Do I buy fixed bridal or a de-power kite?

Troy modeling a de-power set up (thanks mate)


Troy modeling a fixed bridal handle set up (thanks again)


Depower Vs Fixed Bridal

The first major kite purchase land kiters make after a trainer kite is odds on the style of set up they then stick to. Handles vs de-power bar.

While handles for a long time ruled the land kiting scene, in recent times there has been a shift towards de-power.

I started land kiting on handles, after coming from kite surfing it was a very different feel going from a bar to handles, yet getting into a kite buggy for the first time handles were certainly a good way to start.

The beauty of handles is they are compact and when the majority of the time you are facing your front wheel with the kite off one shoulder the handles were an advantage as you could twist them into a comfortable position. Running the strop through a quick release pulley once you get into a harness is smooth as silk giving you the ability to fly single handed with ease.

When the wind is smooth fixed bridals are in their element, fast through the air, extremely responsive and with some models in their 4th generation like the Flexifoil Blade series that reached cult status fixed bridal kites are well regarded among land kiters. For racing their is no substitute to using a high performance foil on handles.

"So if they are that good, why go to de-power and mess around with a bar in your lap"

Thats actually pretty difficult to answer on that rare perfect day with a constant 15 knots of wind..... how often do you get that though especially through winter?

For the other 90% of the time the de-power is in its element, when wind is up and down with as much as 15 knots difference between gusts the de-powers are the way to go, they just tollerate conditions like that better, letting out the bar kills the wind from the kite easily, pull the bar in its like an accelorator with power on tap.

Although a bar in a buggy probably doesn't sound very ergonomic its actually not that bad. With more models being produced on de-power for eg the very popular Ozone Access XC which is making quite an impact on the land kiting scene for people making the transition onto the De-power it is seriously stable and a gust muncher of epic proportions.

De-power comes at a price they are generally a fair bit more expensive that fixed bridal kites, which sounds like fixed bridal would be the way to go, not necessarily as you can pick up on average 2 fixed bridal kite sizes (in wind range) owning one de-power kite which in dollar value means you could be a tad in front down the line. Either way both fixed bridal and de-power have kites that will suit all your flying needs, the choice is yours :)

Just one final note, kites that are advertised as low lift kites for beginner to intermediate kiters just take my word for it, all kites will lift you off the ground at some point, with that in mind whatever you fly you won't get caught out to often.

Cheers
V.

In response to your post amigo.....

You can fly any kite you want to that is the ingenious part about kiting, its a power kite and will pull you along regardless.

My question to can I use an inflatable kite on land is why??

Unless you are convinced that kiting near the ocean one of these epic boosts your going to have, when you go sending that kite way behind you, then redirecting, is going to land you past the shore break then yes...... an inflatable kite would be the way to go.

Otherwise for most non youtube moments there is no need for an inflatable on land, the strongest argument being if you nose dive it onto hard land you have a good chance of a bladder blowing which will prove very expensive.

One other reason would be that land kiting is generally done in smaller areas than off a beach which means getting hit in the face by the front of a inflatable kite is going to do two things....

1. Its going to make a really big "boing" sound.
2. Its going to hurt.

Cheers
V.