I've often complained that the 7m feels underpowered for a speed attempt in winds gusting over 50mph, this is no exaggeration. I can find myself blasting down the beach at 60mph and yelling at the kite for more power, which is why I now have the 9m.

This is the reason I have the confidence to fly in storm force winds, nothing to do with balls and everything to do with the trimming of the Hydra.

If only the dry lakebed boys would try it, I'm positive they'd be setting new records.
I love the GENETRIX HYDRA. :D In fact I'm going to redo my sig.

Ok, Redsky you have my attention. What is the upper limit on the 9m? What are your speeds and what wind speeds become too much for it? In winds above 35 mph, it's the kite I'm afraid of, not the buggy or the speed.

I want the confidence that the kite is going to keep pointed in the same direction I'm going. I think I have my 2.7m Vapor tuned about right now, but haven't had a true test since my last adjustment.

I love my 12m Phantom, and can fly it into 27-28 mph winds before I can't turn upwind anymore. With room, I can turn dead downwind and let the speed bleed off and then turn, so in the right conditions, that kite could go over 60 mph. I've been 59.4 with it while trying to not go fast!

I think I'm definitely conservative with my wind ranges. The 19m SA comes out at 12km/h and goes away at 22km/h, the 12m Speed 2 comes out at that 22km and goes away at 30-35km/h, and the 6m access comes out from 35km/h to 50km/h. I'm 190-200lbs depending on day, and ride on hard snow and grass fields. I'm sure, Should be able to at least take the access into higher winds, but it seems that about 50km/h I'm way out of my comfort zone.

here goes-

I fly fixed bridles in the bug and my go to kite has got to be my 5.3 vipers can fly it anywhere between 7- 20 (over twenty and i am on the board or the local winds are too shifty to fly) I really love the 3.5 rage when its blowing over 12-15 and recently picked up an 8m toxic for the low wind days- so far i have flown it in the 5- 12 range but will admit that once in double digits and my location i prefer the viper just becasue of turning speed. the toxic can be a little twitch and tip flappy if the winds are shifty but otherwise it does pull like a frieght train.
My preferred riding is on the landboard in winds above 10mph but will fly any of my ARCs in that wind and get really excited to put the 19 up when at the beach and its blowing in the 20-25 range- time to float away. My go to Arc is definetly my new one the 15m charger2 which i am still figuring out safe ranges but have fond that it will fly and pull me around in as low as 7-8 (grass field) and becomes really fun in the grass around 15mph. I suspect that in clean beach winds i could fly it in the upper 20's low 30's. Niced thing about the new chargers is i have found that it is pretty hard to bowtie or invert and when it does bowtie a couple of pulls on the appropriate line and it will untie itself the charger2 is quickly becoming my favorite kite for the board and by far the best arc for my style of riding

4m Scout II: delivered my first spanking, down wind rocket ride to a spin cycle in 30knot + gusts; couple of months later it got me back to my starting point for the first time and a measure of speed control. It's small and light so good for walks through parks and beaches. I like to let friends try it; so far I've hooked 2–one even went out and bought himself his own 4m Scout. The other wants a harness because he got rolling on the runways on inliners after about 20 minutes of getting to know the kite. Fun kite, but makes you want more kite, as bigger canopies pass you and boost all about you.

9.5M Montana VI: taught me to really learn to control my speed and how to fly in gusty inland winds. This is my go to kite. It gets going at 11+ knts and is fun for me up to 25. It usually handles very well, but I have had it suddenly collapse when the wind shifts dramatically.

Charger 15m: Thanks Ken aka Bladerunner. I got this kite to play in the water static and bodydragging and I can't wait to put it together with the board I got last summer. I had one of my best days ever snowkiting with this last year. This was a hard learning curve to pick up flying arcs with as my spars and spar pockets will attest to. But this is such a fun kite I can get it off the ground in 7knts and roll on the tarmac. It is interesting how the apparent wind helps improve its low wind performance. There is a lot of overlap in the wind range with my Montana, but this arc is a completely different feeling with its grunt and float.

F-arc 1600: I thought I would be able to learn how to kiteboard with this kite. After 4 days on Ozone catalysts, I got this one up in about 10 knots. The funniest part of this ego deflating day was filling the kite with the leaf blower, having it self launch seconds after zipping it shut, watching as the bar flew toward me, dragging the pair of 65cm rebar ground stakes, catching the bar, hooking in and then as I undid the carabiner from the chicken loop and hooked in, I caught another gust that sent me scudding, and then got launched about 20 yards offshore. I've flown this one a bunch of times on land since then and have had some good KLB days, but I have a hard time getting back to my starting point if the wind picks up with this one. I love the boost it gives me. I really want to fly it on snow.

F-arc 1200: still new in its bag. it only has one leech line, which combined with the wind range overlap with my other kites, and my difficulty with it's big brother, has kept me from rigging it.

My next kite will probably be a closed cell foil or a tube.

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Ok, Redsky you have my attention. What is the upper limit on the 9m? What are your speeds and what wind speeds become too much for it? In winds above 35 mph, it's the kite I'm afraid of, not the buggy or the speed. I want the confidence that the kite is going to keep pointed in the same direction I'm going. I think I have my 2.7m Vapor tuned about right now, but haven't had a true test since my last adjustment. I love my 12m Phantom, and can fly it into 27-28 mph winds before I can't turn upwind anymore. With room, I can turn dead downwind and let the speed bleed off and then turn, so in the right conditions, that kite could go over 60 mph. I've been 59.4 with it while trying to not go fast!

Hi Bob,

The official upper limit on the 9m is 46mph. I hit 55.5mph last week with it in winds 28mph gusting 35mph.
Bare in mind that I only have about 15-20ft of downwind room to play with before I have to hit the brakes.

If you experience winds of over 35mph, then that's when you'll get the record. No point in trying for the record in less. Therefore I really think you should try the 7m. The reason I have the 9m is because I have very little room available to me, approx 100m x 15m of sand and need plenty of low down power to launch me quickly.

You have no such problems. The 7m will work from 20mph to near hurricane force winds.

Trim the kite for full depower. Get someone to launch you as the lakebed is damaging as you know or put a ground sheet down to protect it. You'll be so surprised at the lack of power, barely enough to get the bug moving on sand.
Gradually trim out for more power until you reach maximum. It must be maximum if you're going for speed.

You won't have to turn directly downwind to slow as there's silly amounts of depower. Simply let the bar out, turn smoothly upwind and slow to a stop.

If you have concerns then head downwind, re-trim then head back upwind. It's easy to trim on the fly as the trim straps slide easily on a stiff runner. They don't flap about in the wind like other kitesurfing kites. I've had 66 mph with the 7m without any problems with stopping, albeit a 66 mph powerslide.

Pump the kite very hard. It will fly even better.

I really think you'd do better on the 7m. - I'm sure 35mph winds will see you doing 70 mph all day long on the playa. Anymore wind than that and your looking at a record.

I've flown the 7m Cabrinha Crossbow in storm force 10 gusting violent storm 11 (72mph winds) and trust me, the Genetrix has vastly more depower than the Crossbow.

You will feel very safe with the Genetrix Hydra 7m.

Awesome advice Redsky! Are there any differences in model years? Any models to avoid or seek out? I'd be happy with a used one that someone has flown 3 times and wants the new model.

I've cobbled together a mostly FB quiver that works well for me. My FB kites are all either Flexifoil or Peter Lynn, would love to add an Ozone if the opportunity comes along. My FB quiver range is 2M-8.3M with duplicates in the smaller sizes to teach newbies. My winds in summertime can go down to nothing so having an 8.3 Reactor on the big end is nice. I have 7M and 9.5M depower kites but have not tried to buggy with them yet. Still getting used to flying while being hooked-in or connected to something.

Haven't gotten the buggy completely figured out yet but I'm pretty fearless on the static side of things. I think I differ from most in that much of the enjoyment I get from powerkiting is in the total body workout and endurance aspect of static flying and less so on the traction side for now. The other source of enjoyment has been bringing many newbies into the sport through instruction on my kites and then helping them find their first kites. Just today I handed off to a good friend the 4M Hornet 2 that was for sale on here recently. This is her second kite that I have sourced on this forum. In my area I'm getting really close to getting a flying club organized. There was a time I was the only one within a great distance that flew power kites. Thank goodness that is all changing.

My most fun kite to fly is my 2.5M Bullet
My most frequently flown kite the 4.7M Rage
My go-to summertime kite is the 6.8M Viper S
My scariest kite to fly is a toss-up between the 5.6M Twister and 9.5M Sabre 2 depower (not really scary per say, let's just say they require more respect :o)
I'm a shade under 125lbs. so I really have to respect larger sized "lifty" kites which should explain a lot.

redsky, you're not the only one who flies a tube ( LEI) Rob Lukin over here flies them,
Why does no one fly them ..... Tradition firstly, the FB seems to hold pole position, although over here depowers reign supreme for sheer convenience and versatility, possibly also because we don't have a race scene.

Rob really gets his zipping along, did about 90khr at our last big meet, we've got another coming up this week. Robs got some physical issues due to a brain injury acquired through a mossie bite, so finds the blow up kites easier to launch.

The wind range seems to be incredible on the LEIs , or it might just be the fliers have a touch of craziness to them .

Quote:

The wind range seems to be incredible on the LEIs ,

I've seen Rob out with his 4m Airush LEI in 30-35 knots without any problem. I've also watched him leave me for dead (while flying a 5m Frenzy) in about 14 knots. So that gives his 4m LEI a wind range of, say 12 - 35 knots....could be more on either side of that. Pretty darn impressive wind range I reckon. I think his 7m LEI can get him going in around 7 - 8 knots or so..... I think I only had a knot or two advantage in light winds with my 10m Nasa wing on our last trip.

Clive, I think we should look into these!!

I'm thinking you could be right John

I think we could ask for one of the suppliers to provide a demo kite for the labor day weekend .

Or maybee we could let the tyres down on robs wheelchair, and run off with his kite .......

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Awesome advice Redsky! Are there any differences in model years? Any models to avoid or seek out? I'd be happy with a used one that someone has flown 3 times and wants the new model.

I should contact Genetrix and get a job with their sales team. :smug:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syKXGBaZHIk

The Genetrix Hydra V5 is the latest version of the kite and the one I own. The top end for the V4 is 45knots vs 55knots for the V5.

Unfortunately these kites are specialist. Very few buy them and as speed and course racing on water is in it's infancy they rarely come up for-sale.

However, one was sold on ebay in December for $440. So really worth keeping an eye on that.
If I see one I'll let you know asap.

Cost new $1496 complete. Kite only $1087 from Genetrix France.
I wish I had better news. I can't find anyone else apart from Genetrix themselves who now sell them.
You might have better luck your side...but don't give up because these kites handle much greater wind speeds with ease and safety that you wouldn't believe.




Hey Clive. It's the same here in the UK. Very few people fly tubes. I'd say about 5 people. You may know Cliff on extremekites. He uses them. The race scene is quite big here in the UK which might be the reason why.