Help? Please? Am kind of a "newbie" to the sport. I saw the sport a long time ago on tv, and shortly thereafter purchased my first traction kite. I apparently bought something slightly too big at the time having never flown a traction kite. Over time (a rough year of being dragged, tossed in the air, etc.) I got the hang of it though and even took it out a few times over the winters to use with my snowboard.

Well, it has been over 5yrs. since I've sold that kite due to getting married, moving and such. Am now settled in and wanting to pick up another kite. However, I don't know what to buy now. It seems so much has changed over the past 5yrs. in the kiting world.

I'm 5'10" and weigh 170lbs. Am looking for a kite that will provide enough pull for snowboarding in local farm fields and possibly on snowcovered lakes in the area. The wind around here in the winter generally stays around 10-15mph with days of 20-35mph winds as well. If I'm interested in just being pulled along relaxing behind the kite, with an occassional lift off the ground what size am I looking for? What would be the recommend bare min. in size for myself riding in the snow?
I'm had looked at the P3, but thought that trainers wouldn't supply the amount of desired pull. The 3.0m kites such as the pkd and the powerfoil 4.0 were also thoughts. I don't have of money to put towards this so go lightly on the suggestions.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!!!!!! Thank you all!!!
~code

If you want airborne, there are only a couple of choices if you want to fly handles. If you want to fly de-powerable, that brings another whole conversation, and is pretty much decided on how much you want to spend on one.

Okay, handled kites....
Off the ground-
Flexifoil Blade 3
Ozone Riot
HQ Crossfire

You can get airborne with other kites, but not AS safely, as none of it can really be classified as safe.

With the differenced in wind you are describing, you will need more than one kite. On the 10-15 days, something right around 5 meters will be good (considering I dont know your weight, could be more or less, Im guessing with a 175-190lb rider). On the 20-25 something closer to 4m. and anything over that would be 3m or smaller. If you start getting much over 30, something even smaller would be recommended.

If you wanna go bar/depower/harness route, lets talk cash first, Much more money, but cover a larger range with one kite. Also you have the ability to adjust the power while you fly. A 9 meter de-power kite (power probably somewhere near a 5m handled kite) will run you somewhere between-
Hq Montana-$950.00
and
Flysurfer Speed (10m) -$1559.00
Shopping around, you can probably get one a bit cheaper, but not too much. You can always look around for something used as well.

One last thought. The kites you listed are not good for getting lifted, and are of the cheaper ranges of kites. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. This is true in just about all cases of shopping, but especially with kites. Lower priced kites generally perform at a lower rate than the expensive ones. Not to say this is ALWAYS true, but pretty darned close. I hope this helps you and if you want to talk, just give me a call, and Ill call you back if its long distance.

304-437-4580

Or you can just reply back here.

Scoop

Scoopy..
I like the depowering kites a lot! From what I've read about them and the reviews they look and sound like a fantastic option. I don't recall seeing that option when I got my first kite, then again I didn't do as much looking into and reading about the kites before hand. If I could afford one, believe me I would spend the money to buy one.

I realize that you usually get what you pay for when dealing with any kind of sport or hobby. I also realize there are always exceptions to that..and I guess I was hoping to find the exception as I'm not too sure the wife would be thrilled about me spending 1k on a kite. If I started on something in the $200-$250 range and actually flew it, enjoyed it, etc. then I think a few months later or so she would be more forgiving with spending 1k on one. So even if I can't jump right away but just have something with enough pull for a snowboard..that would be good for now.

My old kite used handles and I remember not really caring for them too much. From what I've been reading the bars are the new improved way to go. So that would be an additional bonus to the package of what ever I can get for that price range.
Hope there's something I can get with that...I know my options are pretty limited.
~Code

TRY A 4M CROSSFIRE, FOR LIFT AND POWER, OR JUST FOR CRUISING TRY A 3.6 BEAMER . THE BEAMER IS VERY STABLE NOT MUCH LIFT SO A LITTLE SAFER. THE CROSSFIRE IS EXCELLENT PROVIDING PLENTY OF LIFT AND POWER. AND THEY ARE BOTH CHEAP KITES. DONT GO BIGGER THAN 5.0 FOR THE WINDS YOU DESCRIBED IN YOUR AREA OR YOU WILL BE OVERPOWERED. BETTER YET IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY GET A DEPOWERABLE ARC FORM PETER LYNN LIKE THE GUERILLA , VENOM OR PAHNTOM, THEY ARE WAAAY BETTER THAN A FOIL FOR TRACTION SPORTS , YOU CAN CONTROL THE POWER BETTER AND GO UPWIND MUCH EASIER, THE SIZES FOR YOUR AREA WOULD BE LIKE A 9M EQUIVALENT 6M FOIL AND DEPOWERED LIKE A 4M FOIL. OR FOR ALOT MORE POWER A 11M ARC.

Code,
I have a 3.6 beamer I use inland at local parks, etc. Its very comfortable to fly and not at all scary, yet in winds above 10 it pulls me on my mountain board just fine. My bigger kites get a liittle dangerous in gusty inland winds. I think the Beamer is a good, cheap way to go.

consider the 5m radsail cheap and very good performance fora budget kite
they pull nicely and give you lift too. (maybe because theyre a copy of the blade I)

Buy a inflatable maybe the size of 9 meters that is low aspect and has good depower ability. It will probibly get you going from 10 mph on hard packed snow to maybe 35 mph would not recomend going out in 35 mph. I go out on my 9m dream 3 up to 35 mph on water and 30 mph on snow thats the max.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had considered buying your dream windboy, but after thinking about it, inflateable wasn't the way I wanted to go re-entering the sport. Too much possibility of me wrecking and busting one of the bladders or more. I'm considering getting another kite this spring/summer to use on the water though and have been leaning towards the 05' slingshots 10m -12m. A friend of mine suggested the 9m but after asking others in the area it seems as though a lot of them are using 12m-up. When the time arises I'll look into it more. For the time being I purchased an Ozone 4.5m Little Devil to play with on my mountainboard and snowboard. Has been pretty fun thus far. I'm not getting the air time or speed that I probably would with a Frenzy or some other larger kite, but for getting back into the sport it's definitely helping to do the baby steps.

Have flown a peter lynn pepper since this post started, great little kite to start with, and a great price too. Highly recommended.

Scoop