Personally, I never liked the freebar setups for small, faster kites (15m and smaller at the time). The bar type was a little better. They also look more complicated than just a conventional bar. It was way too easy to stall the kite (killing the power, made for uneven power) and too hard to just relax when riding with it. Might be better for the slow, super sized kites though. I never had anything that big and slow to try it out on though.

I've flown theses kites quite a bit lately and have noticed some quirks. Firstly, they do not like going downwind. They lose most of there pull and speed even if you go a little bit downwind. They prefer you go slightly upwind. They also like to "load". If you add a bit of resistance, such as sliding, The kite will generate massive pull. I slid 20 feet past where I normally stop with my venom and hit a path. I got a pretty huge scrape on my ankle from that. That's about it that I found that hasn't been mentioned already.

There was a F arc 1200 on ebay in the UK recently. Went for £50 ! :o Was KO, but I was really tempted to bid. Probably would have done if I didn't think it was going to go for more..

Tim

Does any one else have one of these bad boys? I'm loving mine. I have a plan for a vpc for the 1200. I'm not sure it the 1600 would like a vpc because it can be bowtied by turning really hard (like garbing the leaders hard).

Carl, I think you need a pair of them, or at least a 1200. Then we could see how they stack up against new arcs for freestyle. Mine boost huge and seem to do well, but I am nowhere near the level that you are.

Yarding a hard turn on the 1600 shouldn't cause it to bowtie. Ycan reach over steer it at the end of the leader to snap a turn and it will respond without issues.

Comparing F-Arcs to a modern Freestyle kite is apples and oranges. The F-Arc can send it to the moon but Kite looping it is a total PITA and turn rate, unless you have th muscle to snap the turn, is not even close to say a CH2.

The Farc is closer to race kite than a freestyle rig.

Feyd- I pulled the leader so hard it took tension off the front line. I almost never have to do that but the kite was on a dive directly into the ground. The shoulder curled in and it fell to the ground. It was more user error than the kites fault.

As for freestyle I'd say it's pretty good. Don't expect to be busting kite loops or riding unhooked. For basic jumps with technical maneuvers, like board-offs and spins, It should rock. It has plenty of lift and float to allow things like that.

Still seems odd to me to have that reaction to yarding the leader.

The F-Arc flies unhooked very well. FUn to play around with, (not like I'm doing huge handle passes or anything) but it give you the feel of an old school fised bridle. Love that raw power.

It's got plenty of lift and hangtime for board offs. :D