I've been flying a Beamer 3.6M for 3 years. I bought a trike this year and I'm looking for my next kite. I'd like to be able to fly in 7-12 MPH winds. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good buggying kite (my guess is 5M to 7M)?

I've heard good things about the crossfire.


What a puny post for number 100. :wow:

HQ Crossfire II 5m on low-lift "buggy" setting. Requires a lot of attention in light winds, but great for the money. Arguably 6.5 m might be better for 7-12 mph
Flexifoil Blurr 5m. Spendy but rock-solid stable and goof-proof. Not as agressive or lifty as a Blade but still powerful. 7m a good choice for lower end of your range.
Peter Lynn Reactor 4.9 m (I use the 8.3m for 5-10 mph). Stable and easy low-lift buggy engine.
Flexifoil Rage 4.7 or 6.0m. Low lift buggy engine and less spendy than the Blurr and almost as nice.
HQ Montana III 9.5m if you want to go de-power. It will launch in 6-8 mph and is great in 7-12 mph or more.

The 5m sizes of these kites will take you up to 18-20 mph when you are used to them and will fly in the lower end if you fly them hard. Use the 6-7m for true 7-12 mph.

Good advice acampbell. I have to admit my experience with flexi big wings is none.
Same is true for the PL's.

As for the Montana 3, the 7.0 will launch in a 4, but you have to fly it hard to keep it in the air.

My 7m Bullet served as a great engine in those winds. If you see one out there it might be a good deal ? I miss that kite

Great information, thank you. Are the "De-powerable" kites like the Montana III easy to fly? 9.5M sounds a little scary, coming from the Beamer 3.6M.

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Originally posted by aronma Great information, thank you. Are the "De-powerable" kites like the Montana III easy to fly? 9.5M sounds a little scary, coming from the Beamer 3.6M.

"Easy" is relative. I wouldn't say that they are hard but there is certainly more to them than a fixed bridle kite. However I don't think I'd use the word "scary" either because of the safety releases. I'm not familiar with the Montana but I assume that it has a similar primary release as the Access that I'm learning on. You simply pull the release and the kite flags. I used this several times last winter when I was overpowered and being dragged and it worked perfectly and helped my confidence (i.e. knowing that if things got to hairy I could "bail" and regroup).

I don't buggy so I can't comment on depower vs fixed bridle for that. I suspect that the depower would give you more range out of one kite, but of course the kite would cost a bit more.

If you're happy with flying your 3.6 as a buggy engine and just want to move up to more power then maybe you'll be happier just moving up to a larger fixed bridle kite.

Yeah they (de-powers) are at least intimidating because they are more complicated and yes, that is a lot of ripstop in the sky compared to what you are used to. KiteNH is right in that the safety is effective; in fact it's easy to acitivate it by accident until you get used to the rig.

Depowers tend to run a bit larger than fixed bridles for the same power and wind range, but you do have more control. You could argue that with the control you have, you can cover the wind range of two or more fixed bridle kites and justify the added cost.

Probably best to try it out after you are used to flying a 5-6 m kite, unless you have some experienced help.

Thanks guys. I think I'll look at both the HQ2 Crossfire 6.5M and the HQ Montana 3 9.5M. I haven't flown with anyone else, so finding instruction/advice isn't easy. The Montana sounds like it could be interesting.....