Hello All,

Sorry, not sure what happened with the last post! Mods please delete.

I have a 5-year-old boy who wants to move to the next stage from a single line kite. He's 19kg / 42lbs and fairly short, but is quite a physical lad and is a fairly good listener.

I'm keen to get him started young so I've been looking at getting him a trainer. I want him to get the buzz of the pull but without getting scared or hurt. Obviously I would only take him out in light winds to begin with. Am I shooting too far for his age / weight? Should I have a rethink and by him a 2-line diamond kite with a pretty tail?

If a trainer kite would be ok, what size would be best? Ideally something he can grow into but wont freak him out at the beginning.

Better off with a 2 line with loops or a 3 line with bar ?

Maybe something like a slingshot, symphony, fluxx or Rush ?

Thanks for any advice!
Dad

Well, the wind makes a ton of difference, so a one-size-fits-all is hard to guesstimate, but I'd look for something like a 1m-1.5m foil. No breaking parts and they tend to have shorter lines. The drawback is that they're quicker and when the winds pick up, they're even more quicker.

The flip side of the coin is to increase the kite size, but the comfort margin is considerably smaller and gusty winds become dangerous.

A bar and kite killers would give me peace of mind; they would be able to just let go if overpowered.

-joedy

Here is another idea you might try - a 2 line sled kite. Basically you can make a single line kite a 2 line. It will teach how to control the kite w/o a lot of expense and potential risks. It can probably be done with a lot of single line kites.

I would just get a 2 line stunt kite, and if you want some power, just get a bigger size. Doing a bunch of spins/loops in a decent wind you will hear it wurl and pull you a bit. Much better than a foil in my opinion, but then in a couple years get him on the foil kites