When I read that a design is a widowmaker design or a kite is a widow maker, or jumping with a 3m kite is a 'widowmaker" what are we talking about. Obviously it has an increased risk or danger but in what specific way? Or is it specific at all? Is it specific to jumping?

i might be wrong,but i think its meant to describe something along the lines of the flexifoil blade series which are very lifty,powerful kites and can be very dangerous in gusty /choppy winds i think alot of people have been hurt pretty bad underestimating these kites--ive got 2 of them and let me tell you,they WILL snatch you up FAST (like a fraction of a second), so they are only for clean winds IMHO....hope that helps:singing:

A kite powerful enough to lift you, but not big or lofty enough to necessarily let you down gently.

I thought "The Widowmaker" was the flexifoil blade 1 4.9 I think. Lots of lift not so much loft. A friend shattered his knee with one on ice.

I was using the term recently to refer to smaller faster race kites like a 1.8 century or a small high-lift kite like an ace 2 or a crossfire 3.2 -- when flown well powered up in bumpy gusts they're almost too fast to keep up with, especially when trying to jump on them flying static -- I don't buggy but I imagine once you're up to speed in 25-30 mph of wind with a small kite you don't need to fly it so aggressively to get results:puzzled:....

Anyways, they're fast and scary when powered up enough to get air, and when flying in gusty high winds (ever notice how the stronger the wind is, the gustier it tends to be?) you have to deal with the wind delivering power in proportion to the cube of its speed. 25-35 mph gusts? BIG difference in power.

So they can catch you out faster than your reflexes can react, with potentially quite lethal force.

Newbies tend to get hurt by flying kites too large for their skill, experts tend to get hurt by pushing their skills and reflexes with the smaller kites in fast bumpy winds.

I would reckon the 4m blade would be a widow maker in this sense of being too fast to control at times, but not the rest of the series, though that's all (as the above) imho...:P

But I came into kiting well after the blade I 4.9, tho I've flown beside one.... light winds, tho... lift without loft definitely sounds like widowmaker material!

so i guess a widowmaker would be a kite with potentially lethal flying qualities in some winds... Not the big kites which will take out anybody who flies them in a hurricane, but the smaller ones that are often gentle #@%$#!cats in lighter winds.

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Originally posted by furbowski so i guess a widowmaker would be a kite with potentially lethal flying qualities in some winds... Not the big kites which will take out anybody who flies them in a hurricane, but the smaller ones that are often gentle #@%$#!cats in lighter winds.

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I thought "The Widowmaker" was the flexifoil blade 1 4.9 I think. Lots of lift not so much loft. A friend shattered his knee with one on ice.

succinct, classic definitions, IMO

In certain predictable conditions, I have handed my Blade 4.9 to people who have never seen a kite before, but in other conditions it can be a violent, angry beast.

I think that when you go big, like with the 6.5 or 8m, you always take a sober stock of conditions and temper your flying, but otherwise there is that mentality, "well it's just a 4.9..."

Every time I've been spanked and hurt, it's been with a 5m or smaller.

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Originally posted by acampbell Every time I've been spanked and hurt, it's been with a 5m or smaller.

Ditto that. My 2.5s have spanked me harder than any of the kites in my quiver. Generally speaking you are flying smaller kites in higher winds and higer winds are usually not as predictable or constant as those smooth winds in the 12-15mph range.

I'll take a bigger kite in smaller winds over a smaller kite in big winds any day.

yep,
not really paying enough attention because "it's just a small kite" frame of mind. never got hurt but almost got sucked out with 1.8 Century in, not too terribly, high winds. was very surprised as i was riding for quite awhile with it that day. lulled into over-confidence i guess. if i had been on a bigger kite i'd not have let my gaurd down.

Blade 3 4.9 was/is called the widowmaker...........powerful, snatchy, lofty, gtunty, fast, with immense lift but what a rush...................................

widowmaker=anything that will make your wife a widow.

speleopower thanks for the cryptic definition. I wasn't exactly sure what I was asking for but it was someething a little more. I can see that the responses range from something as broad as

"widowmaker=anything that will make your wife a widow."

to a very specific response like

"Blade 3 4.9 was/is called the widowmaker"

I guess the definition is a very personal one? I dunno.. that's what I was trying to figure out. In hindsight, I guess my question is/was, "Does the term widowmaker, with regard to power kiting, define anything specific or is it just anything that can kill ya?"

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Originally posted by DonaldLL I can see that the responses range from something as broad as "widowmaker=anything that will make your wife a widow." to a very specific response like "Blade 3 4.9 was/is called the widowmaker" I guess the definition is a very personal one? I dunno.. that's what I was trying to figure out. In hindsight, I guess my question is/was, "Does the term widowmaker, with regard to power kiting, define anything specific or is it just anything that can kill ya?"

Yes, that is correct. You won't tie this one down any tighter than this. It means both things and everything in between.

the widow maker tag probably increased sales on the Blade 3 4.9 but yes any kite than can kick your a**.................

When youre ready and if you can find one its a rush to fly. The 4.9 mark II and Mac Para Bego 400 are very close on performance with a bit of tuning..................

The 4.9 will lift you straight off your feet with the kite at zenith, lickity split - no time to react. Is a fun jumper, but that odd gust will launch you much further than you would care to.

"anything that will make your wife a widow" that sums it up. makes a nice marketing tag.

interesting to hear the responses.... the smaller ones have bitten many, it seems.

seems there is a line between flying the widowmakers in conditions that seem ok and just plain doing a personal darwin award attempt by taking some 10m beast to a parking lot in nuking winds to see if there's any jumps out there....

so kites with the potential to be unpredictable and snatch you out faster than you would believe -- that's part of it as well.

anyways, we're not writing the oxford english kiting dictionary here, but an interesting thread, thanks for bringing it up, donaldLL...

actually...the term widowmaker was conned for the blade2 4.9...at least in england...

hmmm....

I think the term is a bit older than powerkites, actually. I know in logging, in terms of being a faller cutting down the trees, widowmakers are dead branches high up in the tree that are almost ready to fall off. When a tree gets cut, it shivers a bit as it begins to lose balance, and that is sometimes enough to drop a couple "widow-makers" down on the faller.

And so it's an unpredictable danger that can strike quickly, but often it's not a concern due to condition / health of the tree... same with gusty strong wind and the smaller kites 5m and down...

hahahah..yes...i know the term was before that but in terms of kites...the original widowmaker was the blade2 4.9....

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Originally posted by jaymzmn hahahah..yes...i know the term was before that but in terms of kites...the original widowmaker was the blade2 4.9....

hahahah..yes...well if you insist: the blade2 4.9 is the original kite to bear the name!

(that true? or is there another widowaker back there behind the blade in the hazy memories of grand pubahs?)

makes me wanna go fly one, never have....

the first blades were relatively unstable but the blade really took the spotlight with the blade2 4.9 which was pretty much a totally different kite to the first model, however, was somewhat unpredictable as if you took you're eye off it and it raced across the top of the window...well...you know the rest.

just on a different note - a dude is trying to sell his "classic" blade 1 4.9 for 200 pounds rtf on racekites....just because he claims its a classic kite...

was reading about the blade v on flexi site, they said one of the improvements was "more lift"... cant wait to get my hands on one!

now..seriously...doesnt the blade v 4.9 look really fat/low-aspect?

and they could've chosen some nicer colours right!?!

I think that the definition of Widow Maker for kites should be as follows:

Widow Maker: Any kite that - under moderate wind conditions - makes you feel like you are in control as much as if your genitalia had been tied to the back of a car driving around a racing circuit.

My new Blade IV 6.5 feels like that and so does my Sting 2 3.3 in 35+MPH winds... but I guess it's all about how you perceive danger isn't it really!

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Originally posted by dylanj423 was reading about the blade v on flexi site, they said one of the improvements was "more lift"... cant wait to get my hands on one!

MORE LIFT???!!! hmmmmmm......interesting..........:wee:

The Blade series got its name as the widow maker from years ago, it carried on from their, it has nothing to do with a particular size or model, although it would have picked up its name with the earlier version and has stuck ever since. The Blade IV's are still affectionately known as the widowmaker, the V will be no different.

My take on this is generally people who buy a Flexi Blade, are either static jumping, horsing around or freestyling, its a very popular kite, the law of averages would be high for every 10 accidents, how many of them were on the Blade, hence it got its name.

Since the topic got split in regards to the BV, personally I think the B4 looks much more agressive, will have to see how it performs with the Flexi crew in the UK.

Luke S.

I first heard the term during a hurricane and the tree branches were cracking and falling. My Dad told me to becareful and not walk under the trees after the storm because the branches high up in the tree are widowmakers. The term probably originated with something to do with trees and logging like was mentioned earlier.

I think the Quadrifoil Competition X kites were out before the Blade kites. If so the Competition X kites flew alot better and had more power/lift than the Blades I flew at the time back in the 90's.

Scott

Blade 2.....I stand corrected even thought Ive owned a B2 4.9 and currently have a mint B2 4.0. For me I feel the 3 series is much more aggressive.....................
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