I have a p3 but want a kite that I can start scudding with I'm 5'9" 250, any suggestions?

This question comes up here at least once a week, and the consensus is usually to get an HQ Beamer III in the 3m size. It is stable and includes everything you need to safely fly the kite. It is big enough to keep you on your toes but not so big that it will hurt you in sensible winds. It is tame enough that I taught my kids to fly 4 line kites with it. Jared was 8 when I put it in his hands the first time. It has also picked me up and carried me 15 feet through the air superman style, so don't think you need a bigger kite so as not to be a wimp. You will learn faster with the 3m than you will a larger kite. Smaller kites (below 3m) tend to be very fast turning and might be hard to react to when learning. Hope this helps you out some RCP

If you've got a P3 I'd recommend something in the 4m range (beamer, etc). It will have more power than the p3 but will give you a better range. 3m Beamer will still have more pull than your P3 but will be closer to it than a 4m quad line traction kite.

When I read i thought psycho 3 and i was like ????? hahaha. Anyways, the beamer III's are amazing my friend. You can start out in low winds and take it all the way up to the higher winds where it scares you enough to land it and call it a day. They are the bomb!

Yep, can't go wrong with a 3 or 4m.

You can always move up in size once you've 'mastered' the 3/4, and for those light wind days, but it's a good sized kite to have in your quiver. I would probably venture to say, that it is probably the most used kite size in most people's quiver.

If you have light winds and want to start scudding right away, you will need a bigger kite than a 4m for your weight.

But if you get a faster intermediate level kite like a pansh 5 / HQ CF 2 (cheap / average price points) you'll put yourself at risk if you don't have respect for the wind and also until your skills catch up to 4 lines / faster kites.

Don't know california, but there's a guy close to you at www.dakitez.com who you could have a conversation with and has a variety of kites on offer.

pansh legend 4.5 would be a good cheap option, but pansh kites all require some work and fiddling to fly and are sometimes (altho kinda randomly so) really bad.

post your average windspeeds and/or your research shortlist, you'll get more focused advice.

if you have light winds, the beamer won't get you scudding for a while yet, but it will be one of the best kites in your quiver for higher winds and nobody ever sells those kites.

light winds plus impatience plus a bit of money think about the 5m beamer, but post your average wind speeds first and get another round of advice

I bought my Beamer from Dakitez ( http://www.dakitez.com). I am having a great time with it. Check out Dakitez, he's a great person to work with. He demo-ed with me, which helped me make a decision. AND he is local.

Thanks everyone !!
rcp916 when you come fly with us we will put more kites in your hands in one day than most people fly in a year. From pansh , hq , ozone , flexi , u-turn (too much for you right now) you will find something to your liking.

thanks for the responses everyone I know I should have gone with the beamer in the first place but last week I was so busy with work and preparing for my trip to the coast that all I could find last minute and in the price range I was willing to spend was the prism3. Which makes me wonder why do they call it a p3 if its not truly 3 meter? Despite the fact that its a 2.5 I still have good fun with it, it had great pull on the coast and turns really fast. I was pumped on how fast it is when the lines would whistle when I was flying it in a turn, I never flown a fun kite before just the pirate ships and cheap stuff. I guess you can say I'm hooked line and sinker and I will definatley be doing buisness with DAKITEZ.

rcp,
I have to echo what everyone else has said. take your time , get a 4m beamer it will seem like a handful for awhile. when you reach the point where you can stick it anywhere in the sky you want and keep it there ( instead of the kite flying you) you'll be able to step into something a bit bigger and high performance with confidence. going from a 3m trainer to a 5m crossfire was ha world of difference. same with 5m to 7m but the steps go quicker if you take time to start right. the great thing about kite sports is that all your kites will get used as you learn. then like golf you figure out what clubs you like best and begin thinning them out or replacing them with something better or you just keep them like so many here. i started on a p3 and still keep it around. why? because i don't have to worry if it gets broken. it's easy for anyone to fly. most of all because it's a gateway drug !!!!!

I like prisms, but only flown the snapshot 1.4 which was my first kite. if the p3 is of the same ilk, it's a good kite with a full wind window.

I wasn't aware the p3 was only 2.5 m, but doesn't surprise me, seems like a lot of manufacturers will call a 2-line by the length of the kite but a 4-line by the area, can be confusing. HQ symphony 2.7 (2-line) is a teeny bit smaller in area, though far higher aspect ratio, than my sting 1.7 (4-line) for example.

If so, then the 4m might be a better choice for you. With enough wind, it will have more than ample power! A few folks have gone for 5m, then immediately after their first flight with the 5 have gone straight out to get a 3m!

You need to think strategic, a 50-70% boost in area is the most you want in terms of stepping up in sizes for your quiver, doubling size creates a hole in your quiver, and if you continue getting into this sport you will be buying a lot more kites.

4m will be a good medium high wind kite for your weight later on. It's a stable kite rather than a racy kite, but it's better to have smaller stable kites for high winds as they will buzz about like a fruit fly on meth! For the big sizes its better to have more racy high-aspect AR kites as they will be more responsive, when yu have low winds and big kites you will appreciate this. Also low winds tend to be more stable than higher winds, seems the higher the wind speed the gustier and punchier the wind is and that's when you appreciate the stability of a kite. When the winds are low, they tend to be steadier (if you are flying on beach with onshore winds, and you mention beaches) and in those winds you have a lot less trouble with racier high AR kites, so they are good to get in the larger sizes.

keep your kitelust in control! bigger is not neccesarily better, as wind is the other ingredient to flying! high winds can turn any smaller kite into a monster! lots of folk have jumped on 2m kites, most of those jumps were unplanned and dangerous!