Hey guys,

Pretty new kiter here. Wanted to introduce myself and see if I couldn't pick a few brains for a little help.

I'm 31 years old, and live in Iowa. Up till now, I've flown Box Kites all my life and absolutely love the wind. I'm also an avid sailor (without a boat or a lake). Glad to have found this website - as it seems rare that anyone knows what a power kite is.

A year ago, I bought a HQ Symphony 2.2. Loved it - found it quite easy to fly. A few weeks ago I stepped up to a serious kite a Rage 4.7. That's been pretty easy also.

I've had it out about 4 times each progressively a little more wind. Had a nice little jump the other day in 15 mph. What a blast. I bought it with the intention of learning to kite landboard. However, I'm starting to look at the depowers, and being 250lbs think I may need something a little more beefy.

So here's my questions...

1) has anyone bought from Extreme Air Store in MN and on Ebay? They have some great (almost too low) prices on Sabre2's.

2) Should I be buying a Sabre2? I've had no problems with the 4.7. And I'm only really considering it because of the price discount. What size would you recommend for a large man on a landbaord (7,9,12)? Presume, that I don't wnat to go out in much more than 15-18 mph becuase it gets real gusty.

3) Recommendations for a landboard for a big guy? And I realize this is a stupid quesion - but how hard is it? I'm not the most coordinated, and have struggled on my roller blades. LOL

Thanks for any help in advance,
Scott

1.) I've bought from Extreme Air Store via Ebay. I bought a set of Flexi lines and got a really great deal. The guy (forget his name) called me before shipping (first time that's happened to me on an Ebay sale) to find out if I needed anything else. I told him that I was all set with just lines and what a great deal they were and he offered to sell me a second set at the same price I paid for the first one. A really great deal and a friendly guy.

2. I haven't flown a Sabre and have limited depower experience. I think you'd want to go with the 9m based on your size, wind, and experience, although you might be better off getting a 7 to learn on (and for high winds) and 12m later on for lower winds and more power.

3. I am very new to the landboard thing, but I would say that it isn't very easy. I've gotten pretty good at riding down hills on the board and I can fly my kites static with confidence, but putting them together is quite challenging for me.

Enjoy the new kite. I would think that you'd be alright getting a board to try out with the Rage before buying a new depower. If you decide that the landboard isn't your game then you probably don't want to mess with a depower because they aren't really meant to fly static.

Hi Scott

hook up with Joe (DaVinch). he is from Iowa too. he contributes a lot here, and I am sure he can help

Here is site:
http://www.secondwindkites.com/

Hello Scott!

Where in Iowa are you? I'm about 30 mins from Omaha.

Joe

If you can get a Sabre 2 9.5m (no longer offered by Flexifoil), that would be fine. Just work your way up in winds, starting around 8-10mph. It will be hard to fly in much less. If you frequently get winds closer to over 15, then maybe the 7m.

The Sabre2 is easy enough to fly for the amount of experience you have. The fifth line safety adds a complication that I think is not necessary.

I don't know what price you are getting, but you might want to look at the the HQ Montana 3- arguably a better kite and the retail is a lot less. does not have the weight or complication of the 5th line safety and the existing safety is fine and effective, dumping it on the back lines. And they still offer the 9m size which I think is a sweet spot versatile size for such a kite. It comes with a useful instructional video that is a great help for first-timers to de-power.

kiteNH: thanks for the great advice. I feel quite a bit more comfortable about my decisions with the help you've given me. It's going to be a difficult choice choosing between the landboard or the next kite. Yikes.

buzz, Davinch: Thanks for the welcome guys. I'm in Cedar Rapids, which is on the other side of the state. But that isn't to say that a day trip or two doesn't sound quite appealing. If you guys are out sometime in the near future and wouldn't mind an observer let me know. I'd love to see what other guys are doing. This whole power kiting/extreme sports is a pretty steep departure from anything I've ever done.

acampbell: I was actually kinda leaning towards the 9.5. For some reason a 12 just scares the crap out of me at this point. I'll keep my eyes out for that size...I'll have to check the HQ Montana out- a video sounds like a great thing.

Welcome to the forum, I'm in davenport!:singing:

Welcome Scott from Southern Maryland!

Go for the kite! The wheels seem to come automatically. Would you believe the Rage - one of my favorites, if not my fave outright - came from Extreme Air Store via eBay? I had great experience dealing with them and the only issue I could say is that they have a "no way" policy of only shipping to Canada via UPS which inflicts insane brokerage fees on us poor Canucks. Other than that, great to deal with, great service and great product.

It was suggested to me at one point in my life on this forum that a 10m depower should have about the same power as my 7.5 fixed bridle so I'd say a 7m depower might be a good lateral move from the Rage and then you can get a 12 for a 7/12 quiver. I can't offer any experience to back that up - just my thoughts based on what I've read here. As you can see from my quiver I'm deep in "trying it all mode" and haven't gone too far into the depowers yet.

I have dealt with extreme air store on numerous occasions. Peter knows me by name, and i can say without a moments doubt that they are awesome guys to deal with. They are friendly, have excellent prices (i think theyre so low because the color schemes they have are on closeout from flexifoil).

I have bought my Rage 6m, all my flexi handles and killers from them, my waterboard, several sets on line, my sting... and probably more from them.

Whenever I have a kiting need, I check them first. They value their regular customers, and have been most helpful. Free shipping too... I love the way they do business.

Dont hesitate to do business with them. They rock. All stores should operate like them.