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Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:17 pm
by ac17
Hi guys,
Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere, but I am wondering about basic gear selection / wind speed...

Harness: Does it make it easier to do airstyle tricks with a waste or a seat harness?

Kite: Is bigger, better? (Or are other factors important, like turning speed etc). How small of a kite can you pull of big hang time airstyle tricks?

Wind speed: Are you going for the biggest kite you can keep an edge on, given the wind speed?

I'm 66kg.

Cheers.

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:27 am
by ac17
Cmon guys! 49 views and not 1 reply!

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:19 am
by Toby
No worries, here we go ;-)

Harness:
A waist is better for boardoffs, a seat for deadman like tricks.
With a seat you can hold more power in the kite.

Kite:
The bigger, the better!
You need power in the kite to fly!
And it should be slow turning!
You will see that the faster the kite the less tricks you will land.
If you want to do big air, then stronger winds and small kites work.
Airstyle, with more tricks, will be more glide and kite control over height and non forgiving mistakes ;-)

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:20 am
by Toby
Get this DVD (now available) and you will know what I mean:

www.airstyle.tv. :thumb:

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:41 am
by ac17
Cool, thanks - I am thinking of getting an Ozone Zephyr (2013). That should do it for a 'big' kite, right?

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:02 pm
by Imba
Quite hard to say (for me really).

Toby rides only on 18m :-| (Weight....mmm.. 90kg?)

And i have still didnt get "how". Because for me 14m kite on 25knots (gust) is already a real struggle.
(I weight 85).


But for you... with your 65kg, i guess kitelimit lay somewhere on the edge of 12m kite....

But yeah, i would like to wish the new topic about "de-powering" modes....
because Powered 12m and de-powered 12m is a different thing.
Modified de-powers is the third story...

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:44 pm
by Toby
ac17 wrote:Cool, thanks - I am thinking of getting an Ozone Zephyr (2013). That should do it for a 'big' kite, right?
which size?

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:45 pm
by Toby
important is to have a really long depower way...this will give you more range

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 12:26 am
by ac17
The zephyr is a 17m light wind kite.
I guess wind speed will be the determining factor.
It's winter where I am right now and most of the time 5-15 knots (but you can get 30+ days, which for my weight generally means a 7).

Re: Gear Selection / Wind Speed etc

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 1:27 am
by edt
Can you talk to the weather and get some better wind? 5-15 is too low you get no air, but 30+ is too high, you'll be on such a small kite that you rocket up and then down