Impulse Flyboy Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 I stumbled across this forum a week ago or so as I was looking for reviews on stunt kites as I am interested in purchasing one. My history in the kite world is brief, I learned the bare basics on a Beetle last year and this summer I bought a Nexus. I've been working on improving my skills but I've found that the nexus wasn't really made for many tricks as the lines seem to get tangled if you try anything involving flat spinning. Also it's so quick that it can be quite hard to stall. Hense I have come here for advice as to what i should get next. I like so many am a student so funds aren't overly abundant, but I'm looking around $100-150 USD. In this range I've found the following: HQ phoenix supreme Big bang pro Level one easy and extreme Yin yang E2 Basically I'm looking for a kite that will allow me to do any trick I want with minimum trouble, but opinions seem to varry so much, that I'm left at a loss. I recognize that there may not be an easy answer, but I'd love to hear some suggestions. I basically always fly at Vanier Park in Vancouver, sometimes even in the shadow of Ray Bethel. I'm not positive of the winds but I think they come in aroun 5-15 mph most of the time. I was watching a demo by John Barresi this week and....DAMN that was amazing to watch. If i could learn to do what he did with that Sea Devil on any of these I think I'd be more than pleased with my purchase. I don't know if that's possible, but I really look forward to your ideas on which one I should get. Many thanx Impulse Flyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Hi Flyboy, I've seen a lot of the new tricks done with both the Big Bang and the E2... While they're not "Pro" kites, they certainly have their established audience. I dunno about the Easy and Xtreme... As I recall (might be mistaken), the Phoenix isn't as a ideal trick kite... Nix the Yin Yang... Not designed for what we do. Hope that helps some... I encourage you to wait for some other opinions, from people who have spent more time on each kite. The thing about kites is, there's no single right answer... So take the average. In the meantime, I highly recommend all the trick tutorials by RandyG tha can be found here: http://www.drageportal.dk/video/howtotrick.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Oh! Hey... Also, I recommend you check out the Mirage from Prism... For between $100-$120, I could do the following on it: - Jacobs Ladder - Flapjack - Lazy Susan - Multilazies - Roll Ups (needs yo yo stoppers, easy to install) - Snap landings - Floats (slides) - Basic precision For the money, I was very impressed... However, the bottom wind range on it for an intermediate flier is probably about 4mph. To be honest, that's not bad... And it should be quite durable for when you're learning all those cool new moves. Again, check around... See what others have to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Okay, okay... Last suggestion... If you can "wait another week" and spend $179, look into the Cesium from L'Atelier... It's one of my top five favorite kites around, and it's got one heck of a price for what it does. And of course, I'd recommend you check with the shops who advertise with us... Not only to support the Kitelife site, but because we work with most of them for what they bring to the community as shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsal Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 I own a Blue and Teal Prism Illusion 2000 (I2K) for sale at $160 plus shipping. The photo is at My Webshots page. This kite was considered one of the best by many people, I just have too many kites to fly. It includes the original Prism bag, Spoilerz and field card. You might throw that option into your bag of decisions also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedrick Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Of the ones you list, I'd go with the Big Bang. It's very pitch friendly, meaning it will easily yoyo, multilazy, wapdoowap, etc. The BB also does pretty easy backspins and jacobs ladders, and decent flatspins as well. I found it's capabilities to be very accessible, and the kite comes ready-to-fly and includes a nice weight set as well as yoyo stopper. The Level One Easy is a nice kite with great flatspins and backspins, but is somewhat limited for pitch tricks. I did not like the Phoenix at all. Others will say thay like it a lot, so it's clearly a matter of taste and style preferences, but for me the Phoenix had too much oversteer and too little drive. Yin Yang is fairly limited to flatspins (axels, half-axels, cascades, 540s, and flicflacs). It does have an extremely stable pancake, but I found the YY to be more of a novelty that wore off fairly quickly. I have no experience on the E2, but I have not connected well with other curved LE Prism's...again, just a matter of taste. Now, if you're budget can accomodate the Quantum Pro, well then... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impulse Flyboy Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Well, after considering all the great suggestions, and pondering the I2K, I decide to see if John was right. I've order a Cesium. It seems like it can do anything i can think of doing, it's under $200, its wind range seems good, and I hope it won't be too fragile. Plus, being new, I don't have to worry about the fabric or spars being weakened from use, not that I don't trust you Dorsal (it was a very generous offer). Anywho, much thanx for the advice, and I'll keep you updated as I'm sure I'll need help figuring out how to do some of the moves. Impulse Flyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Out of curiosity Flyboy, where do you fly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsal Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Hahahahaha! If you don't trust those who've flown, built and repaired kites for years, who do you trust? An Ouija board? Hahahahaha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impulse Flyboy Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 To tell you the truth Dorsal the only person I worry about having to do repairs is myself. I think it will be a steep learning curve for me. If my kite repairs go anything like my car repairs I'll do everything wrong first, then have to pay twice what it should to fix the stuff i messed up. Now that I have a few kites I'm gonna have to look up bridle design and modification cause I'm pretty green at that too. Maybe you can point me in the direction of a good FAQ or how-to since I'm guessing you've patched before. In response to John, I fly in the little know city of Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada....eh. I usually fly at Vanier park which is a fairly large park on the water in the heart of the city. It's where most fly I believe. If you are interested in some shots of the place, most of the pics on Ray Bethel's page are taken there. I've only seen him there a couple times, but that's where he practices from what I know. Hopefully you weren't asking to suggest a different kite cause I'm afraid it's already been delivered. Yet again, much thanx for all your help and honesty. It's nice to know there somewhere I can turn for good advice. Impulse Flyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsal Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 From Andy Wardley, the guy who designed the active bridle on the Benson Gemini and other kites: http://www.kfs.org/~abw/kites/active/description.html#intro and http://www.kfs.org/~abw/kites/active/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impulse Flyboy Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 That is some very interesting and enlightening reading. Kinda explains why my nexus doesn't stall well, although I'd love to be proven wrong on that assertion. Much Thanx Impulse Flyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedrick Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Nice choice on the Cesium. I don't think you'll be disappointed, and the Cesium is a kite you can pretty well learn all of the current crop of hot tricks with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impulse Flyboy Posted October 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 I've taken the Cesium out a few times and it has surprised me how ready it is to trick. The only problem I face is discovering those tricks. They look so simple when the experts do em, but leave it to me to make the kite tangle and fall to the ground every time. Oh well, I can't expect to be an expert right off the bat. I've noticed it does pancake to fade really well, but I can't get the fade to hold or get it to go back to pancake, which I think is called something else in combination. For that matter my axels don't work very well either. I think I'm shooting 1 for 10+ on those Anywho I will say it was good advice John, now I think I'm going to invest in one of those instructional videos/dvds. Any suggestions? I was thinking the one by Mark Reed looked like it had what I wanted in it. As a final note, in higher wind I have to pull harder to get the moves to go, but it should still trick well in stronger winds right? Impulse Flyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Great to hear the Cesium is working for you Flyboy... As for instructional videos, both Mark Reed's and Dodd Gross's teach a few bad habits (like sloppy axels), so take them with a grain of salt and reference how your tricks are looking with other general video (such as in the Kitelife archives). Also, I cannot reinforce enough - http://www.drageportal.dk/video/howtotrick.asp (the best) As for high wind, it's not so much pulling harder but rather moving forward faster... Into your moves, thereby lessening the wind on the kite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audioRob Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 sloppy axels? Can you explain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Yes could you please explain the sloppy axels cause i've been wanting to get one of those dvds for a long time. And could someone tell me which is the best deal: A prism mirage with dvd for $105 or a big bang with dvd for under $70 Thanks for any input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audioRob Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Ive seen big bang with dvd for 80$. Methinks you'd be paying WAY too much. Or you can just buy the dvd for 15-20$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 buying the dvd by itself won't do me any good cause I need a good kite to go with so I can actually learn the stuff on the dvd! I have no good stunt kite to learn on and would eventually like to get something much more decent than my old (now broken) bandit. I would like anyone's take on how the prism mirage compares with the big bang. I can get a big bang for way cheaper but was wondering if I might fare better going with the mirage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backspin23 Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 I don't believe that i have ever flown a big bang, however i have flown the mirage and it is a superb trick kite, and at 105 bucks i think its a bargin for such a great entry level trick kite. and dont be confused when i say "entry level" it will do almost all of the current tricks out there. Best of luck to you, JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhardie Posted October 15, 2005 Report Share Posted October 15, 2005 In response to John, I fly in the little know city of Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada....eh. I usually fly at Vanier park which is a fairly large park on the water in the heart of the city. It's where most fly I believe. If you are interested in some shots of the place, most of the pics on Ray Bethel's page are taken there. I've only seen him there a couple times, but that's where he practices from what I know.Impulse Flyboy Canada EH? You could make the looong trip into Steveston and come fly at Garry Point. It is pretty wet at Vanier after some rain and Steveston is where most of the sport kiters go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted October 16, 2005 Report Share Posted October 16, 2005 By sloppy axel, I'm referring to the "bottom handed" axel I see a lot of flier do who have come through the DVD school... Without being able to show you two fliers doing it differently, it's hard to describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 "Entry level" is exactly what I need! I might be asking santa for a mirage this Christmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mousie Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 I like my Nighthawk more everytime I fly it. Its not a wallet buster by any means at $120. And when I am not at the lines, it will trick pretty well lol... Still working on the flick flack... and I finally did a nice fade the other day thanks to Barresi and Rudolph helping me at wskif! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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