Hi,

I am thinking about getting a d-power kite. I am looking into Access 2, Montana 2 and Air Evo. From those who have flown all three kites, what are the strengths and weaknesses of these kites. Which one of them is an all around great kite (primarily for snowkiting and landboarding). Also, which one has more wind range and the ideal size. Thanks.

I am looking to be in the market for one of these also. I am curious what others have to say. Keep in mind the Montana 3 is coming out somtime within the next 6mo's or so.

I wouldn't mind hearing about other options as well. Slingshot ranger, Flexi Sabre, and I know the ozone frenzy is way up there on many fliers lists.

Cant speak on the Ozone Access although people I know who have them rave on stability but little lift. The Montana 2 is nice (Ive flown the 7m) but this would not be the best choice as your first depower kite. She can be a little unstable and collapse if you over cook it near the edge of the window. Some tip tuck as well, again you need to spend time with the M2. Once you learn to fly it, its a nice sail. I was fortunate to fly the 7m M3 and it was awesome. Cant go into detail but it is much more stable than the M2 and the pop and lift on the 7m M3 is equal to that of the 9.5m M2. The Air Evo is a whole different animal. Great upwind, and very stable. The mylar flaps make it a fast turner and create alot of lift. The mesh covered inlets are very durable and help keep out debris and snow. The Air Evo was designed as a snow kite but performs awesome on land/sand. The 8m Evo for example has the grunt, pop, and lift of a conventional 10m sail. Porcher marine ripstop is pure quality. The bridle is simple yet effective. There are only two pulleys in the entire depower system. Carbon bar and lines, again pure quality. The rear lines have 2 sets of knots. One for hooked in the other unhooked. The unhooked knots ensure tension on the rear lines so turning does not suffer while riding unhooked. Safety systems are effective and easy to deploy/rerig. Of the 3 foils listed, Ive owned the Evo and flown the M2/M3, but the Evo wins hands down, the M3 a solid second place. Flexi Sabre, way overpriced and the M2 easily outperforms it! The M3 will totally dominate the Sabre. I see HQ moving into a strong second spot behind the Ozone Frenzy/Manta. Flexi needs to get back to the depower drawing board. Id go with the Air Evo. Quality, durability, and performance are awesome. The 10m is good from 10 to 25 mph landboarding. Hope this helps--good hunting!

Depending on what you like to do with the de-power kite, you might want to look into the HQ Apex also. Since you mentioned Access 2, it seems like backcountry riding/cruising is one of your goals. If you are not up for freestyle flying, the Apex is a much better choice. Very vey stable, not too fast and very beginner friendly. You can still jump with it but it is not meant to be a freestyle kiter. Plus the price tag is much lower than any of the above.
Ideal size really depends on where you ride and what weight you are.

Cheers
Tim

I can back that up; the Apex is a real bargain and a great, easy kite to fly. Great relaxed cruising kite for the 'bug.

Tim, where's my Montana 3?

I have montana 2 7m. Very responsive kite, turns very quickly, produces gread deal of power when powered up. Lifty and floaty beast. The depower range is really good, and whenever you pull in the bar you feel power grasping in. On other side, it doesn't like big gusts. It handles small ones good but if the big one hits, the kite just folds and falls down. Bowties very often. You need to keep it moving all the time at zenith, otherwise it luffs. Comparing to Flysurfer Psycho 2, 10 m (the only thing I can compare too), with montana you feel that you are in control of the kite, but Psycho 2 is incredibly stable, park and ride kite.
All in all for 700$ I think Montana is a great kite, but it will take time to learn how to fly it good.

nobody mentioned Peter Lynn or Flysurfer yet.... so of course here i am to fill in the blanks with the usual.

all the mentioned brands lift and power are great.

PL and FS have the best depower out there and broadest range.

PL good for gusty inland wind.

FS is tunable and very durable, and best safety.

it seems like i've posted this a thousand times... i think i'll take a break for the winter and re-post with 2008 standards.

the problem is when new kiters look at depower kites, is they try to get something not costly. The access is accessible, ans so is the apex or montana, compared to a frenzy, manta, air evo, or flysurfer.

The best kite I could recommend to someone beg/int is a Flysurfer Pulse, but I started with an access which is good too, but doesn't have the safety and depower as FS.

Now I know, and i would not hesitate to invest the money, but someone new to the sport may hesitate to spend soo much. Only my wife will stop me.

I firmely believe in "you get what you pay for" in kite world. - Brian

Quote:

Originally posted by leebrianh I firmely believe in "you get what you pay for" in kite world. - Brian

I agree and yet tend to disagree a slight bit with that. Ozone and Flexi seem to be some of the most popular and expensive kites out on the market. Both of which are bullet proof kites and ozone does tend to out perform quite a lot of kites out on the market in both safety and flight style. Can't say I've flown an Ozone kite that I've been disappointed with. And of course when you start adding function the price goes higher...for instance the flysurfers.

I don't think that HQ has a lower price range because of the kites performance nor construction. While Flexi and Ozone seem to start the trends in kiting, HQ appears to take a bit of a backseat approach in releasing what they believe to be the current trend and to see how trends are forming and which direction they tend to go before pushing a product out the door.

Futhermore, HQ seems to still be relatively new to the kiting industry and by keeping the prices "affordable" they're still able to construct solid kites that are able to compete with the big names that have been in the business for longer. In some instances it seems like HQ lacked to keep up with the competition as mentioned earlier with current trends, but think they're getting the gist of what is wanted by consumers, and how to make a product that is both safer and easier to fly. Every manufacturer out there keeps making spin offs of prior kites they've made to enhance the performance, fix prior issues, flight, safety, etc. It's an ever changing industry with lots of trends (not to mention those trends vary greatly from location to location too). What is sold and considered an excellent kite here in the states isn't always valued the same in other countries. That as well seems to be an on-going trend.

Back to the topic... just my opinion, just because a kite is depower, they all don't fall into the same category. Just as there are with static kites, there are kites with lift, with power, etc. Some excel at others moreso then others. So comparing an Access to a Frenzy, or an Access to a Montana is like comparing apples to oranges. If you want to go depower, that's great...but you still have to decide what you're looking for in a depower kite other then just depower itself. Lift, power, speed, maneuverability, etc. Then you can start comparing apples to apples...

just my .02
~Joe (the rare poster anymore)

Nicely said, Joe. Good to hear from you.

I'm completely with Brian, Buzz and Powerzone

Although you still get decent kites from fellas like HQ they are no match for the higher end of the budget (FLYSURFER!!! ) Not to say that they're bad, they just aren't AS good... but will be fine to get you going... but still... people complain about prices, but kites are generally expensive, some are just a few hundred dollars more and are ALWAYS worth it for numrous reasons!

However, middle of the road is peter lynn which are the easiest kites in the world to fly and you get them real cheap.

I didn't know flysurfer played much in the opencell side of things. Has anyone flown the Flysurfer 2COOL? I understand it is not going to be a Pulse but how would it compare to the Access 2 or Montana 2? Good lift and float?

Just me 2p or 2$
I'm new to the hole power kite thing!
I have an Ozone 3M kite and the build quality is just amazing, from the nice handles and the sail it self, i mean its four years old now and i've just bouhgt it and there not ONE bit of stiching that has come loose!
i WILL be buying another OZONE kite when i have the money and the Access model is top of my list!!

The Flysurfer 2cool (which is cheap) is not comparable to other flysurfer.

I've tried once the cool 4m (1st version) in 25-30knots on ski, and I was so much disapointed.

It does not have the stability of my pulse.

The depower is the worst I'v seen on a depower kite. I beleive it has no pulley on the bridle. The bar can only move less than 1 foot.

And the 1st version didnt have the 5th line safety. I had to use the safety when I got on ice, and I was not able to depower completely the kite.

I think the 2cool now has the 5th line (FDS)

So an Ozone Access 4m is a better product, especially the Access2 which has the trimmer

Thanks Buzz, I'll stay away from the COOL. I did find it odd they didn't have pulleys on their "depower".

this kite has no pulley because it can be switch to handles, this was read from 2cool desciption on www.flysurfer.com:

With the 4-line system on the 2COOL, changing to handles is simple and still allows the rider to take full advantage of the kites depower ability.

Ashe,

Have you flown the Evo yet? If so, how did it go?

Just curious if anyone knows when the Ozone Manta II comes out. I'm really considering this kite if I can get it in time for winter.

Quote:

Originally posted by Baluk Just curious if anyone knows when the Ozone Manta II comes out. I'm really considering this kite if I can get it in time for winter.

Ask DaV, hes an Ozone dealer.:puzzled:

I've heard they will be in Canada this week!

Just came back from a landboard session in 15-25 knots with gusts. I started with with my Pulse 7m, and decide to switch to my access 4m which I had not used for months.

Know I know why Flysurfer cost a lot more.

The Pulse takes gusts much better
The Pulse is more stable
The Pulse does not deflate when wind lack
The Pulse goes much far at the edge of the window

The Pulse stay inflated all time so it doesn't get crossed, the tips don't tangle with the bridles, etc.

And the best with the same wind range, pull the brake lines and I had to lay down the access at the edge

With the pulse, I could lay it down in the powerzone so the Pulse depower is much better.

So the Flysrufer cost $$$ is all worth it

The new Ozones will be available next week here in the US.

However, it may be slim pickings at first (pre-orders). I'm looking forward to trying out a Manta II also

Buzz – I know what you mean about the Pulse. I felt very comfortable with my 7m Pulse in big winds – very stable, and the amount of depower is really impressive.

Here is an Ozone Access 2 video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBtcB3HBLi4&mode=related&...

Nice vid Lee. The Access flew impressive! What were the winds?

Quote:

Originally posted by tridude Nice vid Lee. The Access flew impressive! What were the winds?

Ohh its not me in the video! i wish this is a kite i'm saving up for! a 6m Access 2:singing:

But here is another video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o45Aj2f1-PU

and thats the colour i want too