Dont know much about Power kites myself here,(But Im learning) as my kite bag is just beginning to be filled, But im wondering a few things myself as far as lift & such, to start with I've only had my Rush II 250 in the air maybe 4-5 times & just the other day, in some gusting winds of maybe 15-20 mph... Not many stronger winds here lately...

1st question is this, at 200lbs & darn near 50 yrs. How does 1 go about getting over the "mind set" that the kite wont break or rip apart, when up until now all I ever flew were the little diamond kiddie stick kites that I grew up with, which BTW, I got a big 4' tall one up in the air (well it was big to me at about 10yrs old) got it up in the air at least 1000' feet & it took forever (like 45min.) just to drag it down... How does one handle the Wind & Kite at 25-30 mph with 100' of 300lb spectra line, on the kite using handles & not worry about it tearing apart in the sky??? I may not become airborn, NP, But sliding around could be cool at the beach or on the grass... Any Ideas???

Each time you fly you will get a little more confidence in both yourself and the kite[s]. The only time a kite should "explode" is if you crash it hard into the ground leading edge first. This causes too much pressure in the cells and blows them apart.
look at your kite, is it that crappy shiny garbage bag material of yesteryears [is that a word?!] kites? No, it is high quality nylon or some other engineered material that is made to take high PSI.
If anything is going to break during normal sessions it is the lines. These too rarely happen but it is usually caused by old lines or damaged ones.
Go to www.youtube.com and type in kite. Watch some of these videos and see how much stress is put on the kites.

Who has the 'Tophat' video link? Can you post it? If that does not change his mind about the strength of kites I do not know what will! It will also show how to respect the winds.
Put it this way...if I ever go to fly and see some hairy dude in a tophat who looks like he is straight out of Willy Wonka land at the beach I will be running back to my car so I can go hide under my bed!!

here's the vid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RuE5t1-H9k

Don't worry, fly the snot out of them.

I've been using the same set of kites to teach people every weekend for well over a year now, they've been beaten into the ground countless times, wrapped around signs, dragged over countless buggies/boards. To date, not one failure. I've replaced some of them simply because they've been outdated by a new design. Still great kites but I need to keep up with the new models.

A bad kite will always fly poorly, a good kite will always be a gem. I know guys that still love their 8yr old blades to bits.

Here is a link to a page I started adding good websites for getting started to : http://www.skypilotkiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47...

The link to kiteschool.org is a good place to start.

There will be a bunch of buggy nuts getting together at Seaside next weekend, myself included, may be worth the drive to come over and say hi, try some stuff out. It's an awesome beach, 5mi long, lots of room to cruise.