i've been playing about with a 3.6 hq beamer for a while now, and fancy getting something a bit bigger with more lift for a bit of jumping about on the sand.

is it better to get a used kitesurf kite (about 9 - 10m, seen a few cheap recently) which gives me the option of heading into the water at some stage or stick with land based jobs?

Jumping about on land when attached to power kites is not really a recommended past time. It hurts when you get it wrong (And you will!!)

If land based is what you're after, stay away from LEI's(Leading Edge Inflatables). They maintain their shape and therefore can be difficult to depower. Foil kites are much safer as they collapse more easily and therefore tend not to drag you into hard obstacles.

If you fancy getting into the water side of things, get lessons first. You'll learn so much which may well help you avoid any nasty incidents in the future.

using a kitesurf kite for land based activities is asking for trouble really - stick to the foils until you are definitely heading onto the water. otherwise you'll end up either injuring yourself badly or a hefty repair bill when you wrap your inflatable around a tree and burst bladders! (which hurts just as much as being dragged down the beach by your kite - i should know after just trashing my 13m!!)

a big kite will punish you hard when you inadvertently bring it down into the power. a foil around the 5m mark will suit you well for a pretty reasonable wind range, especially when used with a harness, perhaps something along the lines of a buster would be a good starting point. or if on a budget get a peter lynn peel 5m, two lines but so user friendly, they're also very cheap to buy now. i have one and i fly it between 5-30kts, though anything above 20kts would be silly if you're still learning.

hope that helps!

rob

You should consider a depowerable foil. Ive used just one kite for all my land kiting in the last year and its a 12 meter peter lynn phantom. Obviously I cant comment on your experience or weight but for me it has a wind range of 5-25 knots in a buggy, meaning its the only kite I need. It saves on owning 3 different sized open cell foils as well. Try and demo fly a few kites before you spend your money.

Have fun.