visit this site, watch the youtube videos.
anyone know about this. it is very intriguing.

http://www.paraskiflex.com/index.php

Ross who used to own a kite store in NH before moving out of state was a distributor for them and he spoke very favorably of them. He had a really cool promo video from them which he sent me. He used them with skates and skis and said they were great in our lumpy, in-land winds. He flew them with 5 or 10m line extensions (can't remember) and said they were great because when you were done, you just dropped your bar and it went flat on the ice - no blowing or flagging.

I know he broght them to Kitestorm 2006. I never had a chance to fly them and don't know how durable or easily replaceable that leading edge rod is. they look really cool to fly but most are rather plain if not ugly in terms of color panel layout.

Here's a link to his old site
http://web.archive.org/web/20060307164004/www.newindsports.c...

I should add that for me, the benefit in considering them was that they are flown on shorter lines than you'd fly a foil and given the fields I fly, if I could go shorter yet maintain equal power, well that would be great.

There was a guy from ID, I believe, Blazing Skibum was his forum name (on the flexi site and some others) who used to really go off on these kites. He said he used them when they first came out and he seemed like a very capable flier from what he wrote (the proper way to set up a bego, among others) and he did not like them nor did he recommend them.

As I stated, I never got to fly them so I can't comment on performance but I feel that if kites like this and the C-quad were superior, they would be more popular. I'm sure they are capable and deliver the goods but if they are a niche kite, there must be a reason (could be as simple as bad marketing and exposure, but it could be more too).

The paraskiflex are made in Quebec, Canada and widely used here for snowkiting. They have a strong market in Quebec, and are slowly developping the market elsewhere like Ontario, New Brunswick in Canada and a bit in Belgium I heard.

The reason it's so popular here is the simplicity of use and safety. The lines are shorter, and it develops less power than a cell kite for the same surface.

Of course, some like and other don't. It's not as fun for those who like to pilot the kite because you mostly keep the flex in the wind window, and you ski.

Someone who never flied a kite, can be on his skis and kiting within 10-15 minutes and that's true.

Also the kite is very stable so for gusty winds, unbeatable.

I recently bought the small one (rang 30-70 km/h).

My wife prefers this one to cell kites. I can use it for high gusty winds (like above 30 knots) instead of fighting against a small cell kite.

I can use it to introduce my friends to snowkiting insead of having them to crash my flysurfers $$$.

They also have bigger ones (R-20, etc.), and flexkiters jump with them as well. Not like with a FS psycho3 or a ozone manta though

Another point I forgot to mention, is the reason you may not have heard of this before is probably the marketing.

It's kind of more of a local market which is french speaking here. and they probably already have a high demand just to sastify the local market.

The safety is simple and very effective. You just simply put the flex down on the ground. Because the foil is just one piece flat surronded by a small carbon pipe, it just stays on the ground. To get traction you need to pull the rope and get in the air.

The bad thing is poor performance in low wind.

After watching the videos, these kites do seem very simple to operate and jumping appears to be much easier then with a foil. The shorter line length must make a huge difference.

I don't necessarily have great terrain where I am to put one of these to use, but how are they just to fly static? what about using them for Landboarding? That may be fun.

Either way, another very cool kite offshoot.

Quote:

Originally posted by divadrois After watching the videos, these kites do seem very simple to operate and jumping appears to be much easier then with a foil. The shorter line length must make a huge difference. I don't necessarily have great terrain where I am to put one of these to use, but how are they just to fly static? what about using them for Landboarding? That may be fun. Either way, another very cool kite offshoot.

Oh my friend you are hooked lined and sinkered!!

Quote:

Originally posted by tridude Quote: Originally posted by divadrois After watching the videos, these kites do seem very simple to operate and jumping appears to be much easier then with a foil. The shorter line length must make a huge difference. I don't necessarily have great terrain where I am to put one of these to use, but how are they just to fly static? what about using them for Landboarding? That may be fun. Either way, another very cool kite offshoot. Oh my friend you are hooked lined and sinkered!!

yeah some people use them on mountainboard. shorter lines make them usable is smaller area

for static you'll get bored after 20 seconds, nothing to do unless you run and try jumping

Back in the 90's Corey Roeseler and his Dad created kiteski on a concept almost identical to what this looks like + a big big wonky wheel bar. He is from the Gorge in Oregon and is considered to be one of the 1st people to kitesurf. He started out on water skis :puzzled:
Doesn't seem water skis or kiteski took off but he's still one of my Heros ! I saw a video of him out on the water getting big air in about 2000 and had to pinch myself to see if this is "that" dream again !

Any thoughts on how this kite would work with a buggy ???