So i've been mountainboarding for a couple of months now and am ready to buy my first kite. Right now, I'm kind of leaning 55% toward a Scout II and 45% toward the Hydra. 80% of my riding will be nowhere near water with my mountainboard, buuuut I would love to mess around with the kite in the water... which would lead me to buying the Hydra. Basically I'm just wondering if the Scout II way outperforms the Hydra from a landboarding perspective. If it does, I'll go with the Scout II. If the difference is minimal, I'll probably get the Hydra.

THANKS

The Hydra comes in 3M and 3.5M.

The Scout II comes in 3M, 4M, and 5M.

Depending on your weight, terrain, and prevailing winds in your area. The larger sizes that the Scout is available in is going to have a bigger impact on you being able to get rolling on a mountainboard in reasonable (beginner friendly) winds.

ATB,
Sam

you will prolly find that the scout is an absolute cracker on handles

It is worth a try

Quote:

Originally posted by nocando you will prolly find that the scout is an absolute cracker on handles It is worth a try

:puzzled: :puzzled: :puzzled:

ATB,
Sam

Note the Hydra is measured in wingspan, while the Scout is measured in square meters. So a Scout II 3m is larger than a Hydra 300.

The Scout should turn tighter than a Hydra with the addition of the crossover bridle. It also includes a Fixed Harness Loop, so you can hook in.

Once inflated, the Hydra is exceptional in lighter winds, as it holds in shape in the lulls.

As Sam stated, the Scout is better suited for landboarding, if no other reason, it offers more grunt in the larger sizes.

Smooth winds,

Chris

Scout video - http://youtu.be/q8q4GTt9GbA

I would take my 3m 3line trainer out in the water when I was learning. The kite took a few swims. I would just roll up the lines , haul it to shore , relaunch and fly it dry. MAJOR incentive not to crash !!!!

Getting the Dloop and a harness would be more valuable to you ( at similar cost ) than the closed cells if you only get 20% water ? IMHO ?

I have tried both kites and its been my experience that the scout would be much better suited for a landboard. My fiancé learned to buggy with a scout at JIBE 2011 and she had no issues with it at all. The kite turns fast, very stable, great safety, and offers a good amount of grunt. Can not go wrong with the Scout. Granted the scout would not be a kite you want to take on the water as its an open cell kite but cross one bridge at a time

Definitely get the Scout for the ATB

Quote:

Originally posted by indigo_wolf Quote: Originally posted by nocando you will prolly find that the scout is an absolute cracker on handles It is worth a try :puzzled: :puzzled: :puzzled: ATB, Sam

:roll: what you said - but in 'Stralian.

Alright thanks guys! As far as what size scout... I weigh 150lbs and will be riding on pretty rough terrain. Longer grass, lots of small ruts and bumps... general Midwest landscape/terrain. Average 15 mph winds. Would the 4m be a good start?

for sure mate you wont go wrong a great start

and once you have given it a good work out

take the bar off and try handles, you will be amazed at the difference

I have not flown the scout II but i have the Scout 5m and it is perfect for landboarding. I have the Hydra 350 and it is really good for high wind riding. it can go upwind really well, I think it goes upwind better than the scout does.

With your weight and 15 mph wind average, I would probably recommend starting out with the 3m as your first kite. You could start out with the 4m as long as you watched the wind closely and only practiced and learned in the lighter winds. The 4m can pack quite a bit of power so be careful if you go that route.

One thing to think about with kites, no ONE kite will cover all wind ranges. So if you are thinking of going with the Scout, you may want to start out with the 3m at first. Then when you get comfortable with it, you can use it in the higher winds with your board and do just fine. It will be an awesome high wind kite. Then you could purchase your second kite the 5m size which will work as your low wind kite. Between the 3m for high winds and the 5m for low winds, you will cover the range of the 4m kite.

Purchasing this way you could cover 90% of the winds with two kites. If you started out with the 4m kite, then you will want to get a higher wind kite which would be the 3m and would probably also need a lower wind kite which would be the 5m. Starting with the 4m kite may end up having you purchase 3 kites to cover the wind range instead of just 2.

You could start with a slightly smaller kite, but in the long run it would save you some money and still cover the wind ranges you are going to be flying in.

Hope that helps with your decision.

Thanks for the reply. Is there a performance difference between the 3m scout and the hydra 350? If I go smaller than a 4m, what reason would there be for me to go with any other kite over the hydra, landboarding wise? If I can get a kite to learn with and board some with, being able to bring it in the water seems worth the extra money to me, unless a different kite will perform better with a landboard.

You are gonna try boarding w/ anything you get your hands on..... my first try was w/ my 3m 2line trainer, than a 2m on handles. i weigh 170 and my first real riding was w/ my 5m Scout2(great kite) it's got some grunt. Everyone needs a 3m or under kite. when your starting it seems to come out so much and helps you to get to the point of needing more kite........or kites,,, as is most of our paths.

AWOC's advice is spot on. Please take what he wrote to heart.

If you start out with the 3m Scout and a harness you will be well set to move up to a depower kite. Depower is the best way to go for boards.

There is a very big difference in power per Sq meter in the smaller sizes. The 4m will be too large to serve as your high wind kite down the road and is too small to be a low wind kite. Having a proper sized ( 3m ) kite will allow you to teach others . 4m can be too much for a complete beginer. 4m is an odd size and resale won't be as easy as with a 3m.

Alright, well glad I asked! Is the Scout II worth the extra money? As compared to the Impulse or an Imp? I'm assuming the smart thing would be to buy the Scout II 3m with a harness and call it good??

If money is tight then watching the for sale section on here will save you a bit of money.

A number of 3 and 4 line models will suit your needs. You can hook in to a harness with handles also. The independent brake control is also a big advantage to handles. Moving up to depower from handles and a harness is as easy as from a 3 line and bar !!!

New kites drop in value as soon as you leave the store.

:bigok:

since the scout 2 is not a depower, wouldn't it be better to have a bigger one since lighter winds are usually less gusty? For high-wind kite I would assume fixed bridle on bar is not very good. But I guess it depends on where you live and the consistency of the strong winds. Most of the strong winds I've seen are usually very gusty.

I would never hook into a high wind fixed-bridle kite around here. The hydra 350 scared me enough when gusts hit. I like the idea of being able to just let go when necessary.

Quote:

Originally posted by elnica since the scout 2 is not a depower, wouldn't it be better to have a bigger one since lighter winds are usually less gusty? For high-wind kite I would assume fixed bridle on bar is not very good. But I guess it depends on where you live and the consistency of the strong winds. Most of the strong winds I've seen are usually very gusty. I would never hook into a high wind fixed-bridle kite around here. The hydra 350 scared me enough when gusts hit. I like the idea of being able to just let go when necessary.

Very good point. While I am all for harnesses the Dloop and Strop both leave you slightly captive. That said if you remain unhooked in tricky situations and hook in to rest up you will still get a lot more fly time in. As your confidence and skills increase you will stay hooked in more and more.

Quote:

Originally posted by elnica since the scout 2 is not a depower, wouldn't it be better to have a bigger one since lighter winds are usually less gusty? For high-wind kite I would assume fixed bridle on bar is not very good. But I guess it depends on where you live and the consistency of the strong winds. Most of the strong winds I've seen are usually very gusty. I would never hook into a high wind fixed-bridle kite around here. The hydra 350 scared me enough when gusts hit. I like the idea of being able to just let go when necessary.

That's what a good QR is for

I've been trying to read up on different 3m kites, and it seems that a 3m Ozone Flow may be better for landboarding than a 3m Scout II. This true? At awindofchange.com, the two kites with bars are the same price... which one should i go for?

I spent a bit of money and a lot of time trying to convince myself I could get equal performance flying fixed bridle on a bar and handles. Handles won out and using them I can get much more out of my FB kites. Trying to fly on a bar did very little as far as improving my pilotng skills. You give up a lot of control going to a bar.

One acception to the rule may be the Turbo bar ? From the little I have seen , if you are going to move to depower the Turbo bar is a good start?

I am pretty sure the 3m Flow performs much better on handles than standard bar ( I think it takes to the turbo bar though ? ) ? The Scout is 3 line and must be modified to fly on handles ?

Is there a reason that you want to go to a bar over handles ? The Flow at least allows you to go both ways without mod's.

Isn't a bar used for landboarding? I figured a 3m kite + bar + eventual harness would be fun to mess around with on a board a bit while i learn to handle the kite. lol this kite stuff is confusing, to hard to choose with zero experience. I'm just gonna have to pick one and start flying, I'm sure i'll love any kite i pick

Sorry for throwing curve balls at you.

Yes, a bar and DEPOWER kite is the way to go for ATB.

It is pretty much the accepted rule that you will get the most out of a 3m Fixed Bridle foil using handles. The control is truly better. You can hook into a harness with handles using a " strop line " .

From the options you are looking at my support goes to the 3 Flow. Maybe get it on the bar + get handles so you can compare. Handles aren't a whole lot more money. Talk to Kent at AWOC . He won't let you go wrong.

You are correct. Every kite you are looking at will give you the experience you are looking for.

The " what should I buy " thing never really stops !

:Ange09: