Yeah volock I have experienced that too. It's extremely rare conditions for me luckily. (and i have plenty of gusty wind)

Before I sold my 12 Peak2 I found I could jump with it without too much effort, but that just like it does most everything compared to other kites in my quiver it was a different animal. Not bad just different. I never got more then a few feet.

Jump, yes I could and When Yeti(Brad) was in town a few weeks ago we switched kites for a while. I was on his Speed3 15 and he my 12 Peak 2. We were both going up wind, both rocketing when we wanted but I could jump anytime my balls descended enough...Brad was also jumping with my Peak but like me when I was on it he found it difficult to get more then a few feet (no not trying to compare lift of a 12 Peak to a 15 Speed!! Just noting that I've seen Brad pull many feet of air on the Speed). This was a day where the wind was certainly up, I shortly switched to my 12 LEI for the lift. Maybe masters of the Peak kite can milk it but in my humble opinion it would never be my first choice to try any tricks with, it was my go to light wind kite at the time.

Yeah, I'm certainly not looking to pick up a Peak 2 as a dedicated freestyle kite. I just wanted to confirm that it can still be fun and let me do more than just go from A to B to A again.

If I manage to get one it's not likely to come out when I'm comfortable riding something like my Speed 4, but hopefully it should let me get out safely on the days where I know better than to take out any of my existing kites.

That was the way I used the Peak, TOTAL session saver on many occasions and often I'd use it because it packed to nothing, was easy and it was still a fun kite. As soon as it got windy enough and frankly gusty enough I liked to switch to an LEI but the peak could have filled the situation most the time fine. I'm sure it would be possible to huck it enough to do some very cool things on. Most of mine were just small little jumps; which was certainly good enough for me. To the people that do nothing but #@%$#! about the Peak...Ok, we all get it-The kite is not everyone's cup of tea sure but to bag them as crap is absurd. I had issues with mine originally but it was easy to solve...after which I had lots of good days on mine and now I hope UtahTami gets to use the heck out of it!

My hope is that the PeaS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s enormous wind range will save sessions where my LEIs are either too heavy to stay up in the lulls or too large to handle the gusts. I also like the idea of having a safer kite for when the conditions would make me uncomfortable with something else.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Yeah volock I have experienced that too. It's extremely rare conditions for me luckily. (and i have plenty of gusty wind)

Yup, not a deal breaker in the slightest, but I felt it worth a mention. I'm not anti-peak and hope it didn't come out that way.

Roger I think for what your saying you want a Peak would be a fantastic addition. Ive debated picking one up for backcountry and throwing it in my pack. Then if the wind gets too crazy I have a crazy tiny packdown kite I can use to get back safe. And they seem to hold their value well.

Hey Volock!
I was referring to windriders' comments-they didn't really seem to provide anything of substance at least in my view. Having owned a Peak for over a year I decided it fit a need more then adequately but for my plans I wanted a light wind LEI instead.

1. As far as I'm concerned, days with strong 3X gusts are No Go. The limited fun is not worth the increased risk.
2. Buying a kite to address some peculiar conditions practically guarantees said conditions will not return anytime soon.
3. My guess is the Peak will not meet your inflated expectations on days as dangerous as the one you described. No kite can do that. Sometimes it's best to not fly.

With the kites I currently have I agree that 3X gusts aren't safe, but I don't see why a Peak couldn't fix this.

That really gusty day was at one of my closest spots which is two hours away. I was out for about half an hour before the wind picked up and I had to pack up and leave for my own safety. Now, if I had something like a 6m Peak I think I could have still been going. Sure, it'd be less fun than a day with steady and smooth wind, but I could have still been kiting which is infinitely better than sitting home and wishing I could be out.

I get that steady wind is always safer, but I don't really see where I'd be at risk of anything more than being dragged a bit. Whenever I'm out on the landboard I have gloves, wrist guards, padded shorts, and a helmet at minimum. Usually if things aren't looking really calm I'll also throw on my knee pads and elbow pads. I make sure I have plenty of room downwind, make sure I'm not flying too close to anyone else, and always watch my speed.

I'd certainly rather be kiting where the conditions are nicer, but I think nowadays with a kite like the Peak it's not unreasonable to be out in these conditions.