Ok so im still pretty new to these kites but im intrigued none the less... ive been looking around at different kites and found a cool vid posted by ripsessionkites in the buggy section (cool vid btw !Dune Freestyle Thread )

First off these guys are using depowers right? Im assuming so given the push pull motion of the bar and the look of the kite.
second, these things look deceptively easy to jump and land... pull bar to generate power, push it out slowly to decrease pull and float down.

Am i way off in this outlook? If not are these like ideal buggy-stunt kites? And how about static jumping, depower good or bad?

Just looking for info on all things power kite, and this caught my eye... Thanks in advance for the info

Hi There
Yeah, this are Flysurfers and yes, they are depower. The Flysurfers are closed-cell inflatable intended for the water but obviously suitable for land, esp if you want to jump. Problem with jumping in buggy is that you really need to know your buggy, literally backwards and forwards.

I am happy to buggy with my Neo or Synergy (both closed cell inflatos, both de-power), I just quit when the wind builds and I feel air drafting under my arse (and can't trim out any more lift).

De-powers are not meant to fly static; you will not reap the benefits of de-power. You can do it of course, like the first time you fly it just to try it out and get used to it, but it really wants to be in motion to behave the way it should.

This is such a coincidence. I just had the same question (to myself) yesterday so I 'googled' and found this description...

http://www.racekites.com/reviews/getReview.asp?reviewID=1607

Static flying and Depower kites was what I was looking for.... this link (and Angus) provided my answers

I should add that when you fly a de-power static, very often pulling the bar in for "more power" will just stall the kite, killing all power. To get the kit flying again and generating any power at all, you have to let the bar out to lower the angle of attack, speeding up the kite and generating some power that way. So this all seems 'Bass Ackwards" to the de-power newbie and it confuses a lot of people.

Git'er moving on a board, skis or bug, and all is well: Pulling in the bar can be like putting on the afterburners and letting it out will chill things down.

damn.... now in addition to a buggy i have to add a depower, a harness, and a water board is looking better everyday... got some great lakes around here that would be a riot with a kite!!

being broke sucks...

Hey,
I know that there has been a lot of talk of the Blade for jumping and I don't have an opinion really as I have never used a blade and don't have much interest in jumping either. I would have expected to hear the static jumpers all wanting big closed cell foils over the blades. But again I don't know, I have had by FAR the largest jumps with my best 17 and an old F-one STD 9m. De-powers are like having 3 (or more!) kites in one. The link DonaldLL posted is a very good description! The most useful thing I find with a de-power is that as you sheet out (push the bar away from you and the kite parallel to the ground) It flys faster and farther to the edge of the window. As it is sheeted in it slows down and de-creases the wind window. I use a buggy and a lot of de-powers I'll sheet in hard to get going but then will often sheet out to increase my speed a bit. More power does not always mean more speed. The de-power kites have the chance to tune the kite for the needs at that moment!

I set my personal best with my Montana IV 9.5 at JIBE a few weeks ago. The "throttle" works both ways too. Smooth wind and wide open spaces ahead, I could pull the bar in for as much traction as I could muster. When I would feel the tires start slipping on the sand, I could back off slightly. If you feel (or hear) a gust, just let the bar out some and then pull it back in when things settle back to normal. Others have said a good depower can take the place of 3 fixed bridle kites.

You can have static fun with a depower if it is well powered. One time at the beach back in the winter, I didn't listen to the guy on my left shoulder while the guy on the right was telling me the wind wasn't really all that fast, and I had the skills to fly that kite. Besides, the manual says it can fly in winds even higher. So here I am launching a 9.5m kite with 18 mph steady winds. I would've been thinking about putting away my 5m fixed bridle and getting out a 3m if not trying out the Montana. Against my better judgement, I trudged forward on blind faith that the godfathers of PKF knew what they were talking about and it wasn't all a big snipe hunt to get me to launch a 9.5m kite is 18 mph winds. I launched at a 45 degree angle to the wind and flew it to the edge of the window. I played with it slowly all along the edge and soon realized I could fly from 9:00 to 3:00 without ending up in the next county. Then I started sending it a little more and pulling the bar in for some floaty 3-5' jumps. At the edge of the window, I could pull in the bar and the effect was like being in a buggy. Pull it in and the side load goes up. Think of being able to scud at a 60-70 degree angle to the wind.

Now I feel very comfortable with depower in the buggy and just ordered my third. I should be set for most any reasonable wind over about 7 mph now.

ok i got the depower basics... what is the 5th line for? i think these are mainly on the LEI kites, but i was thumbing through some material Angus sent me, and i noticed the Hadlow and the ion(i think) has a 5th line attachment...what are they for?

The 5th line is a safety item. When you dump the kit on the primary safety, it flags on the 5th line that runs to a "Y" bridle on the leading edge. The other 4 lines are slack and the kite falls to the ground, completely de-powered. It allows for solo landing, too. 5th line keeps the canopy stiffer in flight as well.

In four-line mode, the kite dumps mainly on the front lines but still remains powered up somewhat. It will go to the edge of the window and land, but remain powered until then. You will need a helper to catch the kite when landing. You can relaunch and re-ride in this mode. It provides more elasticity and pop in the canopy during flight.

So... if down the road, i wanted to get into depowers... land boarding and surfing, im thinkin..
where should i start digging?

The Neo looks like a good "all around-er" especially given the lower price tag, and the fact that i am perpetually broke

Id rather stay away from LEIs but if that is the place to be... i can handle a pump i guess... And so far ive had really good luck with my Twister, so maybe a little loyalty to Mr. Lynn is in order... hmm

shoot me some different models and some personal stories, and i can do some more digging! Thanks!

Drewculous.

I don't know where in Nebraska you're located, but if you do get into water kiting you have to go to Lake McCounaghy. Pretty much every weekend in the summer the CO crew goes there. I've been then a couple times to meet up with my Colorado buddies and it's top notch. My friend owns The Kite Ranch based there as well and you might be able to demo some gear.

http://www.thekiteranch.com/

When Blake Pelton was the Peter Lynn North American Distributor we'd have our little team party down there during the windsurfing event Toucan. Go check it out. And definatly look into flying ARCs on the water. Can't go wrong with Peter Lynn goods and since you're in Nebraska, you've got plenty of space for them!

no freakin way! im like 45 min from lake mac! That was where i was planning to kitesurf if i ever got into it!
:singing::singing:IM NOT THE ONLY ONE IN NEBRASKA!! :singing::singing:

Dude im callin them today!

This just blew me away haha!! i may go up there this weekend if they are down! Thanks for the info rudeboysaude!!

Excellent. Bob is the owner and a former North Dakotan from up by my parts. He's a great guy. Tell them Aaron and Emily say hello. We're hoping to come down this year for Toucan so maybe I'll see you there! Here's some pics from The Strapless open Motz hosted:

http://www.mnadventure.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&a...

Plenty of ARCs in the sky there. I lost the comp to my buddy Patrick, he won playing it calm and cool and waiting out the carnage and riding a gust of wind. If only I had some self control! I'm jealous you live that close.. You've got no excuse now not to jump into water kiting. That lake is awesome!