Quote: Originally posted by iwanakite

I don't think a 5.5 would pose much danger to myself whilst learning to fly it on my feet just saying it won't be able to drag or lift me off my feet.

You are incorrect in this assumption, but because I'm saying it, you'll absolutely ignore me. Maybe you'll listen to someone else.

I found the 5.5m HQ Apex a good kite to start with last year, I did get some professional instruction my first couple of times out.

The professional instruction I did receive made the learning curve a lot shorter, there are just some things you can't learn from the Internet. It is hard to critique yourself on what errors you are making when you have your hands full flying a kite.

I have also met others via the professional instruction. I try to get together with the group a couple times a year, it is a lot more fun to kite with a group then just going out alone.

And yes you can get lofted unexpectedly with a 5m kite, it hapened to me last month, just when I thought I had it all figured out...

I have a peter lynn lynx 11m complete With radical harness.
Bought from big mikes kites last year. Only flown it 3 times. No Tears or rips. Practically brand new

Quote: Originally posted by erratic winds

Quote: Originally posted by iwanakite   I don't think a 5.5 would pose much danger to myself whilst learning to fly it on my feet just saying it won't be able to drag or lift me off my feet. You are incorrect in this assumption, but because I'm saying it, you'll absolutely ignore me. Maybe you'll listen to someone else.

True enough....

Flexifoil Bullet 5.5M



Dustin Birch was flying a 6M Ace in 8 mph wind when he got lofted and broken his leg.



The two threads related to that incident are:

• Dangerous Sport
  
• gravity always wins
  

DHKite got lofted 30-40 feet in the air in ~18 mph (with 33 mph gusts) using flying a Hydra 3.5m kite and broke his ankle in 2 places.

Probably enough yellow flags on the track by now.... rapidly entering the "People are going to do what people are going to do" portion of our program.

ATB,
Sam

Yes, 5.5m can hurt you,... worst injury I've heard of came from something in the 2m range.

Quote: Originally posted by Steven

I have a peter lynn lynx 11m complete With radical harness. Bought from big mikes kites last year. Only flown it 3 times. No Tears or rips. Practically brand new

this isn't helping......last attempt on my part, buy a 3m fb

That thought that a 5.5m can't drag or pick you up is scary coming from someone above the need to heed advice he asked for.

I'll admit to being self taught, and having started with a 3.6M Beamer II. That said, I was on the heavy side 240-250lbs, and generally was in 10-12mph winds with that. That same kite has pulled me on my stomach across a grass field in 20mph, and lofted me once when I didn't intend it to. That being said, I still think in the right wind, it's an excellent kite for starting out, learning the basics and wind window before progressing and flying something bigger/faster. It's not depower, but depower can complicate things when first starting out. That kite I have is 10 years old now, and still gets flown and hasn't needed any major repair. People who are new to the sport and want to try something out when I'm flying in light winds, always seem to love it. They see the size difference and think I'm not giving them something with pull, but no one complains after they dip it harder through the window then they mean to.

I know my flying has progressed lots from this forum, and even more when I've gotten to fly with others, who notice what I'm doing wrong when I might not. Lessons will definitely accelerate things and reduce your chance of injury. I myself have been extremely lucky and aside from a few bruises and a permanent string burn scar on a finger haven't been injured. I know that that's as much luck as anything else. The other day flying a 4.5M Little Devil, a rogue 35mph gust in 10-15mph wind, grabbed me and took me 10ft in the air and 20-30ft down field in a matter of a couple seconds. Had I not redirected it, or been on my mountain board and landed just right (and had that extra suspension) I'd have been seriously injured. Thankfully I wasn't. I've also been lofted in the snow 20+ ft and had a line snap. People are just trying to emphasize how many of us get injured, even with more experience than you, so you realize how dangerous starting out with a large and lifty kite can be.

Given you situation, and your insistance on something bigger and that can take you out on the snow/ice right away, I'd consider the Peter Lynn Xplore or the Ocean Rodeo React 2M trainer. Downside to the Xplore is it can't be swapped to FB handles and only flys on it's 3 line bar, but for what you want, it's not a bad idea. If you're willing to consider a FB trainer, get an HQ Beamer in 3M would be my advice, it'll stay fun to fly, hold it's value and become a high wind kite or one to let others learn on down the road. Whatever you get I wish you the best of luck, and feel free to post videos / ask lots of questions for help.

Just my 2 cents.

Quote: Originally posted by iwanakite

Oh you know I'm gunna do it abkayak. Sooooo, i found a hookup for some affordable kites. I might get 2 or 3... yes one being a smaller one. I'm thinking of starting at 5.5/6 and getting one or two larger ones. I don't think a 5.5 would pose much danger to myself whilst learning to fly it on my feet (NOT SAYING I'M GOING TO BE RECKLESS) just saying it won't be able to drag or lift me off my feet. Provided I stay away from extreme winds. Hopefully it won't be too small for windier days once I get the feel for kiting.

Ozone doesn't make a 5.5m depower kite that I know about? 5.5 HQ Apex would be a good kite.

Do yourself a favour and tell us more about these kites that are a " affordable " BEFORE you spend good money on one. There are a lot of kites out there that are " affordable " because anybody who knows about kites won't buy them!

a 5.5m depower kite is a complete different animal than a 5.5m Fixed Bridle kite. You won't regret starting out on a 5.5m HQ Apex or similar kite. A 5.5m Ozone Yakuza or Flexifoil Bullet ( both fixed bridle ) would be a bad choice

Ignore the man with a single post trying to sell you an 11m kite. He does not have your best interest in mind. We have a good trader thread on this site to help you feel safe with a seller for a good reason.

Learning to fly static on snow or ice can be a lot more challenging than you seem to think. That or you don't fully appreciate the power and lift a 5.5m kite can deliver up when you don't know how to control it and " go hard ". I am not trying to discourage you, just to help you understand what you are dealing with / looking at. All to save you money, agro and maybe even an injury? :bigok:

I was looking at a 5.5 HQ Apex actually so that's the one! And it'll be awhile before I fly it in 10-12 mph Volock. I'll probably go out on a calm day to see what it can do, then dip my toes in 4-7 knots to see if I can handle it and move on from there.

5.5m Apex?

Yup, 5.5m HQ Apex

The touchy thing about a depower kite that size is that it needs a certain amount of wind for it to fly well enough for you to get feedback on what your inputs to the bar are doing to the flight of the kite. There will be a just right amount of enough wind for it to fly responsively but not do the things to you that you don't think it will do. Get outside of this range and on the low end, you won't feel like there is any connection between your inputs and what the kite does. While exceeding your skill level with too much wind and you have 5.5m of angry power that is way faster than you thought it could be. But inside that range and you can learn and be safe.

I actually think the 7m size would be the better size to learn on in the right winds if you jump straight to depower. The Apex is a good choice for you, but I hope you can learn to respect it before it gets a chance to hurt you.

Quote: Originally posted by iwanakite

I was looking at a 5.5 HQ Apex actually so that's the one! And it'll be awhile before I fly it in 10-12 mph Volock. I'll probably go out on a calm day to see what it can do, then dip my toes in 4-7 knots to see if I can handle it and move on from there.

That's definitely a smart plan. Starting on the lowest end possible for the kite and slowly increasing, is generally what I shoot for when I get a new kite. As you're going depower, the big things I'd emphasize making sure to learn are

1. Safety Release on Chicken Loop
   
2. Safety Release on Leash (if there is one)
   
3. Where to connect the leash **See footnote
   
4. How to Boost/Jump ***See footnote
   

**There's always at least two or more options for connecting the leash, and as someone I was recently showing how to setup his LEI, it can be confusing on some bars. He kept trying to hook it up like a suicide leash because of the options on that bar. Make sure you know the options and are clipping it to the right place.

*** I'm not suggesting you do either activity, but as the link from BeamerBob shows, bad things occasionally happen. My wife in sub-7-8mph winds ended up doing a front flip/somersault and straining her shoulder because of doing one of the redirects like one would do to pendulum jump, she was just trying to keep the kite up and a gust timed just wrong. Nothing bad happened, but she knows better than to redirect like that now.

The reason I mentioned the wind range I did, is from my experience, if inland, under 10mph wind can be flaky and intermittent at points. This leads to a lot of frustration among new kiters (and pisses off the rest of us by making us play "will it pick up"). At least here, sub 10mph winds rarely happen.

As Bob suggests the 5.5m isn't designed to fly in it's sweet spot until the winds are a good bit over 10kts.. All depower kites require a bit of wind to fly at all.

The 5.5 is a very good choice for down the road when you want to go out in real strong winds and chase the speed you are after. Unfortunately it won't produce power enough to give you a ride until the wind is up a bit. This may be a good thing if you are having to figure out things and static fly on ice or snow. It will make you very happy you own it on strong wind days but wishing you had more power on average + low wind days. I am not all that up on HQ's line and suspect this is an early Apex? ( what year? ) If it is, I have flown one on a dry lake with blades and found it a nice high wind kite.

What are the larger kites you are looking at ? what year and how much ?