My time on the peak has been limited due to getting it in winter and poor field conditions. Today, I finally had the opportunity to test it in conditions in which I purchased for. Intellicast said winds were 19 gusting 24, but in reality the gusts may have been 24 but there were frequent lulls sub 10 and all in between. My field was soft with mud puddles scattered around so not a fast surface. As much as I love my nasa's, It would have been difficult to choose a size to have a good session with in those conditions. With the peak, I could maintain control at all times and the depower handled whatever gusts were thrown at me. Is there any other kite that can handle these conditions? I've flown an arc, fb's, and nasa's and the peak wins hands down for covering a HUGE wind range for gust lull inland wind. I haven't flown foils or LEI's, but it sounds like the peak possesses some of the best qualities of both with the benefit of the fastest set up and pack up. Not to mention it was very easy to launch and land in gusty wind. I can't imagine a better crappy wind kite and I only have the first generation. The nasa's are still my go to kites, but days like today seems like what the peak was designed for. Another reason why I classify it as league of it's own is price. Other kites that might have similar virtues are all a fair amount higher.

Sounds like you had a blast! I take it you were in buggy?

With summer approaching I am very very tempted to get a bigger Peak for lighter winds, probably the 9m. The question is whether to pay top dollar for the Peak2 or keep an eye out for a used 1st gen! I've read some posts about tip collapse on the 2, sounds like not much to worry about though. The bar on the 2 sounds like a step up from the 1.

Robinsonpr, I'd probably get the peak 2 - 12 meter to have great light wind to compliment the the mid/high wind of the 6. With that said, I plan on a ns3 10m for my light wind kite whenever I get around to it.

In case you missed it Robin, in another post I describe how we tune the Peak 2 to get most of that tip collapse out of it. Make it more like the PK1

Like so many other products, It is a shame the people who lay out the cash have to mod what they bought to make right in the first place...

Quote: Originally posted by Feyd

In case you missed it Robin, in another post I describe how we tune the Peak 2 to get most of that tip collapse out of it. Make it more like the PK1

Agreed. But I guess when making such advanced stuff like this eventually something will be released that either wasn't completely tested, had some minor anomaly at production or simply needs some adjustment to allow it to work better in a certain situation. Building a kite with an adjustable mixer is IMO a double edged sword. It can be adjusted to tune the kite or simply offset wear but can also be made out of tune and require some adjustment. I can't think of any of their bigger kite manufacturers that have not had an occasional less than optimal kite come out that didn't benefit from some level of tweaking. The Slingshot Ranger is a glaring example.

I'm not sure what an adjustable mixer is? Is that additional stuff on the kite side or bar side?

Kite side, on your NASA star the bridles are in columns running from the LE to the TE, foil types and I include the Peak have rows of bridles running across tip to tip, a mixer will alter the relationship between the rows and change the shape / AoA.

@ Feyd on your tuning description for the Peak you mentioned the B bridle being shortened was that the B pulley line? The brake line made sense, I was just a bit confused by the other.

There seems to be some confusion. The mixer is the pulley and main line assembly that actuates the changes in angle of attack when sheeting in and out. The flying and steering lines connect to the mixer from the bar, and then the bridles connect to the kite from the mixer. The "B" mixer is the one you would want to adjust. The "C" mixer is self adjusting. The only part of the bridle you would want to touch when tuning the Peak 2 is to shorten the "C-11" bridle (not mixer) at the wingtip. Simply loop the bridle around the "LCL" 2X and retighten.


If the "B" mixer is adjusted "too much" the wing will be prone to backstall.

Cheers Feyd, the bridle plans are different for the Peak 1 and 2 you refer to the "B" mixer as in the Peak 1 but on the plans for the Peak 2 it's referred to as the dmain, that's what threw me, I can see you're adding a bit more to the TE side of the kite to lessen the tip collapse which makes sense, it was more out of interest as I did a similar thing to my kites, where as I could be a bit more selective and only adjusted the wing side bridles rather than right across.

ssayre: I have winds similar to what you described, but also limited space so that I'm not comfortable using lines longer than 10m. Since you've flow both do you think a 12m Peak 2 would be better for these conditions than a big NS3?

I'm constantly wondering if I should even bother trying to fly anything, but every time the winds picks up even the slightest I start wishing I had a kite I could take out.

The peak does not turn nearly as well as a nasa star on long lines. I haven't tried the peak on short lines but it is suppose to work. If I had to choose, I prefer my nasa stars over all kites that I've flown. This specific day I was flying the peak, I wanted to remain hooked in on the buggy and the peak worked well to cover that range while hooked in. I could have just as easy used the 4 meter nasa star but would have had to be on my toes on the gusts and may have had a little more trouble staying moving in the lulls. This wind was on the extreme crappy side so my normal crappy wind the nasa's work great and I lke they way they handle way better for all types of traction and line lengths. Also, you can fly the nasa's off handles or bar unhooked if things are really sketchy and fly slightly overpowered to ride out the gusts. The peak is just another excellent tool to have because of its effective depower.

All kites have their day in the sunshine, but it's about finding what can most consistently work for your goals and conditions. Unless your feyd and you can have all kites. :P

I want to add that if my normal conditions were as I outlined (winds ranging between 8 to low 20's in same session) than the peak would be better to have for sure.

My wind falls into three categories:
1) Too low. Often times the wind can hardly be felt on your face with gusts just barely able to move leaves. In these conditions I don't even try.
2) Low and gusty. Here you can usually feel the wind on your face and occasionally it gusts up to around 10mph. With 20m lines on my old 6m NPW5 I can get moving in this, but with a lot of work.
3) Stormy. Here there can be lulls where the wind is hardly moving followed by gusts of around 25mph. These are usually the only times I can stay reliably moving with my 6m NPW5, but I'm very solidly overpowered whenever there is enough wind to keep my kite in the air.

All of this is made more annoying by the fact that most of the places I fly at really don't have room for 20m lines. I've had enough close/bad encounters with trees that I've decided to limit myself to 10m lines. I'm currently eyeing 4.0m and 8.5m NS3s with 3m and 9m lines, but a 12m Peak 2 also sounds tempting.

I've been planning on trying the peak on 10 meter lines. I'll let you know how it goes. I would think it would make it more responsive.

Those conditions you describe Sean are the exact conditions I have flown my 12m Charger2 in with great success. It will stay in the air and fly in 6-8mph, but as long as you can get rolling in 10mph or so, it pulls just fine under apparent wind. Once you get one of those 24mph gusts hit you, it powers up, but in such a smooth gradual way that you always feel in control. Plus, at times like that, I really value the direct control feel of an arc. I wouldn't really call the pigtails a bridle, though technically I suppose that is what you would call it.

I have flown the 12m in up to 30mph gusts, but the sweet spot for performance is between 14-17mph to be able to safely let the trim all the way out and tear it up with confidence.

Running the peak on short lines is sick fun. The 9m on 10m is a hoot.

Turn rate gets really weird. And as you can imagine no down loops.

Quote:

I have flown the 12m in up to 30mph gusts, but the sweet spot for performance is between 14-17mph to be able to safely let the trim all the way out and tear it up with confidence.

I didn't spend enough time on the arc and I'm a better buggy pilot than I was when I had it so my perception is warped slightly, but my venom fully depowered didn't seem to have the same level of near full depower that the peak has to manage some of my hard gusts. It still performed well, but I have a higher level of comfort with the peak. Also, I wouldn't consider myself a dare devil so I tend to lean towards kites that offer the greatest level of confidence while hooked in.

Your Venom is on a bar with twice as long of a throw as the Griffin bar now. Can't wait to give that a spin.

Wow! That might certainly change things. If in at least semi-consistent wind it would be great. You will have a blast with it at jibe.

If you are running the Venom with a shorter throw bar you won't get near the depow of the Peak. But longer throw, especially with a clam cleat trim, you get nearly the same.

One of the most common reasons many here went to the Peak from Arcs is because the Peak offers the same level of depow, gust handling (though active for some of it as opposed to an arc which comes by it naturally) but with less hassle setting up and packing down.

The 12m kites post Scorp are really excellent moderate high to high wind kites. With A PA of just over 7m they offer a good power range without feeling too over whelmed. The 10m Venom 2 used to be the sweet spot. Same PA as Charger 2 12m. Somehow the Charger 2 12m always seems a little under powed to me. The PA is lowere than the CH1 but not by much so I'm not sure why. I don't ride the 12m enough these days to have a solid feel yet I guess.

Maybe today if the wind comes up?:D

Question about Peak1 safety system and moding.

I was flying my new Peak1 in really low winds and activated the safety to see how the kite would react. The safety opened the chickenloop with barely any effort (good) but the chickenloop stayed in a curve and did not to slide off my harness (bad). No problem pulling it off manually but it took more effort than expected. It was a warm day and I'm wondering what it will be like on a freezing cold day when nothing wants to bend.

Anyone lengthen the powerline to turn it into a long throw bar? I'm hoping that will eliminate the need for a clam cleat system keeping things simple and light.