How many kites do you own?

Reaper356 · Since 10 Dec 2006 781 Posts Salem / LC Oregon Opinionated

Hey,
I was recently engaged in a discussion about how many kites one should own w/ another member of the household! (some of you may have experience in this area). Very Happy

Discussion stemmed from the addition of a new kite for lightwind landboarding.

I just started last year and I already own five kites (three water / two foils for land).

Obviously a lot of people on this forum have a few years experience. I was wondering how many kites you guys have or have had at one time!? How often do you like to trade up?

Sasquatch · Since 09 Mar 2005 2062 Posts PNW Bigfoot

I own 4: 8m, 12m, 16m, 19m. This allows me to sail pretty much anywhere regionally except for those extra nukie days in the gorge, Manzo or south coast. It is like most thinks in life, you always want more. I want to add a few more boards to expand my ability to ride the winds--a directional surf board and maybe the glide.

I think once I do this I can cut down on my next quiver to 3 kites--8m, 12m, 16m (I ride C-kites, this may change when and or if I get some bows).

U should design your quiver to areas your riding most. If u are living in Salem I bet your planning on riding Manzo, Newport and SI. Newport and Manzo generally have stronger winds than the north coast ie 8 -14m and SI, well its a flicky woman; 12m to 20m, but mainly bigger kites. Gorge 12m or less.

Hope this helps. I would be interested in hearing from someone with a quiver of bows. . .

Moto · Since 03 Sep 2006 2698 Posts Still a gojo pimp! Moto Mouth

I currently ride C kites and I have a total of five kites - however, one of them I don't use (I have been meaning to get rid of it sometime or another). But I have a 8, 10, 12, and a 19.

I use the 10 most of the time at the spit and the 19 I use at Sauvie's island. The 8 and 12 I only use once in a while.

Its funny you ask - how often do you upgrade? Well, its hard to say, I am considering upgrading to waroos - maybe get three waroos. An 8, 12 and a 16. However, my current quiver works well - they are all 2004 models - so I am not sure if I want to spend the money this year or not. I'll eventually upgrade to bows - but I'm not sure when. Maybe next year. I was planning on using my C kites for a lot longer - however, those bow kites have too much of a draw for me to resist.

As far as boards go - I have two boards. A medium and a somewhat large board. I am considering buying a glide for light wind days out at Sauvie's island. I could buy two more boards - a small board and a glide and then put off upgrading my quiver until next year!!! Well see.

lance_k · Since 04 May 2005 561 Posts Hood River Photographer

Five Best Yarga's 7,9,11,13,15

genek · Since 21 Jul 2006 2165 Posts East Po KGB

I have 4 kites that I use, and a fifth that I haven't gotten around to selling yet. They are: 9m Diesel '05 with Autopilot (good for gusty conditions and can rig it to ride like a 7m), 12m Octane (great high end so more like an 11m), 13m Fuel '05, 17m Fuel '04. I have two boards a 136 SX and a 146 Naish Alien Mutant (great for waves and lighter wind). The only problem right now is the 13m Fuel (not sure about the 17m either). Might swap the 13m for something a bit bigger like a 15m and may or may not get rid of the 17m (it's just so slow and the mutant helps me ride in light winds). I guess I also have a 7m Ignition (SS school kite similar to '05 Diesel), but I've never needed to use it so I don't really count it. The only time I might have used it was last summer at Rooster when it was blowing in the mid 40s and gusting higher, but even guys on 5m had trouble that day so I just did a Home Valley to Stevenson downwinder instead on my 9m, which was great. With the newer kites you should be really set with 3 (maybe 4 if you ride when it's nuking 40+). I agree with the new direction people are going. Having 2 boards is a lot nicer than an extra huge kite. A fun wave board is a perfect 2nd board since it's awesome at the coast AND makes light wind a lot more fun. I upgrade my kites gradually as you might have noticed. I try to keep it to one kite a year, whichever stands to contribute the most by being replaced.

Damn, now I wanna go ride!

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6548 Posts Couve / Hood Site Lackey

Last year I had a 3 kite quiver (7-9-13) this year I am going too 4 kites 5-7-9-11 SLEs

Even with the SLE kites with tons of range, nothing beats having the right size kite for the wind. Especially when it gets real gusty in the Gorge, you want to pick a kite that's right in the middle of the lull/gust range. So if its blowing 15-30, you want to be on a kite thats right at home in the low twenties. Likewise if its blowing 30-40 you want a kite that can ride at 30 and isn't maxed at 40.

Also with my girlfriend kiting more (especially in lots of wind) I need some uber small kites for her, but they will serve me well too on those super nuker days. Or for big board/small kite surfing on the coast.

All that said I have friends who got by with a 9m bow/sle 90% of the time last year. With a couple different boards, a 1-2 kite quiver is doable for sure. 7m-11m, 7m-10m, 7m-9m would all be good quivers for this. Don't think about getting big kites to handle low wind, let the big boards do that, and get small kites for high wind.

colby · Since 23 Apr 2005 613 Posts Celebrity Photographer

This last year I was getting away with a 9 and 12M, and using a Glide or skim on light days; However, I mostly stayed in the Gorge so think a bigger kite would have been necessary for the coast and especially Sauvies - which was oh so wonderful in 06 Confused

. Phil is on the money!... the 9M seems to be the bread & butter kite for a lot of people...I probably used it 90% of the time last year, but that's the Gorge for you. Other places might be completely different and keep in mind this entire opinion can be greatly thrown off by your body weight....so adjust accordingly. You might also take into account some people like the power of bigger kites and smaller boards vs the opposite...this has started some kiteforumish debates here in the past, which were fun to read.

In 07, I'm waiting for a new 9M and changing up to 13M on one of the new bow kites promising to have more low end range even if it didn't have the additional meter. This should cover getting out to the coast a bit more and not having to hop on the glide so much....adding a 7M would be the ideal 3rd kite to have on blustery Gorge days in my opinion, where a 5M just doesn't seem to get enough use for the money unless you plan your life around 40mph days or use a surfboard, but I still want one!

Inept_Fun · Since 14 Apr 2005 1417 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

5,7,9,11,13 Even tho I dont use them all. I use the 7and 9 the most, and I use the 13 on the light days.

registered · Since 12 Jul 2005 1319 Posts tsunami Sandbagger

eight

5m waroo, 7-9-11-15-fuel ,17.5&20.5 machine, 10m spitfireII
liquid or solid water kites(hybrid)

..all flown with 3-27m line bars (unless shorter lines needed 1 other bar 23m other with 16m) so 5 bars.

.. and two boards mostly used out of 4 in the line up.
Amundson custom twin 140, cabrihna 169, and a dusty jimi 147 diectional ,and another classic directional.

lucky this sport is so cheap.... Twisted Evil

...big boards for the ocean for max fun(smaller kite)

.. big kites for when you jump the gun and get there before 2pm... Laughing

But maybe selling them all and replacing them with one 11 meter hybrid and two pieces of plywood.. Rolling Eyes

barfly · Since 31 Mar 2005 1210 Posts Seaside BRACKISH

Lots of quiver diversity. I've got 4 C kites too but could probably get away with the smaller 3 but I do like my 20.5 Machine for real light wind landboarding.

IMO having a surfboard in the mid 5' to mid 6' range does not translate to having a whole step in your quiver. Meaning that you can't just grab your surfboard and a 7 or 8m and think you would have the same power as if you were on a TT and a 12m. Especially true for the smaller surfboards, they typically need just as much juice as a TT.

The SLEs have a lot of range and I think it's plausable that for a rider's local conditions, you could get away nicely with two kites and two boards.

blowhard · Since 26 Dec 2005 2025 Posts Windward

nobody has more shit than REGIS Surprised

he's the guy to try the new stuff

On a recent visit to the Crater Park ,I was using my Waroo5.0 in some crazy conditions and having a blast ,Regis clocked the the wind from 3mph to 27 mph,some ass time in the lulls,but the 7.0 would have been fine.
It looked a lot worse than it was ,something about blowing snow @ 30 mph that looks bad.
My last 3 quivers have been from the same manufactuer each
1999 Slingshot , 10.0 Shocked

,Naish- ARX 7.5 Evil or Very Mad

,13.5

,Aero14.0, Laughing

6.0 Sky Pirate Confused

,Jarvis

2001 Naish,X-2,12.0,16.0 Very Happy

, Aero-2 ,10.0 8.0 Sad

,,Slingshot 136 Smile

,Fanatic 160 Very Happy

2004 Naish X-4,12.0,16.0 Sad

,V-4 10.0,8.0 Sad

,homemade boards Shocked

2006 Waroo 5.0,7.0,9.0,12.0 Very Happy

,,more homemade boards. Embarassed

The current quiver covers a lot more range for about half the cash,and I can still keep up with the big boys .
I think the ease of staying similar in kites makes for better progress throughout the range ,same for boards Wink

pjc · Since 06 Mar 2005 649 Posts Addicted

I have 2006 waroos 5, 7, 9, 14. If I had to do over again I would have bought the 12 instead of the 14, and stolen some of blowhard's boards for the light wind.

There are older kites in my garage - it's hard to give some of those old kites away. But those 4 make the drive to the beach and with a couple of boards it covers everything from 12 mph to 40mph.

noaubac · Since 27 Apr 2005 33 Posts

....have you all beat, sadly for me
Got most all of my kites on some giant discount or another, but still a lot of capital locked up and lost on these things.
14 Kites, 9 Boards

4 04 Fuels (11, *15 damaged, *15, *19)
2 Slingshot B-foils (5 , 8 )
1 Best 3M foil
*1 Monkey 28M
2 Best Yarga 05 (9, 17)
4 Best Yarga Pro (11, 13, 15, 17) paid $299ea.

Boards?!
2 04 SS SX 132
*2 04 SS SX 122
*1 Plywood Glide
*1 SS Glide
1 06 Airush Exile
1 05 Best Float 135
1 6'11" Surfboard

Anybody want to make an offer on any items with *
-Too much stuff

colby · Since 23 Apr 2005 613 Posts Celebrity Photographer

WOW! Do you have a picture of the 28M Monkey?? ...curious what that looks like Very Happy

noaubac · Since 27 Apr 2005 33 Posts

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M1.JPG

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M2.JPG

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M3.JPG

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M4.JPG

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M5.JPG

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M6.JPG

http://www.msu.edu/user/pennnoah/M7.JPG

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

holy crap

what's the wind range of a 28?

colby · Since 23 Apr 2005 613 Posts Celebrity Photographer

maybe you should keep that one in case it becomes the next 'spruce goose'?