i'm thinking of buying a new kite after easter when i get my next loan, but i'm unsure whether to go for a blade 1 or 2 2nd hand or get a 8.5 firebee for a similar price??

i want it for jumping and boarding.... something with really good hang time would suit me well... i am thinking more in terms of the blade II 6.4 ish...

any comments would be appreciated.

cheers

rob

hey rob, i think u will find the firebee is alot cheaper than flexi blade, problem is they are so unstable, well at least i found that, i had a firebee 6.5 and ended up getting a blade III 8.5, they are so much smoother,
a friend has a blade II 9 metre and bi eck its a daddy, they are great for boarding, coz even in lower winds, they still give u great power, as for jumping, oooh yeah i love it, they drop u ever so smoothly as well. i had to many bad falls from my firebees, dont get me wrong they are are nice kite, but when they are unstable, they just drop u on ur ass.....ouch

Blade 1 or II 6.4 is a good choice, i want one!, great all rounder for boading, however when its blowing 20mph or more can be a bit too much if u get me...

zel

yep the only thing putting me off the blade is the price, but i'm looking at one now second hand blade 2 6.4 for £250 - wish i'd got the cash at the minute it'll probably be a gonna come easter...

the only thing is with a kite that big i'd want to use a harness with it, can this still be done with the handles cos i dont like the idea of a bar... i like as much control movement as possible!

cheers

rob

yeah fully blades dont come cheap, however i wish i had bpaught the blades in the first place, ibought a firebee 2m first, then a 6.5, thing is, i ended up getting a blade III 4.9, and after flying that i never wanted to touch the fire bees again, i wasted so much money getting hold of the bees when i could have just saved a little and got the kites i wanted., Now i have a Blade III 8.5, A Blade III 4.9 and A Bullet 3.5 and a bullet 1.5, thats all i ever need for flying these days. It took me ages to get to that stage tho. what kites do u fly at the moment?

Right the Harness, u eva tried one?
if u havnt u will be astonished at how easy it makes flying kites :>
No u dont need to use a bar with a harness, u attach a strop to ur handles (line so that u can let go of the handles and still be attached to ur harness, can be unhooked dead easy). i dont really like the bar too much either, i always use handles, however i have one there just incase i change my mind.

have u ever tried to fly a big kite, it takes so much energy, with the harness the strength of the kite is distributed all over ur body so u can steer it more easily, i found that i had trouble trying to keep hold of the kite in strong winds coz of the amount of power ur holding, now i can play with the kite allll day and dont get achy arms, only an achy kneck instead ! lol

hi

i'm flying a 5m peel at the minute, on a harness, on a mountain board, just looking for getting some decent air now rather than just 5-8 ft also fly 5m Nasa Wings, 8.5m C-Quad (on a bar) and a 4.9 Blade II on occasions... (only the peel's mine amongst a few smaller two liners) oh and a brief go on a blade 1 4.9 (cheers al) the other day

you're prob thinking there's a few four line kites in there well yep but never flown quad handles on a harness before, and only used my peel and c-quad on a harness... so yep i can fly kites (and big ones too :p) just wondered if quad handles could be done on a harness? where would you attach the strop too? never seen quad handles on a harness thats all!

sorry if you got the wrong end of the stick, i should of made myself clearer!

Rob...you just attach a piece of rope / harness lines / strop to the top of the handles (near the front lines)... If theres suitable wind this weekend I'll set my Blade up with a harness line if you like and you can have a go on that.

Al.

ahhh nice one!! thanks both!

wondered if it could be done - why didn't i think of that?!?

substantial lack of wind in borth/ynyslas this evening i see! found out the hard way - 7mph supposedly. not even a tinge of a breeze. still it was a nice drive i suppose!

i'll be around sunday probably al, weather dependant of course. going back home friday saturday though for flying now the snows gone


cheers

rob

Wind Guru are forecasting NW's 13-15 knots for Sunday so we could be in for a kitesurfing session..

Al.

cool! looks like in that kinda wind a session on the mountainboard could be in order. yesterday was too gusty and occasionally overpowering, and there was me hoping to do some speed runs too!! whats happened to the westerly's lately?!?

any idea what time you're thinking of getting down there?

anybody else comin out to play sunday?!

Most likely as yesterday's session was rather frustating. Should be out during the morning if the forcast holds and if the surf is like yesterday will possibly be in the mouth of the estuary for some flatter water

I wonder if Al is going to be out ... the two minute drive to check if there is wind must be so difficult

yeah i know, it's a hard life eh

i wont be around til 12ish cos i'm going home for the weekend. actually it takes me 2.5hrs to get back so i'll only be around for 12 if i make the extra effort to get myself outta bed! the forecasts looking good though so there's an incentive

I'll be around Miguel.... No work on at all this weekend I don't think, but the wind is looking pretty marginal... Force 3-4, although NW's are a good direction so we might be able to get out kiting... You have a monster kite anyway don't you??

I'm hopefully about to buy an 18.1m F-One Mach-1, so soon might be able to get out in around 10 knots!

Al.

For a good cheap and power full option, the 6 meter "rad sail pro" is a sweet kite. Heaps of power and great for jumping. I think it is about £300 brand new, maybe less. Another gorgous bigger foil is the wind wing, sky foil, they do a 6.6 and a 7.7. Theyre cheaper than blades slightly and can be flown 2 or 4 line. Designed especially for snow or mountain boarding. check out www.windwing.com

Get in touch if you need more info on them, as I have one.

Shem.... Whats the matter??? Lost for words!!

hehehe

aghhhhh the choice is too much for me!!!

i'm now VERY tempted by a Mac Bego 600 - apparently unequalled as towards lift in light winds when compared to blades... and of course i have my peel for the higher winds too, it lifts well when its blowing

i just cant decide now! the bego is only £325 too. not a bad price and its also made by paraglider manufacturers so i'm guessing it'll be up to the same quality as ozone (who also make paragliders) and of course flexifoil...

i think i need to get a job!

thanks for the info!

rob

Hi Rob,

What windspeed is the 5m Peel usable in?

The Bego is the king of light wind kites with shed loads of lift, I have one on my shopping list for summer.

The Blade II 6.4 is a really nice boarding and buggying kite, quite slow through the air and slow turning but heaps of power. Its replacement the Blade III 6.6 isn't a great low wind kite, it likes at least 5-8 mph before it even starts flying properly so avoid that as a low wind kite.

Also discount the big firebees, they are made from heavy material and can be a bit of a pain to fly unless really well set up.

I'd say go for a Bego 600, Blade II 6.4 or if you are looking to spend less pennies have you thought about a big Nasa Wing? See you've flown a 5m, the 7.6 or 12m NPW9 may be an alternative and as they are single skin fly in very little wind. Personally I don't like them and they don't go upwind as well as a foil, but may be an option?