Hi all, I own a Sting 3.3 and am looking to get a Blade 6.5

I have real trouble landboarding. I just cant seem to go anywhere. How are you supposed to keep the kite powered? Do you do silly buggar figure of 8s? Or are you supposed to use the brakes to hold it on the edge of the power zone? Thanks in advance

Check out the information here http://www.kiteatb.co.uk/category/basics/ and start practicing. You need to balance the angle of your board against the position and movement of the kite. Its constant give and take. First you dive the kite into the power and angle your board towards the kite then you lean back against the kite and board to turn up wind as you redirect the kite and then keep balancing your upwind / downwind position to gain or shed speed and power.

If the wind is up you can park the kite but if its light or you are going up wind you will need to work the kite in a sign wave pattern.

It takes time to figure out and it helps to go out when you are slightly overpowered - but not in conditions that will scare you. More power is better. If you can't get going and are being yanked off your board your board is not facing down wind enough to start. If facing down wind and you just can't get going there isn't enough wind.

There is enough wind for a particular kite when you are able to scud with it easily when driving the kite through the power zone. If you can't scud and aren't getting any real pull when flying static, you won't get going on a board.

well there wasnt enough wind to scud last time I tried it. I love scudding Ok so I need stronger wind. It's a scary feeling the first time on a board!

yes it is.

The best tip I ever received was to remember to LEAN BACK against the power of the kite. This is also a give and take. The more power you have,the more you can and will lean back against the pull of the kite. As the wind drops variously, you will also slightly adjust the amount of lean you have aginst the kite.

Leaning back is good, better to try leaning back and end up on your butt than to not lean into it and get pulled out the front door.

More wind or bigger kite, plain and simple. I'm 250lbs and usually use a 7-9m kite in anything under 15mph, 5.5m for 15-25mph.

Ok thanks for the advice gents. I'm guessing that 6.5 is gona haul my 147lb frame fairly well then?

most definately.

You'll also be learning to jump pretty quickly, but once you figure it out it should be a wicked setup.

Awesome. Cheers fellas.

There's a great video that you can buy from www.powerkiteshop.com. It shows the basics of kiting, as well as boarding, buggying, buggybike, and the dirtsurfer. I love it.

Does it play on american DVD players, some European stuff won't play.

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Originally posted by B-Roc Check out the information here http://www.kiteatb.co.uk/category/basics/ and start practicing. You need to balance the angle of your board against the position and movement of the kite. Its constant give and take. First you dive the kite into the power and angle your board towards the kite then you lean back against the kite and board to turn up wind as you redirect the kite and then keep balancing your upwind / downwind position to gain or shed speed and power. If the wind is up you can park the kite but if its light or you are going up wind you will need to work the kite in a sign wave pattern. It takes time to figure out and it helps to go out when you are slightly overpowered - but not in conditions that will scare you. More power is better. If you can't get going and are being yanked off your board your board is not facing down wind enough to start. If facing down wind and you just can't get going there isn't enough wind. There is enough wind for a particular kite when you are able to scud with it easily when driving the kite through the power zone. If you can't scud and aren't getting any real pull when flying static, you won't get going on a board.

What he says is right. It really helps to point the board a bit downwind when you first start moving. This will help to get you moving, but you will also have a tendency to catch up with the kite, making your lines go slack and you lose some control. So, once you get moving, you want to start heading upwind again until you reach a sort of equilibrium. It may take a couple of power strokes to get there. Lean back once you're powered up.

Also, you'll need to work the larger blade a LOT less than your small kite. My 2 cents: think about getting a big depowerable foil eventually. MUCH safer to learn to ride on if you can already fly a kite fairly well

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Originally posted by Pablo Does it play on american DVD players, some European stuff won't play.

Yea...plays just fine. You might not be able to understand with their limey accents though. Took me some time. LoL.

I finally got the blade out in some decent weather and after 10-15 minutes my forearms were burning with the pain of holding the handles! I may have to invest in bar and harness...

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Originally posted by Cabbage I finally got the blade out in some decent weather and after 10-15 minutes my forearms were burning with the pain of holding the handles! I may have to invest in bar and harness...

Add a strop and a harness and you're ready to go. Keep the handles as they will provide more control over the kite compared to the bar.

How does a harness and handles work? I thought you could only use a harness with a bar?

for instructional land boarding DVDs check out drill1.co.uk

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Originally posted by Cabbage How does a harness and handles work? I thought you could only use a harness with a bar?

A strop is a piece of line about 1/2 meter long with loops on the ends. It goes between the tops of your handles. Usually on handles there are pigtails out the back of the tops of the handles with a stopper knot. Attach the strop there with larks head knots. The strop slides through the spreader bar hook and takes the strain off your arms. Lets you free a hand for a moment too.
If you don't like replacing worn strops, Peter Lynn makes a spreader bar with a pulley.

Rolling spreader bars have intrigued me. I've never had a problem with the hammerheads and I don't wear strops out too fast as I mostly resort to turning heavily on the brakes when stropped in but how are those rolling spreader bars when it comes to holding the strop in place (during a jump for example)? And what about if you want to park the kite over head and take a rest for a while - does the strop fall out of the grove and get bound up on the top of the roller or do they work OK?

I like how the hammerhead hooks the strop in place but I can see the advantage of a roller.

I wear out about a strop a day if I don't have some sort of pulley. Easiest way to do it is climbing rope and a cheapo pulley from the local hardware store, run the strop through the pulley, tie a loop about 3-4" long on the other end of the pulley, slip this second loop over the hook on the harness, problem solved. If you're jumping you can always add a QR to the mess. I find it easy enough to still pull down on the pulley and get it off the harness hook if you need to. Stays put pretty good when you want it to.

Down side, If you fly with the pulley off your harness, the pulley can whip around and catch you on the nose.

Cost approx $5

The PL Puller bar works nice and smooth, but the groove in the pulley is not deep and the strop will fall off the pulley easier than the hook. It is spring loaded to flip down and the kite going overhead puts tension on the spring and that helps a bit. No problem with the kite overhead and parked, though.

I sold mine and can't get another from PL for a while, so will probably try Pablo's solution. At the end of the day I bet it will be more practical.

If that works then I suppose I could use my old chicken loop + a pulley I have hanging around. Tie it to the pulley and use it to hook in + quick release . :puzzled:

I also have a Quick release on my Strop ! I find it most handy for seperating the handles to deal with messed lines.
It's just a simple pull pin release and ring I got at the marine store. It also has the "nose bonking", tooth chipping potential side effect. :duh:

Any climbing store, good pulley for $15
Simple shackle, about $5-10
Wichardt quick release( $50 or so new) bought a used one for $20

Put them all together and you've got a killer pulley system, totally captive, easy to swap from kite to kite, good release.

I used the simple pulley one for a year, just a pulley and a loop to go on the harness. Just recently switched to the full captive system as I've been getting into jumping and hate the thought of getting dropped from 5-10ft.