Hello there, I am looking to get a kite for my self, but first let me give you a bit of background on my experience and desires.

When I was quite young my family liked to fly kites at the beach, this included a little 2 line stunt kite (and later a couple of them :D) Anyway, this gives me a bit of experience with flying a kite (although not identical to flying a traction kite)

A couple of weeks ago I went on a trip with some friend, one of them had a 4m 4string (handles) kite, I am not aware of brand. We broke it out on one of the nearby beaches. He said the wind was not too good for the 4m. Thinking back the wind was probably around 4-10mph (although I am a terrible judge at this).

I watched him for a fairly short period of time before he let me try. He gave me a couple of small tips (some reminders, so things that just made sense [power zone, turning...]). It seemed quite easy to get the hang of, ended up crashing twice, once was letting it hit the ground head on =/ the other was that I had fallen on my butt and was waiting for the wind to pick me up, but the wind kind of died down a bit. Sitting on the ground I could do little about this. We were doing a bit of scudding and a very small amount of jumping (not much wind for jumping)

He said I was picking it up quite quickly.

I was hooked almost instantly, I have been browsing the web looking for kites, I figured I would try to find ~4m kite, it seemed to do well in the wind I can expect to have.

Now I just want to ask to see if anyone has a suggestion for a good kite for me. I am 18 150lbs, I have access to large fields and have occasional trips to the beach. I am looking for a kite with a fair amount of pull. I would like to be able to do small jumps, (10 ft vert max type of thing [assuming steady wind]) I THINK I will have winds around 10-15mph, but that is partial a guess.

Oh I am looking for a fairly cheap kite (very much hoping for a used kite) looking to spend ~150, but 100 would be great, although It is looking like that is just wishful thinking.

Thanks in advance,
Mark.


Edit, oh yeah, anyone here from Oregon. I am currently in Portland, although will be heading down to Corvallis here shortly.

Mark,
Someone just posted a crossfire in the for sale section of the forum. You have to be aware that they have lift though (which isn't helpful when you're trying to learn). You'll probably want something in the 3-4m range for learning though. The least amount of lift, the better for learning purposes. However, since you do have some prior knowledge of the basics I don't see where the crossfire would be a bad option. If you can find a used hq beamer, flexifoil bullet or ozone little devil in those sizes that may be better to start.
Corvallis huh? A friend of mine when I was living in Lewiston, Idaho moved out there. Apparently loved the area.
Hope this helps a bit,
Joe

Thank you very much for your help. I may be able to get a nice 4m from someone living close to me as it turns out.
sorry for the late response, was out of town :D.

Thanks,
Mark

Just be careful, for your weight, a 4m may be a bit of an odd size, If I had to guess in the winds you have I'd say a 3m and a 5.5 would be a good setup.

The 4m would be a good size for a one kite quiver, but be prepared to be underpowered some days and overpowered others, Usually people end up running a min of 2 kites, most often 3. Myself I'm 245lbs, I have a 3m, 5.5m, and a 9m that I run quite regularly, most often on the 5.5m.

Interesting, I could see how that could happen, Any other suggestions? Anyone else find that type of problem?

Thanks alot everyone. :D