It has been FAR too long since we've had some good old fashion BORN-PORN on PKF so I thought I'd spice it up a bit! Here for your private delight are
two unabashed beauties, my new custom 1.5m NS3 that finally came in the mail today (I got to choose the colors and I dare say it looks dashing) and
the Big Lady, my 12.5m. For scale I put one of my boots on the kite down six feet from the top. Never say NO to a Big Lady! :evil:
Thanks guys! I knew you would enjoy those pics (and you know who "you" are). :o
I may get a chance to Snowkite with the Big Lady later today; there seems to be "just enough" wind. I really look forward to the day when the safe bet
is to pull out the 1.5m. She will scream through the sky!
I had three days last November when I was working mornings in Las Vegas but had afternoons free to scoot over to Lake Ivanpah (about 40 minutes drive
from The Strip). I had to sit out the second day because the winds were too strong for me to sanely launch either my 2.5m NS3 or 4.0m Peak2. Had I
owned my Little Screamer then I think I would have tried it. I will not be denied! :evil:
Without that shoe and 1.5 kite in the pic, I would have thought....what a cute little kite! :P
Don't know how I missed this thread...but now that I've just recently tried my old NPW on a skateboard, I'm hooked and will be contributing...room for
another
BTW, I have a 4m and 7m NS3 that is now in Jersey City...(latest update as of 1/9). Got confirmation from Steffen on 12/21. So hopefully I'll receive
them in the next 2 weeks!
At which time I'll do my first NS3 review...hopefull with some pics and video!
Flexifoil Blurr 2.5, Ozone Cult 3.5, Nasa Star 3 4.0 Ozone Yakuza 4.0, PL Reactor 4.9, JoJo RM+ 5.0, Ozone Method 5.0, Ozone Yakuza 6.0, Flexifoil
Blade IV 6.5, Nasa Star 3 7.0, PL Vapor 7.8, JoJo RX 8.0 (in route), Flexifoil Blade VIP 8.5, PL Vapor 9.4, Ozone Yakuza 10.0, PL Reactor II 10.8, PL
Vapor 16.1, PL Venom II 13, PL Charger 15, 19, Flysurfer Unity 12, Flysurfer Pulse 2 14, Flysurfer Speed 2 SA 19, Flysurfer Speed 3 21, MBS Comp 95
landboard, PL Folding buggy, PL XR+ buggy, Slingshot LFT, Lots of surfboards
Without that shoe and 1.5 kite in the pic, I would have thought....what a cute little kite! :P
Don't know how I missed this thread...but now that I've just recently tried my old NPW on a skateboard, I'm hooked and will be contributing...room for
another
BTW, I have a 4m and 7m NS3 that is now in Jersey City...(latest update as of 1/9). Got confirmation from Steffen on 12/21. So hopefully I'll receive
them in the next 2 weeks!
At which time I'll do my first NS3 review...hopefull with some pics and video!
You'll have them soon.
I just used the 4m ns2 on short lines on skis and it did great! It's just my skiing ability that needs help.
The 12.5m NS3 is a real work horse as a low-wind snowkite motor. Here is some footage taken yesterday about 10 minutes drive from my house in the
Park City mountain valley. Winds were 1-8 mph I'd say, but I didn't measure it. The action shown here is at the high end of the wind scale. There
is no footage when the winds were at the low end of this range as the kite was firmly on the snow! I originally launched Session Saver (12m Peak2)
but it was too little kite for the conditions! The projected area of the NS3 exceeds the P2 so I tried it next with a bit more success. Any way you
slice it, there was "just enough" wind to squeak out a session, but I would have liked to have a lot more.
There is some bonus footage at the back end of a new site! On my drive home I saw some kites in the air and dove down a side road. There were two
guys flying (one a lot more successfully than the other). Stoked to find a new place!!!
I called this video "On Safari" due to my ventures into the tall grass! :D
The 12.5m NS3 is a real work horse as a low-wind snowkite motor. Here is some footage taken yesterday about 10 minutes drive from my house in the
Park City mountain valley. Winds were 1-8 mph I'd say, but I didn't measure it. The action shown here is at the high end of the wind scale. There
is no footage when the winds were at the low end of this range as the kite was firmly on the snow! I originally launched Session Saver (12m Peak2)
but it was too little kite for the conditions! The projected area of the NS3 exceeds the P2 so I tried it next with a bit more success. Any way you
slice it, there was "just enough" wind to squeak out a session, but I would have liked to have a lot more.
There is some bonus footage at the back end of a new site! On my drive home I saw some kites in the air and dove down a side road. There were two
guys flying (one a lot more successfully than the other). Stoked to find a new place!!!
I called this video "On Safari" due to my ventures into the tall grass! :D
Just watched the whole thing. I only watched bits and pieces before. That's a great video and I enjoyed the surrounding scenery and music. I used
the 4m ns2 briefly on my first outing, but I"m looking forward to some 5.5 or 7 winds to try them out on long lines and snowkite. They're great
tuning ability comes in handy I imagine. I also enjoyed watching that poor guy try to walk with ski's on trying to launch his kite. :D Guess I'm not
the only one who gets to enjoy the less glamorous side of kiting.
The 12.5m NS3 is a real work horse as a low-wind snowkite motor. Here is some footage taken yesterday about 10 minutes drive from my house in the
Park City mountain valley. Winds were 1-8 mph I'd say, but I didn't measure it. The action shown here is at the high end of the wind scale. There
is no footage when the winds were at the low end of this range as the kite was firmly on the snow! I originally launched Session Saver (12m Peak2)
but it was too little kite for the conditions! The projected area of the NS3 exceeds the P2 so I tried it next with a bit more success. Any way you
slice it, there was "just enough" wind to squeak out a session, but I would have liked to have a lot more.
There is some bonus footage at the back end of a new site! On my drive home I saw some kites in the air and dove down a side road. There were two
guys flying (one a lot more successfully than the other). Stoked to find a new place!!!
I called this video "On Safari" due to my ventures into the tall grass! :D
Just watched the whole thing. I only watched bits and pieces before. That's a great video and I enjoyed the surrounding scenery and music. I used
the 4m ns2 briefly on my first outing, but I"m looking forward to some 5.5 or 7 winds to try them out on long lines and snowkite. They're great
tuning ability comes in handy I imagine. I also enjoyed watching that poor guy try to walk with ski's on trying to launch his kite. :D Guess I'm not
the only one who gets to enjoy the less glamorous side of kiting.
Thanks Sean! I think all of us have lots of less than glamorous sides to our kiting adventures, so you are most certainly not alone.
My new favorite snowkite spot is the large open space you see beyond the safari grass I was plowing through. You access that vast open space from a
spot about five minutes drive from where you see my car parked in this video. Turns out this whole mountain valley is sort of a wind alley. Today we
had winds consistently blowing 15-23 mph in through there, while you couldn't buy a breath of wind 10 minutes away on the other side of a ridge line.
I'll take it and like it. The wind coming through there is the cleanest I've felt up near my house. Yeah!
That's awesome....I love those wind alley's! Reminds of this time I went to this lake to do some camping. Basically 0 wind at the beach but there was
this little lake situated in between little mountains on both sides that was just blowing. Must have been 15-20 mph and clean. I was kicking myself
for not bringing my buggy!
OBTW, I got my 4m and 7m NS3's today! Laid them out on the living room floor and must have stared at them for about 20 mins. They are very well
constructed and looked absolutely beautiful. The colors look even better in person than on Steffen's web site. I'm hoping there's some wind during my
lunch hour but it has been really really light lately. If it doesn't happen this Thursday or Friday, then there should be at least a little wind at
the beach this weekend. So fingers crossed, I'll have the maiden voyage soon.
I was originally thinking I might need to buy the 8.5 for the really low winds but that 7m looks pretty big and since I'll really only be using these
kites on a skateboard on asphalt, maybe the 7m will be enough. Time will tell.
More to follow soon...
Quote:
Turns out this whole mountain valley is sort of a wind alley. Today we had winds consistently blowing 15-23 mph in through there, while you couldn't
buy a breath of wind 10 minutes away on the other side of a ridge line. I'll take it and like it. The wind coming through there is the cleanest I've
felt up near my house. Yeah!
Flexifoil Blurr 2.5, Ozone Cult 3.5, Nasa Star 3 4.0 Ozone Yakuza 4.0, PL Reactor 4.9, JoJo RM+ 5.0, Ozone Method 5.0, Ozone Yakuza 6.0, Flexifoil
Blade IV 6.5, Nasa Star 3 7.0, PL Vapor 7.8, JoJo RX 8.0 (in route), Flexifoil Blade VIP 8.5, PL Vapor 9.4, Ozone Yakuza 10.0, PL Reactor II 10.8, PL
Vapor 16.1, PL Venom II 13, PL Charger 15, 19, Flysurfer Unity 12, Flysurfer Pulse 2 14, Flysurfer Speed 2 SA 19, Flysurfer Speed 3 21, MBS Comp 95
landboard, PL Folding buggy, PL XR+ buggy, Slingshot LFT, Lots of surfboards
That's awesome....I love those wind alley's! Reminds of this time I went to this lake to do some camping. Basically 0 wind at the beach but there was
this little lake situated in between little mountains on both sides that was just blowing. Must have been 15-20 mph and clean. I was kicking myself
for not bringing my buggy!
OBTW, I got my 4m and 7m NS3's today! Laid them out on the living room floor and must have stared at them for about 20 mins. They are very well
constructed and looked absolutely beautiful. The colors look even better in person than on Steffen's web site. I'm hoping there's some wind during my
lunch hour but it has been really really light lately. If it doesn't happen this Thursday or Friday, then there should be at least a little wind at
the beach this weekend. So fingers crossed, I'll have the maiden voyage soon.
I was originally thinking I might need to buy the 8.5 for the really low winds but that 7m looks pretty big and since I'll really only be using these
kites on a skateboard on asphalt, maybe the 7m will be enough. Time will tell.
More to follow soon...
Quote:
Turns out this whole mountain valley is sort of a wind alley. Today we had winds consistently blowing 15-23 mph in through there, while you couldn't
buy a breath of wind 10 minutes away on the other side of a ridge line. I'll take it and like it. The wind coming through there is the cleanest I've
felt up near my house. Yeah!
@lunchbox - stoked that you got your NS3s. Very happy you like them. You'll like them even more in the air. Agreed that they are very well
constructed and many of them are quite beautiful. I too particularly like the colors of the 7m (it's my favorite in the standard lineup). You will
probably note that my custom 1.5m is somewhat fashioned after the 7m!
Agreed that the 7m will likely be ample for asphalt conditions due to the low rolling resistance. The 8.5, 10.0, and 12.5m NS3s are BEASTS and behave
that way somewhat. It's one thing to control them (aka, deal with them) when sitting in a buggy or when on skis, but it would be quite a bit to work
them on asphalt - ouch!
I never actually got to use them under good conditions but plan to test them out thoroughly at Lake Ivanpah in a couple of months at IBX. The boots
are such that I can buy different frames and bolt them on instead. This gives me the ability to also go this way:
From what I've read (and thought about myself) I decided to go with the XC-Path configuration first before progressing to the Metropolis set up. The
trade of as I see it will be stability versus maneuverability. The two-wheel "wheels of doom" like set up has a distinctly lower center of gravity
with the base of your feet being more or less in line with the axles of the wheels, while the three-wheel set up has you perched above the wheels. My
hope is to start out on the two-wheel set up and then progress to the three-wheel setup once my skills and confidence (foolhardiness?) rises.
As with snowkiting, what I hope for is a more athletic feel to the sport, one that is actually some exercise (snowkiting sure is!). I LOVE buggying
and have no intention of stopping, but face it, we plunk our seat meat down in a bucket and go for a ride. Just not the same. I suspect in that way
landboarding would also be more work.
The thing is, I have a strong skating and skiing background, a lousy skateboard background, and zero snowboard experience. I've got a little bit of
standup surfing experience, but the lion's share of my wave time has been on a body board with fins on my feet. Going the skate route just seems like
the way to go for me. I wish I was a better boarder because it looks really fun.
Maybe I'll borrow somebody's board at Ivanpah and give it a whirl under good wind conditions, wide open space, and go with an underpowered kite.
Yeah I've had a dabble with a board on grass but only ever with dubious wind. Only ever tried it very underpowered and didn't really get to the point
where I could lean back, I was very nervous of coming off as I have dislocated my knee three times. I've been sticking to the buggy which is of
course awesome!
I was much more comfortable on skis, and I'm also itching to try a snowboard as I switched to the darkside about 15 years ago.
Those skates look superb!! You'll have to keep us posted on progress with them!!!!!
Rev 1.5 SLE
PL Pepper 1.5m, Twister III 3m
Flysurfer Peak I 6m, Peak II 12m
Ozone Access V6 6m, 4m incoming!
Arcs Venom 13m, Synergy 15m
LEIs Slingshot Rally 7m, 9, 12m
Kheo Flyer Landboard
PTW SuperBug II
Nobile NHP Carbon Split
Yeah I've had a dabble with a board on grass but only ever with dubious wind. Only ever tried it very underpowered and didn't really get to the point
where I could lean back, I was very nervous of coming off as I have dislocated my knee three times. I've been sticking to the buggy which is of
course awesome!
I was much more comfortable on skis, and I'm also itching to try a snowboard as I switched to the darkside about 15 years ago.
Those skates look superb!! You'll have to keep us posted on progress with them!!!!!
Ouch! Knee dislocations sound horrible. I'd be super nervous in your shoes on a board too. Glad skiing works better for you. Snowboard would be
fun to be sure.
It will be several months before I get on my skates, but I have high hopes!
Yeah I've had a dabble with a board on grass but only ever with dubious wind. Only ever tried it very underpowered and didn't really get to the point
where I could lean back, I was very nervous of coming off as I have dislocated my knee three times. I've been sticking to the buggy which is of
course awesome!
I was much more comfortable on skis, and I'm also itching to try a snowboard as I switched to the darkside about 15 years ago.
Those skates look superb!! You'll have to keep us posted on progress with them!!!!!
I had a landboard for awhile and didn't care for it on grass and my wind. I'm sure most of the problem was me, but I found it unnerving to be on such
an inconsistent surface on something with relatively small wheels. If I had a beach close by than it would be a different story. If I were to do it
again, I would get serious about a granny tire set up.
Granny tires, not heard of that but just googled. My father-in-law sells granny vehicles, I'll have to see if he has any lying around. Not sure if
my hubs will take them, but worth a look!!
Rev 1.5 SLE
PL Pepper 1.5m, Twister III 3m
Flysurfer Peak I 6m, Peak II 12m
Ozone Access V6 6m, 4m incoming!
Arcs Venom 13m, Synergy 15m
LEIs Slingshot Rally 7m, 9, 12m
Kheo Flyer Landboard
PTW SuperBug II
Nobile NHP Carbon Split
Granny tires, not heard of that but just googled. My father-in-law sells granny vehicles, I'll have to see if he has any lying around. Not sure if
my hubs will take them, but worth a look!!
@soliver - hey bud. Saw you resurface today on Holgate's LS v NS thread. Know you've been super busy. Welcome back to the fold!
Now... Enquirering minds want to know how the 10m NS3 is working out in your lineup. There aren't a lot of us I suspect that have invested in the BIG
NS3s. Likes, dislikes, regrets? Please do tell! :karate:
Yea so today I had my first session since November an edit was AWESOME!... No 10m today Steve, but spent a lot of time under the 5.5m and 7m.. ... 7m
is still my most used. Windspeed started out in the low teens and I was under the 5.5m. It died a little to I pulled out the 7m. It picked back up,
but I kept the 7m up and had a blast... I packed it up after having to hit the QR to eject.
As for the 10m, I think it will be a great machine in the quiver. I spent a lot of time under it in my last session in Nov, and it was great. Just as
nimble and forgiving as its smaller brethren. I can't wait to get all JIBE'd up with the Nasa stars. It was just too much wind last year for the sizes
I had.
I did learn a few things today: A. Cold puddles are not fun on windy days. B. I need to put grip tape on my foot pegs on my XR. My feet kept slipping
esp with wet shoes. C. I need to shorten the length of my XR's downtube and bring the headstock a little closer. (apparently I am not as tall as I
thought I was ) and D. All that time I spent repairing the Lug on my PL XR back
axle was wasted as it is completely all shot to crap after today's bumpy session. I am going to just have to weld up a VTT style back axle for that
buggy now because there's no way I can afford a new PL back axle.
I still have GoPro footage from back in Nov to edit with lots of 10m on there... hopefully soon...
Thanks Steve, it was great to get back out there... who knew it'd take up so much time to have 4 kids?!?!?!
That is time well spent brother, time well spent. Like the waves, clean onshore winds will be blowing long after we've turned to dust, but those kids
won't be. Your priorities are well placed. :karate:
![[*]](images/perspective/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
) and D. All that time I spent repairing the Lug on my PL XR back
axle was wasted as it is completely all shot to crap after today's bumpy session. I am going to just have to weld up a VTT style back axle for that
buggy now because there's no way I can afford a new PL back axle.