Hey fellow kite flyers Im pretty new to kiting Ive flown a 1 point 6m foil which I have since given to my 8 year old son. I am now flying a cheap 2point5m Chinese kite With all the reading and videos Ive watched everyone is saying a quality kite will fly much better and more powerful of the same size vs a cheap one Im looking for a 2 to a 3m kite. I would like a 2 line that is convertible to a 4 line such as a Snapshot 25, or any of the 3 line kites such as the hq rush or 4 line Beamer flexifoil alpha etc Ive read a lot of mixed reviews of the Snapshot series but it seems to perfectly fit what I would like to fly Also it needs to pack up into a suitcase I travel for my job and have really enjoyed flying my kite on the road Im totally open to advice and any suggestions Unfortunately Im on a very tight budget I have really enjoyed this forum and have gotten a lot of help from fellow kiters on this site
Thanks Morgan

If your posting from a phone be sure you dont have punctuation or it wont post. Interested in what kite your looking for.

thanks rtz for your help finally figured it out

You might take a look at a Tensor. They have a bar that converts to handles and is of decent quality. I'd think the 3.1m would be what you are looking for.

https://prismkites.com/product/tensor/

Good luck!

If you're on a budget, and nothing used shows up here, the Pansh Flux 3m is worth looking at (surprised rtz didn't suggest). 1st choice would be a decent used kite, Beamer, Tensor etc... but Pansh does make a nice fixed bridle.
Any of them will be packable - you don't need to use the backpacks they come in. The Pansh has a light mesh backpack and a smaller stuff sack, both are very packable. Any of the other kites can be transferred to a stuff sack and all are easy to compress if you need space.

I have a 2.6m ViperS posted for sale. Its a solid very stable 4 line kite on handles. I am asking $300 which is what I paid for it. I have flown it 4 times. I also have a 1.5m Alpha. Its got two blown out cells. If you wanna get it fixed. I ll give it to you KO for $50 maybe cost you another 50-70 for repairs with shipping. You re in it for $100-120?

Do NOT by a Snapshot.

As was said; $80 for a brand new kite will be hard to beat: http://www.panshkite.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&...

Yah, should be mentioned (not that Im pushing Pansh, mind you), prices are half off listed. So you have to add it to your cart to see the actual discounted price. Shipping included. Its kind of crazy.

Quote: Originally posted by jeffnyc

Yah, should be mentioned (not that Im pushing Pansh, mind you), prices are half off listed. So you have to add it to your cart to see the actual discounted price. Shipping included. Its kind of crazy.

Crazy? Its cheap Chinese junk. What is crazy is you all trying to pass this garbage off like its the real deal. Thats like bragging to all your friends about how cheap your fake knock off Rolex was and recommending it to others as a good alternative to the real thing. Thats what is really CRAZY!
You people are exactly the kind of people that cheap Chinese Knock off companies like Pansy are targeting. The Walmart shopper that wants something for nothing.
Yes you will see a Pansh in my Sig. It was given to me. For FREE. It is unstable and dangerous. I will never give that kite to someone else knowing that. You do NOT give away a dog that bites. You either keep it locked up away from people or you put it down. I unfortunately love kites to much to do the latter.

There is a reasons Pansh is able to sell so cheap.
Reason 1. Maybe you should further research their manufacturing practices, Labor practices. BEFORE you continue to support a possible sweatshop. (How are they able to produce it so cheap? Inferior materials? Substandard Labor? Or both?)
Reason 2. You get what you PAY FOR. ( You dont buy a fake Rolex expecting it to perform and last like the real thing.
Those of you that have Panshs know that they are not consistent in their quality or performance yet you recommend them for a child? Now thats what I call CRAZY!
I have said my peace. Im sure I have satisfactorily pissed off enough of you.
You are welcome.

Quote: Originally posted by Blitzhound

Quote: Originally posted by jeffnyc   Yah, should be mentioned (not that Im pushing Pansh, mind you), prices are half off listed. So you have to add it to your cart to see the actual discounted price. Shipping included. Its kind of crazy. Crazy? Its cheap Chinese junk. What is crazy is you all trying to pass this garbage off like its the real deal. Thats like bragging to all your friends about how cheap your fake knock off Rolex was and recommending it to others as a good alternative to the real thing. Thats what is really CRAZY! You people are exactly the kind of people that cheap Chinese Knock off companies like Pansy are targeting. The Walmart shopper that wants something for nothing. Yes you will see a Pansh in my Sig. It was given to me. For FREE. It is unstable and dangerous. I will never give that kite to someone else knowing that. You do NOT give away a dog that bites. You either keep it locked up away from people or you put it down. I unfortunately love kites to much to do the latter. There is a reasons Pansh is able to sell so cheap. Reason 1. Maybe you should further research their manufacturing practices, Labor practices. BEFORE you continue to support a possible sweatshop. (How are they able to produce it so cheap? Inferior materials? Substandard Labor? Or both?) Reason 2. You get what you PAY FOR. ( You dont buy a fake Rolex expecting it to perform and last like the real thing. Those of you that have Panshs know that they are not consistent in their quality or performance yet you recommend them for a child? Now thats what I call CRAZY! I have said my peace. Im sure I have satisfactorily pissed off enough of you. You are welcome.

Hooah! I do love me a good old fashion rant with a time stamp of 3 AM (2 AM PST?). I have to say that I agree with all points made. I get the whole saving money thing, truly I do, but I get the whole supporting innovation and not supporting Chinese rip-offs much, much more.

As folks can see from my quiver list I am a big Born-Kite nut. What people may not know is that over the years I have developed a great relationship with Steffen and his wife Kerstin (the blond haired woman in many of his videos). I truly love to support the brave, little guy, and Steffen is this to the tee. I gladly support him in any way I can because of this, not to mention the fact that what he makes I truly love to fly.

Where would we be if we all just bought Chinese rip-offs in all walks of life? OK, so I ranted a little too, my apologies.

Windstruck - tensor looks cool, kept popping up on my amazon searches. I didnt realize it was convertible. Have you tried one? Is the bar useful?

Quote: Originally posted by jeffnyc

Windstruck - tensor looks cool, kept popping up on my amazon searches. I didnt realize it was convertible. Have you tried one? Is the bar useful?

The Prism 3m was my original traction kite followed by a larger Tensor. Well made and able to take a beating. When I owned these kites I had not yet started to go mobile with kites so for me these were only flown static. I would use it in bar mode sort of like a weightlifting session but really I mostly used the handles. Harder to control from the bar and not easy to reverse launch if it ends up on the ground nose down.

It is a perfectly suitable starter kite.

Jeff - I've got a 5m Tensor. I began flying it on the bar then swapped it over to handles. The handles offer more control since you have direct control of the break lines. The bar flies off 2 front lines with the breaks joined and slack going to a kite killer on your wrist. I have not converted it back to the bar in a long time(actually i have not flown it in a long time).
The convertible bar to handles is unique though.

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

Hooah! I do love me a good old fashion rant with a time stamp of 3 AM (2 AM PST?).

John and I have had several email conversations back and forth between us at 3-5am. Some of us are just awake and thinking about kites and buggies at that time of the morning...

Quote: Originally posted by eric67m

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck   Hooah! I do love me a good old fashion rant with a time stamp of 3 AM (2 AM PST?). John and I have had several email conversations back and forth between us at 3-5am. Some of us are just awake and thinking about kites and buggies at that time of the morning...

I second that emotion! I actually read it at around 3:30 AM MST. I just took my own sweet time to respond. :karate:

Cool - thanks for the feedback Windstruck + Gravityguy. I'm remembering the "convertabar" discussion from a recent thread. Wasn't really thinking of picking one up, but it seems like a fun trick. Was wondering if there was any magic that happened to make the brakes work in bar mode, now I know :D

Thanks guys for all the feed back and offers. Unfortunately my price point is a bit lower than most offers. Im going through a bit of a tough time and am trying to keep my price point to 100 to 150 dollars. I dont mind a gently used kite certainly nothing perfect just something that works. Ive looked at Pansh in the past and obviously there are mixed reviews on this company lol. At this point will prob steer clear of them.

First off i will apologize for the rant. as you can tell. I do strongly dislike Pansh and all they represent. That being said i also work from midnight to noon. So a lot of my posts are during my 3AM break.
I'd also like to add that i have flown the Tensor several times and it is a little tractor. a very versatile kite. The bar breaks down to handles to it can be flown on both, and it also has AoA adjustments in the bridling. simply a well designed product. all the ones i have flown were VERY hard pulling kites for their size. Though I'm sure this could be adjusted. But...they are usually very spendy even used.
I would recommend an HQ Alpha for a kid beginner kite especially if your not buggyin with it. i have a 1.5 that all my kids fly until they hammered it into the ground to many times in high wind and blew out two cells. i just haven't gotten around to sending it off to get fixed yet. They can take a serious beating. they are fairly cheap even new they are still on the cheap side and they are solid stable well behaved kites. i can't say enough good tings about these low cost little kites. i will say that due to their low AR they have a relatively small Window and that makes them difficult to buggy with as a beginner. another one thats cheap but a two liner is that Flexifoil Big Buzz. It's well built and is a heck of a lot of fun to fly. the Rages would be a good option as a four liner. and can usually be found on Amazon at reasonable prices. also they are excelent kites to buggy with as you progress into the sport. That's my two cents anyway.

HQ Alpha 2.5 M, $199

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alpha-2-5-4-Line-Power-Kite-by-HQ-i...

a cheap proper used kite will find you if you have time...
just gotta stalk around
tensors are ugly

Thanks. I have been very patient for several months. I missed a couple great deals on here that were exactly what I wanted so I know they are out there. I will continue to wait unless I see something online.

Morgantwin11 - this kite is for you, not your son, correct? And as I understand from your original post, you want something a little higher aspect/fun to fly and it sounds like you fly static? (though one thing we can all universally agree on here is you should get a board or a buggy - but be warned, you will very quickly have kites coming out of your ears!). I think you would be happiest with the 4 line kites, and not bother with 2 line or convertible.

Since this whole thread went pretty sideways, maybe someone can help you with a little list of what to look for. Alpha is a nice kite, but probably more docile than what you're after. Rage might be fun for you (I can't remember if I've tried one), I've seen them fairly cheap new, but you have to buy your own lines/handles (not a big deal, but factor that in). Used should be pretty reasonable if you find one. My 2.5 Bullet is a little wasp - I think you would love that, also the Beamer is beautiful (bonus, the giant zipper is awesome). These pop up here every once in a while. Sounds like you have time, so forget about the kite who shall not be named.

There are others here who could recommend a fun static kite for you to look for.

Jeffnyc you read my mind lol. The thread did he interesting but I learned a lot. Yes I do fly static maybe someday a board but definitely I want to try water kite boarding. Alphas Beamers Rages etc Im open to about a thing that is relatively fast and will pull me hard. I weigh 135 lb. I was so disappointed with the el cheapo 2.5meter kite I have. I expected it to be fast and pull hard. Sadly it lacked severely and I flew another guys 2 line that pulled crazy hard and was rediculously fast. I tried flying mine in the same wind and it barely stayed Up. Thats when I realized a real kite flys much better lol. Yah and Ohio weather sucks pretty bad right now so ive got some time.

In case you have not seen it. There is an HQ Rush 250 on flee bay right now. Starting bid is $45 I do not think I have ever flown one so can not comment. But if you are not already. It is always good to keep an eye on eBay. You can find some good deals on there sometimes.

You guys are nuts. All of the kite companies have been ripping off each other for awhile now so I see no harm in buying ANY brand of kite including pansh that has been recommended by longtime members here. I wouldn't buy a pansh depower kite or several other of their makes but the flux has always gotten solid reviews so I wouldn't hesitate buying that kite. Especially given the endorsement of an experienced kiter such as RTZ.

With that said, you can usually find a beamer or hornet used in the 150 range. Also, pkd buster soulfly is a great kite that's affordable if Bigkid is still selling them. Sorry blitz but you over paid for your viper. 300 is too much imo unless there is a hardcore viper collector out there. I know, I've bought and sold that same kite twice.

ssayre - spot on

The Pansh Flux is a solid good value kite to learn on for those on a budget.
Low cost but durable, with a good line set and handles.
I can't count how many times mine have been driven to the ground without damage,
both by myself then by friends and relatives learning the ropes.
I can't say the same for some of my name brand kites mentioned in this thread.
I've owned the 2 through 5 m Fluxes. All flew well out of the bag.
The 3 m is their sweet spot.
The 3m took me and my buggy over 40mph at Alvord. :wee:
They won't go upwind very well but nice stable first 4 line kites to learn on.
Ask someone who has actually owned and flown a Flux.
Other Pansh models are a crap shoot. Buy at your own risk.
As a rule, Pansh kites have little resale value because you
can buy a new one with shipping for such little cash.

That all being said, I'm now all about single-skin depowers
and rarely put a 4-line up unless I'm helping a friend learn to fly
a power kite.

That's more than 2 cents but all based on my experience as a newbie.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Sorry blitz but you over paid for your viper. 300 is too much imo unless there is a hardcore viper collector out there. I know, I've bought and sold that same kite twice.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Pathetic! Your Arrogance betrays you. Your attempt to defend Chinese Garbage by attacking me personally only serves to prove my point and further devalue your position.