You must get this question a lot but i want to start kite buggying, and i need to know an affordable but good set-up to get. Im 6foot 2 inches tall and am a heavy weight - 17 stone. Im in the south west UK, and wind and beaches are not a problem here!!!!! How much am i looking at, and what are the good manufacturers to go for ? I need to know everything really !

Thanks for any help - Mike

I don't know what your budget is but assuming you don't want to spend a fortune I would say it is worth shopping around for some second hand kit. I picked up a second hand 4m Flexifoil viper which was as new on ebay for £150 which I was quite pleased with. Although a little old now it is good quality and a good stable kite to start out with. Also there is a guy in Germany selling the new radsail Pro 4 and 5m kites on ebay too. I bought a 4m from him a few weeks ago for £98 including p&p and that came with lines too (although the lines are not really strong enough for serious buggying good enough to get my girlfriend started). This kite retails for £220 on any web site I have checked. Buggies do go for quite a lot on ebay though so try the classifieds on kite sites. Forces of nature for example but just use a search engine. There are some bargins out there to be had, you just have to looking.

As to what kit to get if you have never flown before or are not familier with power kites I would always suggest starting out with somthing small to get used to how they behave and where they power up etc... I started with a 2.4m kite which I found fine although you do need a reasonable wind to buggy with it. I weigh about 11 stone. Once you have got used to a smaller kite you will prob. want a bit more power and wind range. I have found that my4m seems to get the most use. It is then really a question of building up a collection of kites to maximise when you can buggy.

If you are buggying on a beach you may find wider wheels are needed if there is much soft sand. I think all buggies come with this as a optional extra but it will bump up the cost.

hope this helps.

Thanks a lot mate - that has helped a lot ! Ive just found out that one of my mates and his girlfriend also fly power kites - so i might go out with them a few times first and use there kit as a trial !

Thanks again - Mike

excellent idea. The more kites you can get your hands on the better.

Ebay as mentioned is a peferct place to pick up cheap kites...
Personally I bought a symphony as my first few.. They appear to be the cheapest but one of the best alrounders, 3.3. and 4.1 can be converted to 4 line quicker than it takes my mates gran to pick up and penny of the floor..
They pull very strong in good winds and will give you hours of pleasure/pain.