Slowest 6 or 7m kite for freeride?

[Flyingseb]

Once you are used to it they are much more fun than a large kite imho

very useful points in this sentence:
- « once you are used to it »: that’s the big deal! But how to become experienced, with a kite that you’re using every once in a while, if in my case strong wind days are less than 10 days a year? Even 2 strong wind consecutive days are rare.
- « there are much more fun than a large kite imho »: yes, in your opinion. A small kite that you are not experienced with, that you have to keep an eye to very often because it’s always ahead of what you would like it to be, that lift you out of the water in no time, but let you go down in no time too. A small kite that you have to move continuously to extract some power, unless it’s cranking, where is the fun?

Same as the PO, what I would like is a small kite that does act the closest as possible as my bigger kite, to feel confident in the few strong wind days, not getting that mosquito feeling, because being used to it is not always an option.

[Windigo1]

I have many 7m and I also value stability and hangtime over speed in high wind kites. The wind is very gusty where I live and when I ride a 7m (other than on a foil) it can gusting over 40 knots and it's almost always stormy weather. I have 2 7m now a Boxer for foiling and an Ocean Rodeo Prodigy. Every time I take this kite out I'm amazed how stable and forgiving it is in crazy wind even up to 50 knots. The big Prodigies are slow and not very thrilling but the 7m is amazing in stormy conditions if you never want to miss a windy day!

[Herman]

I agree that it is all about opinion, riding style, and conditions. I think your local sea state probably has a big influence in which approach you end up used to the most, as well as riding style. If you have waves I suspect you are pushed towards liking fast kites but again that is only an opinion.

I have an LF Session 4m which is low aspect with a pulley on the kite which is very slow for it’s size. I also have 4 different 9m and the SB stands out as the slow solid feel but these are all old kites and not much help as a recommendation for a new kite. My usual small kites are 7.5kahoona, 6m rise, and 5.5 stormchaser.

As an aside I would give another opinion. Liking fast kites is,imho, not a machismo thing; in fact it allows me to take a smaller kite in strong wind because you can work it more easily in the lulls. (Hence the exercise suggested by matteo?). To me this feels safer.

In the end it is probably best to take the approach that gives you the most fun in your conditions with your style. But although some small kites will be slower they are still going to be pretty fast and I doubt that anybody would try to build a small kite to fly like a 12....... Maybe the other way around!

PS in winter the 6m will usually be one of my most used kites (not hydrofoiling.)

[knotwindy]

Go to the Gorge in July and spend enough time on a small kite to learn how it works. Once you figure out the feel they’re a blast.

[Mike101]

Yes small kites are more fun to fly but big kites and small boards are much more fun to really FLY.

My 7m storm kite rarely come out. Its a 5 strut hybrid c 5 line kite. Although it can drop you like a stone it feels a tiny bit safer as the flag out is centre line. 9m is good up to stupid amounts and then I'm usually considering whether kiting is reasonable anyway.

[pwoap]

I have many 7m and I also value stability and hangtime over speed in high wind kites. The wind is very gusty where I live and when I ride a 7m (other than on a foil) it can gusting over 40 knots and it's almost always stormy weather. I have 2 7m now a Boxer for foiling and an Ocean Rodeo Prodigy. Every time I take this kite out I'm amazed how stable and forgiving it is in crazy wind even up to 50 knots. The big Prodigies are slow and not very thrilling but the 7m is amazing in stormy conditions if you never want to miss a windy day!

What year Prodigy do you have?

[Windigo1]

I have many 7m and I also value stability and hangtime over speed in high wind kites. The wind is very gusty where I live and when I ride a 7m (other than on a foil) it can gusting over 40 knots and it's almost always stormy weather. I have 2 7m now a Boxer for foiling and an Ocean Rodeo Prodigy. Every time I take this kite out I'm amazed how stable and forgiving it is in crazy wind even up to 50 knots. The big Prodigies are slow and not very thrilling but the 7m is amazing in stormy conditions if you never want to miss a windy day!

What year Prodigy do you have?

I don't have it anymore I sold it. It was Gen 5 or 6 about 2018. I replaced it with a Raptor 8M the Raptor it's even better at gusty wind with 5 struts. In thought is would be much better for boosting dues to it being marketed at a big air kite. Although the hangtime is good It's not a boosting machine like the SS Machine you need to be very powered on the Raptor. The prodigy was a great high wind kite if you can get a sweet deal on one go for it!

[tautologies]

Most people want a fast kite, which is good in larger sizes. What about the opposite?

High winds tend to punish my ingrained bar habits when sizing down from mostly flying 10m to 8m pivots. I'm considering a 6-7 for high wind days, but want to slow it down a little.
What are your thoughts on 6-7m kites for jumping and soft landings? I know better technique is in order, but strong winds are rare for me so its not like i get time to practice and refine that.

Freeride/jumping/rotations etc. I'm not thinking for waveriding, which is a different animal.

switchblade? pivot? rebel? xr6? xs?

Well, you have a few options on the Naish range.
First I would consider the Boxer. It is a 1 strut. Not particularly slow, but really good at dumping power. I have the 6 and use it for foiling and super high wind. My buddy loves the Triad for the same. I would also see if you find one of the last versions of the Slash in a small size. It feels more stable than the pivot, especially in gusty and unstable winds. I think Naish is positioning the Triad on the slot that the slash had.

[1234567Simon]

2019 I rented in Fuerteventura Sotavento.... At 25kn they gave me a 10 Switchblade, and a 38cm narrow Board....

Oh Boy... As beginner I was really f****...


Next day, I took a 7m Switchblade, and a 42cm wide Board....
Great time!!!! Never again went bigger than 7m.

At Home I got a 9m wave Kite... It was sooooooo fast.....
Really gave me a hard time .... Much faster than my 12 freeride. And much faster than the 7m Switchblade.


So in my memory from 2019: the 7m Switchblade was perfect.

[Turbaani]

I had switchblade in 2013 too and it was slow af. 12m was grunty and slow, I didn't like it at all. But if the flying characheristics are same today, it could fit your search criteria. Some kites are super fast and fly to edge of wind window, so they can be challenge for you even with small bar and narrow grip. But IMO they are very fun when comfortable.
Also older core xr was a bit slower, not as slow as switch blade.