I have been trying to get some understanding on the term, "lite wind".
0 to 4mph?
4 to 8mph?
12 to 20mph?
under 12mph?
anything under 30mph?

I have heard the 8m reactor is a great lite wind kite. What about the 16m Vapor? How about a 5.5m Century on 200" lines? Or a 18m Phanny on 160' lines?
I tried to fly a 13m on 200' lines at NABX when the wind wasnt blowing and everyone was sitting around waiting. Decided that after it reached about 100' up the kite was a bit to big. Wasnt sure I was going to stay on the ground. Could have buggyied with a 8m that day.

maybe the term "lite wind kite" is a bit misleading.:puzzled:


(On the flip side, What is "high wind", and What is a high wind kite?) Maybe start another post for this?

I think its different for everyone depending on the type of flying and skill level, 20 mph is high wind for me but probably mid ranged wind for the more experienced. oh no, I just created another term....great.

All depends on your skill level, I think, at both ends of the spectrum. Experienced riders are going to get a bit more low end out of any kite because they know how to work it, and get a bit more high-end out of any kite, because of their confidence.

I do know for me that if I have to put away the 15, I gotta go down to a 9.....should probably get rid of my 12.

When you try to fly/buggy...and no matter how hard you are working your current kite you can't get going or it is just barely not enough....that's light wind.

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Originally posted by bigkid I have been trying to get some understanding on the term, "lite wind". 0 to 4mph? 4 to 8mph?

Light wind is when you can barely eek out some activity on whatever surface you are on with a setup optimized for that condition. Long I know.

I think you could combine the two or maybe 0-6mph. If at the beach I would say 0-4 or 0-6 holds well. For those winds many will have a light wind setup. Whether longer lines or bigger kites they are doing something specific to make their quiver work. I remember Long beach with 4mph wind and vapors flying when I couldn't get my S1.5 17m to get me down the beach. Some of that was my skill but 1 more mph and I could ride. At sunset I was able to eek out a ride in winds I could barely feel with a 8m reactor. I was impressed.

Light wind on water would go up to 10mph or maybe even 12mph. With my SA 19m I can ride on water probably down to 8mph and no one else is out. You need a light wind kite for that and board for that too.

If you are Carl the bullet I suppose light wind is when you can barely to a 360.

Anything under 10 mph is light in my book.

Under 7 mph you get bonus points for keeping a kite up, while moving.

Under 4 mph, keeping the kite up period is a thumbs up. If your moving? I'm really impressed....and want you to me my mentor.

For me, I can get the 18m phanny going in about 8mph and get somewhere in the buggy on a grass field, anything less than that is Light Wind! I have been out with the 10.8 Reactor II in about 4mph winds, but upwind is no treat when the winds are that low.

Light wind is whenever i have to break out the 19m Speed3 whether it be land or water.
If the 19 won't fly, i consider it as a no wind day.

I've wondered about that same question many times. It's all relative. Everybody's idea of "light wind" is different. Weight of the person flying, what surface their riding on and experience also play huge rolls. I distinctly remember purchasing an 8.3 reactor because everyone kept saying what a great light wind kite it is. First time I use the kite I'm on skis in deep snow(I weigh 220lbs btw) the wind is a whopping 8mph so for those specific conditions I wouldn't call that a light wind kite. Now if I'm on glare ice with skis, that's a light wind kite. So what one person calls light wind is different than another. Generally we don't get winds around here above 20mph too often, so my definition of light wind is going to be different than someone who gets 20mph winds as an average. Just my 2 cents.

Lite wind is when I'm on my 14m (6-12mph) or 4+ when I had my bego 600 on skis or smooth ocean winds.

High wind for me is direction dependant. If its off the ocean and smooth I'd say high is 25 - 30 and I'm probably on my 4.5 (maybe my 6 if its super smooth and clean). But if its lumpy and punchy then high wind is just 20+ and I'm definately on my 4.5.

Its amazing how much more power you can hold down when the winds are clean and how much easier it is to get going in real low wind when the winds are smooth and steady.

"Lite" wind has half the calories of "high" wind.

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Originally posted by martinipro Light wind is whenever i have to break out the 19m Speed3 whether it be land or water. If the 19 won't fly, i consider it as a no wind day.

+1 What he said.

-joedy

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Originally posted by csa_deadon "Lite" wind has half the calories of "high" wind.

Beat me to it

Lite wind down south is " light " wind up here.

I think under 10mph qualifies as light wind. Under 5mph I call ultra light wind. I can think of lots and lots of kites that work in light winds. Utra light winds are harder to find a kite that will power you in. I have found kites that I can jump with in low wind but a jumping ultra low wind kite is still something I'm trying to find.

I had setup a local texting service where the guys could send a text describing the winds at a launch and everyone who subscribed to the service would get the text plus it would post to our forum. In order to keep things short and sweet we described the wind by relative kite sizes. Big kite=light wind, medium kite=medium wind, small kite=high wind. For those that had them... XL kite=ultra light wind, and xs kite=storm winds. That was enough info regardless of your actual sizes in your kite quiver. Because most everyone had a big kite, a medium kite, and a small kite or equivalent that they use for those conditions.

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Originally posted by csa_deadon "Lite" wind has half the calories of "high" wind.

That can't be true. Based on 5-9mph being considered light wind, that would make high wind 7-13mph.:P

Actually to make it more confusing its more work for me in light winds. Lot of running back to keep kite from luffing and more core balance to stay up on snowboard or ATB. Therefore light is more calories burnt for me. Hehe.

Back to the question. I would consider light to be sub 20km/h, moderate till about 35km and high above that. I need to kite more so I can start using more than 40% of my quivers full potential. :puzzled:

I was hoping for just a fraction of commonality in the term, but I guess I was wishing in one hand and the other is ...... not.
I try not to use the term "lite wind", I try to put a number to the kite.
If I say, I can buggy with the kite in 4mph with 25m lines I think it says more than, it's a lite wind kite.
I bought an 18m Phanny because the guy selling it said it's a lite wind machine. So off to the beach and filled the thing up and got so pissed that in 5mph wind I couldn't keep it up unless it was tied to the back of the truck and I was driving down the beach at 10mph in the opposite direction. I turned around and sold that rock to someone else and told them I just couldn't get the hang of it. Now I know it needs a lot more than 4mph wind. Nothing more frustrating than to buy a kite that isn't what I think it should be, because I was told it was, but it wasn't.

I was hoping to buy a set of LEI's a few weeks ago when I was told the 19m is a lite wind kite. After I flew all the kites in 7 to 10mph winds, I sent them all back and told them those were not lite wind kites. Things did not go well for a bit, only after quite a bit of discussion, was the statement changed to 10 to 15mph. That is on land, on water it would go up to 15 to 19mph. Which is even more funny.

coming from a stunt kite background i define light wind as 7mph or less. I have kites that will fly in no wind (indoor stunt kites).
I always laugh at kite surfers because they think light wind is 15 mph.

I see 19-21M FlySurfer in Jeff's future...(just sayin)...LOL

Don't give up on LEI's Jeff!!
This looks interesting...wonder if anyone has had any personal experience with Epic V3??

https://vimeo.com/53431655

a 16m Vapor ... just scares me

But the 18m Phantom puts a smile on my face

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Originally posted by crazyherb I see 19-21M FlySurfer in Jeff's future...(just sayin)...LOL Don't give up on LEI's Jeff!! This looks interesting...wonder if anyone has had any personal experience with Epic V3?? https://vimeo.com/53431655

That is very impressive!!!

The hot launch, while very impressive is not reality, because more often than not you are LE down in the water... Getting the kite to roll over in those winds would be a no go!
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With respect to the above posts, i agree with most and say light wind is when I cannot use my go to kite (in my case a 12m) and have to use a "Big Kite".

I have also learned that a big kite does not mean it is a light wind kite... I have had BIG KITES that are just too heavy to launch in "Light wind"

Light wind for me is the 1-3mph range. The kind of wind that you can't feel at ground level but is enough to pull you around on a firm surface if on a kite like a Phantom 24m, F-Arc or Speed 3 Sa, kites that generate awesome apparent wind.

Hate flying in that wind but I hate not flying more.

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Originally posted by BigMikesKites a 16m Vapor ... just scares me But the 18m Phantom puts a smile on my face

Exactly my experience !

Even the 10.8 Reactor . I could get going in almost nothing with that kite but had to check my speed or become overpowered on apperant wind alone. On snow.

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Originally posted by awindofchange When you try to fly/buggy...and no matter how hard you are working your current kite you can't get going or it is just barely not enough....that's light wind.

THIS.

If I have to break out the 10m Century II ,it's damn light! :Ange09:

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With respect to the above posts, i agree with most and say light wind is when I cannot use my go to kite (in my case a 12m) and have to use a "Big Kite".

This.

If my most used kite is not generating enough pull, the wind is light.