a while back i posted a thread asking what was a good first kite and now ive come to getting one i cant remeber what the kite was lol
im pretty sure it was a hq beamer 3m/4m
could anyone confirm thats probbably right for a first kite
i think it was the 3m one they suggested aswell ?
cheers

Yes!!

Sounds about right to me.

Quite few choices at the moment in the for sale section of this forum:

HQ beamer III 3m (good shape, recent model)

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=8145

PKD Buster II 4m (less than a year old, solid kite)

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=8146

Pansh Blaze I 3m (the fixed bridle blaze, not the depower, in other words it's one of the ones worth looking at for you, and the looks are killer)

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=8164

HQ beamer 3.6 (older kite, still in decent shape)

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=8084

Ozone little devil 3.0 (oldie but goodie, lots of buggy racers hang on to these for high wind use)

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=7935

prices vary, as well as room for dickering, and all will suit you at costs less than brand new, save your kite dollars for the next kite, you'll need it soon if the first kite gets you hooked, and if it doesn't, you'll be able to sell any of these on and get most of your money back....

let us know what the winds are in your area, as well as your weight and eventual goals, you'll get the best advice that way...

right cheers for the tips
i weigh about 8 stone, not sure how that affects it
as for winds, i live inland ( leeds ) so winds vary day to day, most days the wind is very light, but we get periods of medium - very strong winds
cheers

The beamers are great to learn on get the newest model you can. Start of in light winds I say a 4m with the inland dirty winds like here. We use the 4 to 5 M kites a lot here.

yeah 4 - 5 m is the sweet spot for light wind kites, imho, light enough so that they get up easily, the bigger kites are bit too heavy to get up and a bit too slow in the turns for the way the pilot needs to work them to keep them up in the air, but that's just flying static, those kinds of conditions there's not enough pull for scudding but you can still lean back against the kite and have some fun.

but in the heavy gusty stuff you occasionally get that size kite can spank you bad! piku's exp with his 4m ace is a case in point:

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=8191

although the beamer is a different animal than the ace...

but at 8 stone (112 pounds) you're pretty light...

here's 160 lbs and 3-4 mph winds on a 5m ace:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZhOgC992LA&feature=chann...

Any of the kites in my previous post would do you, and a couple of them are in the UK! Handles best so you can work them more easily... But in your heavier wind conditions you'll be at risk...