I recently had the pleasure of flying a 3.5m Peter Lynn Pepper. Unlike many of the pepper reviews here, this is not my first kite, and being that I own a shop, I have flown just about everything to come across the market in the US for the last 3 years.


Initial thoughts-

Bag-Well, its a drawstring sac. Much to be expected from a kite in this price range. I see no problems here as when you have many kites, rucksacks just tend to take up more room. The bag does have the sizes on the front with one marked. This will be useful if you have more than one.

Lines-Great lineset. They are sleeved and knotted, but seem to be pre-stretched and equal in length. They are not stitched, but thats okay. Means you can re-equalize them later if you need to. I really dont see this as a problem though.

Handles-Metal with hard foam like material where your hands go. Very comfortable, and seem sturdy.

Kite-Build quality is exactly what you expect from Peter Lynn. It really doesnt need to be discussed because its good. the bridles on the kite again are knotted. This seems to be okay too. With a kite in this price, you have to give somewhere.


Flight-

Right off the bat Im impressed. Very stable, predictable pull. Seems to move along quite well. I would have to say not as fast as a Buster, but definitely lighter. The low-end grunt of the kite is quite impressive. I really cant say I have flown a small beginner kite that has this type of pull. Not to say that it pulls harder, just has more torque... Seems the best way I can describe it. When the wind builds, its still silky smooth, and just pulls harder. Its probably not the fastest, or the best turning beginner kite on the market, but seems a perfect balance of all. Most impressive was the kite's lift. I have not experienced lift like this from any other beginner kite. Not just dynamic lift, but creates some static lift as well. This translates nicely to lateral pull at the edge of the window.


Conclusion-
Im going to put this in the same category as the following kites-
Hq Beamer II
Pkd Buster
Eolo Radsail
I would recommend this kite over all other beginners kites. It just has it where it counts. Having flown begos, blades, samis, bullets, riots, and just about everything else, I would say this kite sits at the top of the beginners kites, and just under the higher performance kites. I real winner. Great job Peter!

Sam
Owner, Scoop's Kites
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7sh41/powerkites/

Cheers fella, after lots of research, including a read of your review I purchased my first kite a pepper 2.5 (thought the 3.5 may be a bit much) and I’m over the moon, been in out in all sorts of wind already from almost nothing to 30mph on the beach (some kite surfers were out getting massive speeds and airs) and its been fantastic in all conditions. One small question for you or anyone else, I was thinking of going for a super 10 as my next kite but don’t understand how you would bring a two line kite down in an emergency as it has no break lines, if this makes me sound a fool then sorry but I’m still learning.

I would avoid 2 line kites. For no other reason but the agro'. Without brakes relaunching is a problem.
Brakes aren't depower but tweeking them can set the kite back a bit in the window and that's a big advantage.

the PL is a great kite to learn on, i was teaching a person with a 3.5m. its totally user friendly.

About the only way to drop a 2-line kite in an emergency is to lose one handle and let it dump sideways on one line. Not very graceful as you have another handle and line flopping about downwind.
Of course the cleanest way to get it down is the normal way of flying down the edge of the window and landing on a wing tip.

I think 2-line foils are a great inexpensive way to test the waters of traction kiting and they make great gifts to get someone interested. After the hook is in and irretrievably set, it's on to the quad kites without looking back.
That being said I still toss a 2-lin into the vacation bag or even for business travel. On a foreign beach or field, they make great conversation starters and are normally safe to hand to a stranger.