Greetings from Levin, New Zealand!

I've been lurking in the background on this site for a few weeks, and thought that I should register and introduce myself, and hopefully catch up with some other New Zealanders on this forum too.

Im a newbie to power kiting, but have been flying stunt kites and foil kites for some time. Living not far from 22k of driveable beach, I've decided to give buggy kiting a go. I've got a great shop in Foxton (10 min away), with a good dude called Glen, who's willing to let all and sundry try his 3 line kites and kite boards.

So, I've been out last week and tried one of his 3 Line 3m Ozone trainers, and found it easy to fly, quite happy to do inside and outside figure 8's and loops. Weather permitting tomorrow I'll get a turn on a quad line 3m for the first time. My question is, which kite do i buy as my first quad kite, bearing in mind that i want to do buggy kiting and land boarding in the near future. From what i've read on this site, a kite in the 3-4m range is what I am after, and what i can source locally are Peter Lynn, Ozone and HQ kites. What do you suggest? there are not many power kites around 2nd hand in NZ, though i'm watching a 4.5m flexifoil bullet and a 3.5m DP Power quad kite.

Thanks

David

Welcome...no need to lurk most of us are decent fellows
yes buy a 3m kite...any...they will all take you where you want to be
if you have the $$$...get the used 4.5 as well, that will be next in line anyway
me...id buy the 3.5 dp as well even though its the last kite you may ever use...at least someone else wont get it
dont get off the boat unless your going all the way

welcome. check out the for sale section on http://www.extremekites.com.au/ Shipping wouldn't be too bad from there I wouldn't think. Also, there are some NZ guys on there. Not steering you away from here by any means but they would be some folks and some gear closer to you. I'd start off buying any decent used kites ranging from 2-7meter and start in manageable winds with the 2-3m size. Being fortunate to be close to a beach, any old rag will do. :D

Extremekites are a bunch of great guys. Since most of them are Aussies they will be on a similar season and time zone to you at a given time as well. One or two of them do also frequent this forum as well, John Holgate is the first that comes to mind. Your beach sounds like a dream location to me. Driveable means good hard pack that doesn't get too washed out by tidal pools. Tell you what, keep a bed open for me in case Drumpf wins our Presidency over here, will you?

Oh well, the DP Power 3.5 can stay on trademe. Would love to start with a 2nd hand kite, but not much available. A new PL Hornet is an option, can't get Flexifoil new in NZ, otherwise a Rage sounds like a good suggestion. Any retailers who ship internationally at reasonable rates? Though supporting local has its appeal too.

NZ'ers have their 'Moosemeet' coming up in October: Moosemeet which will be well worth a look if you can get there. Briskites is just over the ditch in QLD and would be worth a look. Or get in touch with Plummet or Gannet on the XK site and see if there's any s/h gear going locally they may know about.

Thanks, just been looking around briskites website. Good range and prices. Would love to go to the Moosemeet, but the timing sucks. Still investigating kites, I seem to overthink what should be an easy decision!

Quote:

I seem to overthink what should be an easy decision!

Maybe not. I was just having a look on Briskites and Kitepower Sydney to see what I would buy if I was getting a first kite again and there's not a huge choice actually available at the moment. The 3m Beamer VI at $425, while pricey, is probably the best value. Kitepower have the Octane which is a good kite but they're not listing it in stock in 3m and Ozone have discontinued their fixed bridle kites.

I would be tempted to get a 4m Born Kite Nasa Star 3 - you'd have to get the 3 line bar and a set of lines too which will work out roughly the same sort of cost as the Beamer. I usually get mine straight from Steffen in Germany but Joel on XK has a few in stock also - might be worth giving him a shout.

Cross kites quattro would be a cheap introduction but something you may grow out of. It's a shame they're not keeping the Zebra Z1 in stock - that was a really good value kite. Also check Flexifoil's site and see if they've still got the %50 off on they're Rage kite. I haven't seen the latest ones but the earlier ones were a great kite.

Welcome, fellow kiwi!

I've a 3.5m Ozone Cult I should sell, as I haven't used it in ages... Message me if you're interested.

Thanks Kamikuza, Have Pm'd you.

Has anyone here tried to make their own buggy?
I've got a pair of 24" offroad wheelchair wheels with 3" wide sand tyres on. Plus I can get another pair fairly easily.

I may try and make a design out of laminated marine ply, just to get going, and for something a bit different too.

The laminated marine ply buggy sounds interesting. Here's a few wooden buggies from Popeye's site: Wooden Buggies

Let us know how you go. Mine is the one with the black side rails and dangerous alloy fork/footpegs! Was a tad wobbly...:D I did make a good one out of alloy and a plastic seat - the Vermin. There's a thread here on it somewhere.