matzh wrote:Hello
I already got a tube kite(slingshot rpm 12m) but want to enjoy the snowy mountains close to my home. Would like to climb mountains, but also be able to do some freestyle.
Will the rpm do the job in 3-4m/s, if not would it help alot or anything at all to buy extra long lines?
How will light wind performance be on a foil the same size(12-13m)?
Enyone got some experience with the GIN eskimo(13m) foil kite in light winds?
Matz
1) maybe it will be enough depends on the snow, how well it glides, the altitude too, wind power decreases with altitude, long lines can help sure
2) a foil will give you about 1 or 2 extra square meters, but you know you could just buy a 14m tube kite
3) Never heard of the GIN
If you have exactly ONE kite and you spend time switching between water and snow, just get another RPM, but get a 14 or 15 meter.
Foils are great on the water, they are great on snow, tubes are great on water and great on snow, well then why choose one over the other?
1) foils are terrible in gusty wind. They bowtie and get tangled. Doesn't matter if on snow or water, if your wind is super gusty go with a tube
2) tubes require a pump. If you are hiking miles and miles into the back country the last thing you want is to carry a pump around you or worry about something breaking. A foil kite is great for long hikes into the back country.
Water or snow, tubes and foils do both. There's a myth that tubes = water, and foils = snow. No. Both tubes and foils work both on water and snow, so choose your next kite not with the feeling "snow" or "water" but what kinds of conditions you have, is it gusty or smooth, are you free riding or racing, then you'll know what to get next.
If you only have one kite, then get another tube kite maybe a 14 or 15 meter then your 3rd kite can be a foil kite maybe a 15 meter foil, and then your 4th kite can be 7 meter, and your fifth kite can be a 5 meter and then and then . . . .