2nd gen bows....

[JGTR]

Im after a bow and have been reading the Ion and Answer reviews.
What initially attracted me to the bows is the safety side, ie huge depower and the ability soak up up the gusts (or the large windrange, being able to stay out all day even when the wind picks up). How does the depower and range on these kites compare to the 1st gen kites...xbows, sonics etc
I take it their windrange is just as good?

How does the depower on these kites compare to a decent C kite...is it really worth buying one of these kites if they only have a little bit more depower than my C kites???? I fly rhino5s and am happy wirth them so don't want to spend the extra cash if I don't need to

Jay

[blacktip]

rhino5 has not so much lowend in my opinion. So compared to your rhino you will gain in lowend. Im flying cabrinha nitro 05 with prospan, more power then rhino's and almost equally to crossbow. (talking 12m here).

Dont think there is much difference in depower or power between 1st or 2nd generation.

I keep on flying nitro 05. But i like to have a Bow kite for hard winds. Above 25 kn to 35 kn, that is cool with a bow, no problems with gusts etc.

[jkrug]

responding only to the part about depower of bows vs 'C', last year i bought a Cabrinha Co2 10m ('C'), and it really scared the crap out of me at times. being overpowered on that kite in the gusts just prevented me from doing/trying anything. I tend to err on the side of caution. I bought a Sonic 11m over the winter, have been out on it a few times, but when i start to get overpowerd, i just extend my arms and i'm in control. of course, every kite has its limits, and these must be adhered to. but there is no comparison for depower regards C and bows, and i will never sail the Co2 again. (BTW, i still use Rhino04 16m w/5th line for lighter wind days).

[bru]

At this point there are NO 2nd generation bow kites that have been released - some claim to have a 2nd generation kite but in order to have a 2nd gen surely you have to have a 1st generation ?? The switchblade from Cabrinha is possibly the closest to this term - if you read on Bruno 's inflatablekites.com - he quotes many of the kite company's claiming to have 2nd gen bows as having 0.7 gen kites !

A decent bow or flat kite should replace 3 of your traditional size kites - from my experience flying the 9 Nova it easily relaces a 7.5 Wook 9.5 Wook and most of the 12m Wook - so a range of 16knots through to 40knots - on the de-power essentially without actually trimming in on the depower strap you can sheet out as far as you can reach and nearly get 70% depower by stretching out

The best thing is to try before you buy - the newer bows have also not been around that long to have a proven track record - Good Luck!

[Ocean Lover]

JGTR,

Do some searches on this topic on the forum. There is great info on all fronts regarding what you ask.

My two cents is to get a flat or bow kite (12m is a great compromise size) for most days and keep the Cs for the really beautiful stable wind days.