6 kites in light wind test

[Blake]

Guys

There is no "best lightwind kite" no matter how hard Dimitri, SupaEZ and others try to tell us that there is..... it all depends on what each one of us is looking for in a kite for light wind riding! For me, it's a 17m CLOUD, for you maybe something else, for YOUR own reasons.....reasons that are probably different than mine, and the guy flying next to you.

I'm so sick of these types of posts....The best at this, or the best at that....... It all boils down to what each of us likes to fly....period!!!!

We all fly kites for the same reason....because we enjoy it...leave it at that.


Stepping down from my little soapbox now......

Blake

[matth]

Guys

There is no "best lightwind kite" no matter how hard Dimitri, SupaEZ and others try to tell us that there is..... it all depends on what each one of us is looking for in a kite for light wind riding! For me, it's a 17m CLOUD, for you maybe something else, for YOUR own reasons.....reasons that are probably different than mine, and the guy flying next to you.

I'm so sick of these types of posts....The best at this, or the best at that....... It all boils down to what each of us likes to fly....period!!!!

We all fly kites for the same reason....because we enjoy it...leave it at that.


Stepping down from my little soapbox now......

Blake

Are you saying there is no magic kite that relaunches with ease, and goes upwind like a missle, all in only 8nts of wind?
That's like saying there is no Santa Claus!!

[fat blokes can fly]

No Santa Claus..... WHAT!!!

[Blake]

Sorry to break it to you Bloke.......but nope!
The Grinch has spoken!

[KYLakeKiter]

Guys

There is no "best lightwind kite" no matter how hard Dimitri, SupaEZ and others try to tell us that there is..... it all depends on what each one of us is looking for in a kite for light wind riding! For me, it's a 17m CLOUD, for you maybe something else, for YOUR own reasons.....reasons that are probably different than mine, and the guy flying next to you.

I'm so sick of these types of posts....The best at this, or the best at that....... It all boils down to what each of us likes to fly....period!!!!

We all fly kites for the same reason....because we enjoy it...leave it at that.


Stepping down from my little soapbox now......

Blake

I absolutely agree that there are too many people saying their opinion is the right one, but I think it is good anytime you can get someone who actually gets their hands on a couple of kites and gives their assessment of what they liked and didn't like. Not too many of us can demo all the kites out there, so the more good (and real) reviews you can find helps narrow the field when picking a kite.

BTW, you guys are totally blowing my mind saying there is no Santa and no kite that rockets upwind in less than 8kts in the same post so here is definitive proof of both.

Santa Kiteboards.jpg (6.03 KiB) Viewed 1520 times

See. Santa and no white caps. It all must be true (yes, I totally just swiped that pic off seabreeze.)

[Flight Time]

The problem seems to be that there are no impartial kiteboarders. Everyone who has flown a kite has a preference, so every review is biased. There should be a "blind taste test", where you don't know what you're flying until you rate it, but it's not really possible for obvious reasons. I mean if all the companies would put out a blank kite to a universal color standard, it would go a long way, but I think any idiot would know if they were flying a 13 tube or a 21 foil, no matter how you dress it up. And besides, no kite company would sign up for that, because all but a couple of the participants would end up labeled as crap as compared to the top couple performers, and sales would dry up faster than you could blink. There has to remain some ambiguity and guesswork for all the companies to sell products, as bad as it is for the sport in general.

If in some miracle, they could get all the kite companies to put their best out there for a fair test, the could have a panel of three of the most impartial kiters out there from each discipline bust out their best performance in all the measurable factors (lightest wind, biggest air, etc.) and film them without including the kite in the frame, and then they could distribute the videos to consumers, and we could shop like from one of those snack vending machines at a highway rest area.

I'll take B-5 for lunar boosts with epic hangtime, please!

[coleman]

I agree but I think the very idea of coming to a "best" light wind kite via comparison is flawed. Best to highlight the strengths of each kite relative to the riders style and wind conditions.

There is no best.

[braveman]

There are light wind kites and there are sub 10K wind kites.
IMHO these are two different categories.
In a sub 10K kite all I am looking for is upwind ability.

[matth]

There are light wind kites and there are sub 10K wind kites.
IMHO these are two different categories.
In a sub 10K kite all I am looking for is upwind ability.

But there lies the problem. Great upwind everyone wants , but usually comes at the cost of relaunch, and kite speed....Its all a big trade off. I think the key is to understand what your particular kite does well and roll with it...My 16m 2013 crossbow is not the first kite to relaunch but it goes upwind like a bitch. So I may not be the first guy out by a knot or two but I most likely will not have to walk my kite back up the beach either.

[mikeysfl]

Naish arx 23.5m. On a pulley bar. Best lightwind kite made.