"With a US distributor now with Big Mike this issue for us stateside folks may have gone away. The packaging I've gotten from Mike has been top rate
and in good shape upon arrival."
Yes Mike's great to deal with. Hopefully they sell well and he will bring in the larger sizes and upcoming varieties.
@ John Holgate - I'm happy to do so if you think it is important
If it was me sending stuff out, I'd be pretty disappointed to see it arriving in that condition and I think I would be talking to my postal service or
looking at options. I don't know if Steffen has any postal options and it may be good for him to know that it's arrived undamaged despite the postal
handling.
There was a report on our national news recently where someone had filmed one of our more well known courier services delivering parcels by throwing
them out of the truck onto the road before stacking them on a trolley and wheeling them into the building. It was very embarrassing to the courier
service who, hopefully, lifted their game.
John - you pushed me over the edge (in a good way). I will email Steffan today. If there is some relevant back and forth between us I will share in
this thread.
I had emailed Steffan about the beat up package I received and he sent me some interesting instructions for quickly folding up STARS that I thought
fellow enthusiasts would like to see.
Copied from his email:
A little trick, as you can quickly fold the NS3.
1. Remove the bar.
2. Fasten the bridle lines on the transport loops on the kite.
3. Grab the kite at the nose right and left.
4. Stand up to the wind with her back
5. With a quick bow movement hands inwards and the wingtips fold inward.
6. When folding the tips, squat. On the floor then fold.
The more wind, the better it works.
Yes Spencer. They "may" be a more economical option over the Peak (No disrespect to Flysurfer. The Peaks are a bad@$$ kite!!). All my Born kites are
of excellent build quality. I'm sure the Ultra will please ..
Cross Kites Sonic 3, 5m
Ozone Flow 2, 3, 4, 5m
Ace II 4, 5m
NAPKA-US24
4, 5, 6m ATB landsurfer. Custom longboard deck
Buggy: VTT Black Widow v2.0
It's super early in my ownership of Born kites of any variety or size, but one small thing I noticed right away and really appreciated are the three
little lines that come off the leading edge for attaching the three bridle sections to. What a simple and elegant solution! Nicer than the little
Velcro strip found on PL kites for the same purpose IMHO.
It's super early in my ownership of Born kites of any variety or size, but one small thing I noticed right away and really appreciated are the three
little lines that come off the leading edge for attaching the three bridle sections to. What a simple and elegant solution! Nicer than the little
Velcro strip found on PL kites for the same purpose IMHO.
Also, one of my favorite features. It's always the little things in life
Hell yeah! We've got quite born-kite posse going. It's interesting Steve won the competition. I was almost certain someone would win that had never
flown one. Cool
These are stills from one of Steffen's latest videos. I wonder when this new variety of streetkite bar will be for sale. It looks like it has nose
depower and a one side flag out system.
I've been having a few good static sessions lately... anyone else have trouble getting good scuds out of your Nasa Stars?... I can't seem to get a
decent scud with them... Just on the beach in the absolute perfect conditions... THAT was awesome (HUGE ruts in the soft sand).
Really finding the usefulness of the little yellow ball too. Last buggy session I found that since like the PL Arcs, these kites will practically auto
zenith, if you get the kite up over head while you make way toward your bug... give the little yellow ball a pull to depower a little to make it
easier to sit down then let go and get moving... very nice feature when used this way.
You really need that fast power surge that you get with a foil.
Baloney!! You just need power and I happen to think that power delivered slowly is betterer. I've stopped trying to scud on grass because of the
inconsistencies and fear of a fubar ankle. But on the sand, you can scud a lo o o o o o o o o o o o o n g way.
Ok, ok, I must admit I haven't tried too hard to scud with them. I'm usually on dry thick grass that generally does need a good hard sudden yank to
break my traction and slide. Normally I goto my butt anymore rather than try to remain standing to save knees / ankles. Also, if I have the nasa
stars out, then normally I'm moving on either buggy or board and I'm not playing around before or after riding. I've been on asphalt most of the time
lately and scudding probably wouldn't be advisable :P
John - great video! Really captured the spirit of the sport we all love. Heck with the scud (though very nice of course), I like your "close
encounter" with the bush starting at 2:10!!!
Self - Must keep this thread on the NASA subject! On the subject of NPWs, my XK-won custom 3.2M made it to Los Angeles Wednesday according to the Aus
Post tracker. Almost in my hands!!! :wee:
Ive been flying static a lot lately because I promised myself and Wifey no more lunch break buggy sessions after my accident... part of the fun of
static flying foils was always scuds, but I think you're right, Sean that the sudden burst of power as a foil enters the power zone is what causes
that breaking of traction... still fun to have static sessions with the NS3's though... LOVE the 1 handed flying action for sure. Really excited for
the fall winds to pick up and kill the blasted summer lull.
Steve, I think the guy in the bush is Spartan, one of the other regulars over on XK.
@kitegonzo - I would say that the 12.5m NS3 has about the same low wind range, maybe 5 knots minimum. This really depends on how clean your wind is.
I was just buggying today with my 12.5m NS3 and it was on the ground about as long as it was up in the air. It has a heck of lot of pull once the
wind picks up, but it doesn't fly in sub-5 knot winds any better than any other kite. The rub for me up here in the Utah mountains is when the
conditions are such that this is the right kite to pull out of the bag then the winds are often highly variable, going from nothing to 10+ and back
again (again and again). I had a lot of stalls and some backwards flying. Not a big deal when seated in a low slung buggy but I suspect this would
be more problematic when skiing.
@windstruck- I live in northern Bavaria (near Nuermberg), east of my home are small hills where are some good spots for snowkiting. In addition I can
go to the Alps (Austria/Italy) for a weekend.-
I tried water kiting, land kiting, but in my opinion snowkiting (with skis) is the best of all!
I have the complete range of Zebra Slope (12.5, 9.0, 6.5, 4.0m) and a 8.5 PL C-Quad.
The C- Quad starts a little bit earlier than the 12.5. Slope but has not depower, therefore problematic in gusty conditions.-
Do you think that the FS Peak II 12.0 has the same low wind range as the NST3 12.5 ?
Thanks/Peter
P.S. I looked for Park City pic in the Internet. Should be a perfect place for snowkiting?
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