you will be right with about a 12m in any bow kite. 12m switchies are pretty good.

It does look like you are overdue for a upgrade, a lot has changed, most people now only have a 2 kite quiver to get the full wind range. Other people are using a single kite to cover a range from 14-30kts with ease.

There are a lot of different kite designs around now, from bow, SLE, c, delta, bridled c and many other hybrids. A lot of these kites can be used as all round kites but excel in certain areas.

So depending on riding style, board and weight plus your skill level will all be factors when choosing a kite.

If you plan to only upgrade one kite this year than another next year a 12/13m would be a good option, it would replace both your bigger kites, then next year you could get a 8/9m to complete your quiver and get rid of all your old kites.

If you plan on only getting one kite and not looking to replace any others for a couple of years i would get depending on your weight around a 10m it would out perform both your 9 and 13m kites easily getting you going in 15kts and heaps of depower for 30+. Then keep the 16m for the light stuff or get a light wind board and just use one kite.

There are lots of options so do your homework, there will be a lot of new products released in the next 2 months so there will be a lot of reviews. Try talking to your local kite shop and grab some demo gear to try out. Or if you are looking for second hand gear there will be a lot of last years gear available allso at great prices and its all fairly easy to find reviews on.

On my bandit 3 i could go as low as 15 kts on my 9m on a TT134, Im 95kgs, the top end would be over 40 kts. I did try the 10m was gruntier and would suit a one kite quiver for your size, but for my size i would have used the 11m as a one kite quiver super nice kite. Even the 13m i could use in winds gusting to 30kts(not fun, but didn't die).

Definitely try as many as you can, look out for demo days coming up. There should be a lot around.

I think Koma hit the nail on the head. There are bow kites that claim to feel like C's, but none of them actually do and if you're a C kite purist, then all of them are going to feel lifeless and a little mushy. If you can get used to them, then thats fine, but testing will definitely be your best option because I'm pretty sure you'll hate some of them.

Saffer said...

I think Koma hit the nail on the head. There are bow kites that claim to feel like C's, but none of them actually do and if you're a C kite purist, then all of them are going to feel lifeless and a little mushy. If you can get used to them, then thats fine, but testing will definitely be your best option because I'm pretty sure you'll hate some of them.

Yea I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a C purist. I always tended that way previously (obviously looking at my quiver), and I've never owned a bow before but I'm not opposed to them any more either. Also I'm not as aggressive as I was. Plus I rather like the idea of not having those sphincter tightening moments where I'm a couple of knots on the wrong side of a C's upper limit.

@koma Not that cashed up mate, hence the single kite upgrade and hopefully something well under 2k, which seems tight these days for a complete bar / lines / kite. Doubt I'd get anything for my kit if I sold it so nothing to offset the new gear :(

Time to demo a few different styles I think. You will probably feel more at home on the new c's but the sle,bow and delta's will give you a bigger windrange

guy77 said...
Yea I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a C purist. I always tended that way previously (obviously looking at my quiver), and I've never owned a bow before but I'm not opposed to them any more either. Also I'm not as aggressive as I was. Plus I rather like the idea of not having those sphincter tightening moments where I'm a couple of knots on the wrong side of a C's upper limit.

@koma Not that cashed up mate, hence the single kite upgrade and hopefully something well under 2k, which seems tight these days for a complete bar / lines / kite. Doubt I'd get anything for my kit if I sold it so nothing to offset the new gear :(

I started out flying what i would call second-gen C's ('04 Naish Aero II & '05 Fuel), i can assure that most of today's C kites will feel completely soft in comparison! That's not a bad thing though, it just means they've evolved and taken the safety and benefits of a high depower design and mixed it in with the original C kites flight characteristics. If your not used to that level of depower then your in for a bit of a surprise - dropping the bar on a modern C without the stopper pulled in will give you about 80-85% depower in most cases, unlike the 40-60% depower of the old C's.

$2k should get you almost any kite on the market these days, all except for the boutique brands like Flysurfers. If you want to play around with the new Naish Torch and Bolt i'm pretty sure Jason @ BrisKites got his hands on them recently. The Naish Park might be one that does interest you if the Torch is a little too aggressive for your liking... although given your current quiver i highly doubt that to be the case.

waxman said...

djdojo said...

waxman said...

On my bandit 3 i could go as low as 15 kts on my 9m on a TT134, Im 95kgs, the top end would be over 40 kts. I did try the 10m was gruntier and would suit a one kite quiver for your size, but for my size i would have used the 11m as a one kite quiver super nice kite. Even the 13m i could use in winds gusting to 30kts(not fun, but didn't die).

Definitely try as many as you can, look out for demo days coming up. There should be a lot around.

15-40+knots. A new benchmark for ludicrous wind range claims. Keep it real eh.

The 9m is my smallest kite and i weigh over 100kgs wet, and i have been out in conditions gusting to 40kts. FOne claim on there website the 9m b3 will handle wind squalls gusting to 50kts(survival mode not lets have fun). When riding my 9m in a average 30kts i hardly need to depower the kite let alone adjust the middle line. It is a very stable predictable kite in strong winds.

I think top end of a kite is a personal thing, if you don't feel comfortable head back in. Just because someone claims a higher top end dont assume you will be able to handle it. Stick to the wind range chart for a start and go from there. So on the 9m bandit 3 the wind range is 15-30kts for a 75 kg ridder with average skills.

Yea i'll go along with that im over 100kg wet and have been out on a 9 griff in winds gusting 43knots and could get riding from 15 no probs,50 knots would be crazy but low 40+ no worries,just depends on weight skill level and how fn crazy you are,you see a lot of guys run in and panic at the first sign of a gust ,your only gonna find out what your capeable of if you hang in there.

I always include average wind speed, and max gusts, as it better describes of the conditions. eg if you describe 25kts average a lot of people would say i could handle that. but if you said 25(average) to 40(max) kts people would be more hesitant to go out as it would indicate the wind could be dropping below 20kts(min) then gusting to 35/40kts, or on the other side it could be 25 to 28 kts nice consistent conditions.

I know the BOM site list both for this reason, there are also a lot of manufacturers that claim there wind range is to be MAX wind speed or gusts, not average.