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These kites have been coming up on Ebay. I have inquired and they don't have a website. I asked for more info on the kites but the answer was short.

Can anyone tell me ANYTHING about them ? With de-power these seem too good a deal to be true ??? Something smells fishy but ..... I'm fishing !

I had bought an Eskape about 5 years ago from a local shop that was just getting into snow kites. At the time I was pretty green about kiting and the shop was just as green as their knowledge was mostly for LEI rather then foils. So they didn't know how to set up the lines or what it should be flown on...bar or handles. They started with a bar and I couldn't get it to fly very well. It tended to sit to far forward in the wind window. I switched to handles and it flew better but only marginally. The shop came to the conclusion that the bridles were wrong and had me take off all of the "extra" bridling which included the pullies for depowering. I ended up selling it because it was still to wonky for flying.
After flying for the past few years and increasing my knowledge of kiting, I would love to have it back in its original form. It was very well made...it is styled in the likes of an peter lynn arc...with front sock vents that seal...and like a flysurfer in its bridling. I think if you got it set up correctly you could have a really nice kite that could be flown on a bar.

I just had another look at the image they have posted on eBay. I don't see any bridling. To set up a kite like that and figure out the bridling would be next to impossible. Something to check on.

Flying a depower kite on handles doesn't work. With Depower you connect The Center trim lines to the front and hook in to depower by adjusting AOA. The outside lines go to the back for steering.

If you look closely you can see some wimpy looking red bridle set. I don't see any pulleys though.

Any more info / experience is appreciated.

yep...I know all that stuff now...but five years ago I didn't and neither did the shop. Nothing on the internet either...and that was when the kite was still fairly new. The company that made it went out of business. It was a German made kite.
Well you certainly have better eyes then I do for the bridling ;-)
They are a very well made kite. But as I said, can't really say anything about how it flies when properly setup....since I hadn't the proper setup at the time.
I did meet another fellow last summer that had one....and he really liked it and had better instructions on setting it up.

I found an old reference to eskape kites and kite specific snowboards on another forum.

here is the cut and pasted text

Eskape is a division of Takoon, which was founded by those french guys who have the patent on the bladder kite design. I've had my eyes on these boards since Larry should me a dealer promo kit. Unfortunately it sounds like they will only be bringing in about 6 (six) into the country. I know Larry has been working with them to try and convince them otherwise. Fingers crossed.

There was an escape snowboard on ebay a while back - I tried to find more information, when I spelled it with the "k" then I found more references.

here is another cut and pasted reference from another forum

Although just a beginner I found a normal snowboard difficult to use on ice especially. Fortunately I found a pretty good deal on an ESKAPE 174cm kite specific board. No sidecut on heelside edge, it's beefed up here also with a modest toeside sidecut for quick toeside turns.
My impressions of the board are that it works amazingly, as I said I'm just a novice however the increased stability is very noticeable.
I could easily go switch and control the board over some pretty rough terrain ranging from ice to hardpac to more bare areas in fields.
This thing flies. Looks Hot also.
It also has the bindings slightly offset to prevent heeldrag.
If you see this board it has cut out tips on the heelside, apparently to help cut into the snow rather than glide over top.
I put Burton Dark clip step in bindings on mine, the step in feature is simple.
I'm considering taking the highbacks off, the angle of the heel and always having bent knees limits my flexibility.
This opens a whole new debate I know...
Anyway the ESKAPE Snow Kite Airlines board impressed me enough that I decided to buy another for my son thinking I won't have to borrow him mine.
I'm going to test it on the mountain tomorrow and see how it works there.

Thanks for the info so far !
I have pressed the guy for more answers. So far he has not exactly answered a few of my questions. The Scott' in me sees a cheap deal + I need a 7m depower. The logical side is telling me to hold out for a Waroo. Tried and true ! :bird: :bird:

Snowbird, by now you should know that there's no replacement for quality, why buy now something that you'll end up replacing in a year. If you're looking to use something on land and water, possibly an Arc, they've come a long ways since the F-ark. If you're looking for open cell depower, probably the Frenzy.

YUP,
Knowing my history this may be another $200 B'bq cover. I'm trying Hard to get Andy from Bellingham kiteboarding to catch up and give us a demo of his Waroos and Bularoos. I may even go on the water for the chance :o From what I was seeing in Montana they look the kite for me. The Ozone instinct was performing similar but at $$$$ . :bird: :bird:

Best bet, save up and buy what you need/want, make sure it's got a proven track record and you'll never go wrong.

hey first post! after buying the kite and searching on the web for it and finding you guys, I just have to comment!!

I too saw them on ebay and wondered why he was selling kites without bridles ... so I asked and he`s right next to me !! so I went and saw AND GUESS WHAT ?!! they DO have bridle and he said to me "yeah maybe I should mention that in the add eh ?! " ....gee you think ? :wow:

So I bought a 7 meters for 165$ bucks :D:D !!

I'm now thinking of going back to buy a 3 meters since we are expecting ...55 kph winds tomorrow :o:evil:


anyway ... .he told me about all the people on ebay just asking questions and not getting the deal and he's like " c'mon folks ! I'm loosing money so don't ask, buy it and RUN!!" ... so if you get a short answer, it's because he's flodded with questions... JUST BUY IT !! I'll post pics of my first ride with it which should be sunday

oh and the cie changed names so that's why he's selling them so cheap + he's got too much inventory so they have to go !!

he's legit and runs
http://www.kiteboarder.com/
if you want to call him !

What you say about him feeling you should " just go ahead and buy it " ," it's cheaper than the manufacture cost " were the answers I got. But I asked questions like where were they made, is the bridle pulley and such. Maybe if he is getting asked so many questions repeatedly he should A: post his answers. B: expand his discription to clarify things a bit. Companies that don't stay in business are trouble IMHO.

The only response I got from someone who owned one said " don't buy one. It was my 1st kite and now it's left in the garage. " For what it's worth, he went on to praise his Waroos.

I'm intersted in hearing how it works for you . I think I'm holding out for a tried and true Flysurfer or Waroo.

Hate to say it, but often your better off waiting for the next generation of a product, companies like flexi and ozone have been around for a while, their old product is still alive and doing well. Not only that, but the old ones still perform, the new ones are better, and most people have positive to say about them.

While it is possible to find a new, good product, being the first ones out, you may get an awesome deal for a company looking for exposure, or you may be one of the few to buy a lemon before the company slips back into the dark.

For my $$$ I'll buy a known performer at a higher cost any day.


A wise man once told me:

You can find good and cheap,
You can find cheap and fast,
You can find fast and good,
But you'll never find good, fast, and cheap.

it's really well built and it's made in france.
yes for pulley and if you look again, you'll see that he added that they have a bridle after I told him !

TOO MUCH wind today !! 40 k is just not for a 7 meter !!

seeing how many kites you have, just add one to your bag and give it a try ... I mean they REALLY are inexpensive.

The build does look good in the pictures. I expect you'll enjoy the kite and at that price can probably re-sell without losing much at all if you choose to move on. Knowing he is right there + avoiding shipping make it even more logical a choice. I still wonder why the Company is out of business ?
I think I agree with Pablo about going with a proven product. I also think smaller companies need a chance. ( as long as they don't rip off R+D )
I'm going to be better off having my 7m depower be amphibias. I still expect to put some time in on the water.

Have fun with it and let us know how it goes! You may be the spokesman he needs.

so I changed it for a 9 meters since I had troubles controlling the 7 meters...

and man !! this thing is a monster ! :o:o big pull ! and the controls are "reverse" : you pull right and it goes left , left and it goes right. once you get used to it, it's a damn good bargain. really happy with it !

pictures to come

and here we go:

http://mrhide.pinnesota.org/gallery/eskape

Cool ! How does it compare to that Ozone ?

this guy (Pierre Boileau) has a store in Laval and sells a lot kites through a french classifeds web site (www.lespac.com)

he advertises the naish kites as being built by ozone. i dont' know if it's the same for the eskape.

ok my "reverse controls" are me screwing up.

it's slower to turn then the frenzy and pulls a lot more since it's a 9m VS a 7 for the frenzy but it's also 1/5 of the price so hey ! it's ok !

I'm certainly no expert, but maybe you should post some pictures of the bar/ line set up - so one of the more experienced people can check out the set up. If it turns "reverse" - maybe you have the set up "reversed".

well I did on another forum ( www.kitezone.ca ) and that's how I figured it out

Quote:

Originally posted by Mrhide well I did on another forum ( www.kitezone.ca ) and that's how I figured it out

Kitezone looks like a great site.
Is it French only or did I miss the language button ? It looks like Quebec is way ahead of us on the Left Coast once again. Pab's started up a website for us ( kiters anonymous ) but we are still just building in numbers here so it didn't take off.

When I look at the pics in your gallery it looks like you have the kite set-up right. What was it you got wrong at 1st? Perhaps your trim lines are backwards but that should just mean your depower strap gangs backwards, NO ?

the folks at kitezone told me "reverse" should not be happening ... another guy who has an eskape told me he's not driving reverse, it's ok for him ... there's an "intruction sheet" that came with the kite and bar and it clearly says which are the front lines and which are the back but it seems I'm still confused ... I haven't tried it yet ( reversing the reverse!)

and you're right, kitezone is french but you can post in english if you want, I'm sure you'll have folks answering you ... which I'm not sure "the reverse" could work here

If it's normal it should hook up exactly like the Ozone( Frenzy? ) in the pic's.

Bar to back. Center trim to front.

just a quick note to tell folks I had a blast with the 9m Eskape this winter! what a great kite!

If you want to read or post on kitezone.ca. try using a translate tool, such as google translate or babelfish. They work reasonably well, but it is probably best to explain that you used a translator. Quebecois really appreciate it if you make the effort to reach out in their language.

S