I've come across several really good deals on this kite on the internet but have never heard of anyone who owns or flies one. Seems like an older kite no longer in production (hence the deals) and its not even on the slingshot website.

Anyone know anything about them and how good or bad they are? I'm assuming if they were great they'd be more popular. I'm just wondering if they are real bad or a good kite at a good price?

A fellow I ride with uses a 9m Ranger.

I haven't flown it. This is His second kite after starting on a 5m Blaze II so He doesn't have a lot to compare it to. He is by far the fastest progressing ATB rider that I know. After 1 year He is pulling off some nice consistant jumps ! I'm sure this is 90% talent but the kite can't be too bad :puzzled:

It is well made and appears well behaved ?

Thanks for the infor Bladerunner. Any idea what the average winds are he is flying it in (and how heavy he is)? I'm thinking the 9m is more practical than the 12 but all I read about (and there's not much to read about) speaks of the 12. I'm just trying to figure out if this is the kite I want and whether I go with a 12 or look for a 9.

B-Roc

I own a 9M Slingshot Ranger and am 155lb. I may not have much useful info for you because I am a beginner and live inland where the winds are usually never clean and come from multiple directions but this is what I can tell you:

I fly a 1.5 bullet, 2.5 rage, 4m slingshot b4, 6m slingshot b6, 5m ozone riot -

My goal is to zip across the wheat field here but most of the time the field is not in a condition to practice riding on so I fly static most of the time which I really enjoy.

Went from 1.5 to riot 5.0 and realized that was too much - got the rage 2.5 and thought that was too similar to the 1.5 - got the SS B4 and really like it for low lift and solid pull so I got the B6. Right now the B4 & B6 are the best for learning to landboard. In the right winds for me the Riot is the most fun/exciting/smooth to fly but with the gusts around here the riot can get me pretty nervous (it has lift).

I guess about a year ago, I started seeing cheap deals on the SS ranger and thought that maybe a depower kite would help with the gusts and make it easier to learn landboarding. I think I got my 9M for $599.

I have flown it about 10 times and can't compare it to any other depower because this is the only one I have flown.

1st time - about 8-12mph with an occasional 15mph gust. This was my first depower try and the kite looked pretty big (I guess your biggest one always does). It launched nicely and it wasn't long before it seemed like I had pretty good control. The wing-tips turned in a little sometimes. I ended up pulling the trim strap in a little and flying it unhooked and it felt a little similar to the riot in these winds (somewhat lifty).

The next time I took it out in higher winds 15-20 with a 25 gust. I could keep the kite at the zenith fully depowered ok. If I pullled the bar in I could get lift without doing anything. If a gust blew from the side or I flew it incorrectly (like early riot days) it would bow-tie or just become a big floppy mess and drop. I didn't have any trouble reverse launching.


if you type slingshot ranger on youtube there are 2 videos - one on snow and one with a landboard but you can't see the kite. You do get to see the bag it comes in when the dude skates away at the end.


Jason

Thanks Jason.

I own both the 9 and 12m Rangers. I've flown/owned several other depower foils and I can say they are really in a class of thier own. I picked them up to fill the foil gaps we have.

Let me start by saying that they flew like junk right out of the bag. The trim made the kite fortune cookie and it turned like a dog. Especially if you tried to trim it. The overall sense I got flying it in the beginning is that Slingshot wanted to get into the snowkite market and rushed the Ranger to production before really working all the issues out of it.

The bar with the stopper ball works great but to get it to fly well you had to pull the bar way in with just a few inches to sheet with. Really impractical. If there was a lot of (steady)wind this wasn't as bad. We live in the mountains so steady winds are pretty rare.

However, after some expirementing we found that just by maxing out the pigtails on the kite and adding 13cm extensions to the center line leaders the things really sorted out. The trim works WAY better, no tip curl, good depower. Turn rate is way better and the sheeting action is on par with my Frenzies, Sabre 2, And Peter Lynns. It actually flies like I would hope that it should.

If asked what it flies similar to I would say it's very similar in handling to the Flexi Sabre 1 with more lift and less tip curl.

One thing about these kites that always blows me away is the amount of raw power they produce. They aren't fast kites. The more wind you get the more grunt but not much excelleration. A Frenzy or Sabre or Montana or FLysurfer all seem to go faster across the window and pull you faster as a result. The Ranger maxes out and just starts yarding you off your edge.

At least that's been my expirience.

The other thing about the Ranger is the lift. They have amazing lift. And its smooth lift with really good glide. They are probably pound for pound the liftiest kites I own.

The down side of all the lift is if you get in trouble you can't safely put the kite overhead to get to the edge of the window because she will just pick you up. This also translates to pulling you sideways at the edge of the window. In high winds they become almost too much to handle. Even with my fat 210# backside.

But if you like to jump or need some extra pull in the deep stuff the Ranger kicks. In 20mph the 12m will throw you 20 feet up with hardly any effort at all.

The kite is super stable and sucks up gusts really well.

I throw my Rangers up when I'm in too much of a hurry to air up my Peter Lynns. The build quality is rock solid.

My only gripe at this point is the safety system. The chicken loop release is great but the leash system is years behind everyone else. If you spin the bar much it wraps the leash around everything and can even hamper the depower if you use the chicken loop release. The bar is 5th line compatible and I'm working on a 5th line system for it. My Sabre 2's 5th works awesome and I would like to have that same piece of mind for the Ranger.

I guess the bottom line is they are nice kites with a little work. Especially for the money. The bar is nice. Build quality is top rate. Tons of power and lift. Handles well and turns as well as anything out there in the same sizes. The Safety sucks.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Feyd, that helps a lot. When you say maxing out the leaders to you mean making them their longest or shortest and could you not have added a knot to the brake / rear leaders to shorten them by 13cm instead of adding 13cm to the powers. Would that not have the same affect? Just trying to figure out what I'll do if I get one.