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Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

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Kykeon
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Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Kykeon » Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:51 pm

Executive summary:
Kite flies well (very stable) and is easy to fly in my very humble opinion (1st foil kite).
Considering the awesome price it is recommended (with reservations) if you want to try ram kites or you are on a budget for one IN CASE you are willing to (potentially) troubleshoot a bit.

-It is highly recommended to do a detailed pre-flight inspection before first flight in order to confirm right bridle and lines connection. It’s also very likely you’ll have to shorten the 5th line or you’ll stumble on it. And in general be prepared to make small corrections
-It is highly recommended to replace the chicken loop (or use your own bar). There is no untwisting swivel and in general it’s not inspiring confidence. (On the other hand, clamcleat and all lines and pulleys look good and strong)
-I did not need anything special from customer service.I got the thing sent ok and got an answer to a basic question before that.

Detailed review:

Kiteforum is such a great place because you can exchange knowledge and experiences related to kiting (products, shops, technique, spots etc) with people from all over the world. Thank you Toby!
I’ve learned so many things and I’ve been helped so many times that I fell it’s my obligation to share information that could be useful to somebody.

Pansh kites have been a controversial topic. I hope that sharing my experience may help somebody.

I was interested to check foil kites but unfortunately there is no rental service or lesson around and none of my beach buddies has one.
The price of new gear was too expensive just for checking if I like them and I’m a bit hesitant to get used gear as I have no experience with foil kites (or anybody to help me)
Therefore the idea of trying a foil kite got parked until I read about Pansh in this forum.
Although controversial most of the reports were recommending them as great value for money.
Checked online and the price was unbelievably good!

Since many comments were negative regarding customer service, I decided to write them an email with a simple question confirming the final price.
I immediately received an automatic reply that my message was received and will be replied asap.
One week passed and I got no reply… having worked with Chinese suppliers in the past, I wrote them again in simple English “no answer, no buy! “ Got a reply and an apology the next day in very ok English.

I placed the order for an A15 , 12m ready to fly (i.e. with bar and 25m lines) and paid with paypal as an extra safety layer in case something went wrong.
10 days later it was at my door.

Everything looking fine when I opened the box and laid it down. ( The chicken loop did not look great and I decided to order an alternative one in order to replace it later on)

I took it to the beach and flew it with a friend who is super experienced with LEI but also new to foils.
We found that
- the bar was not connected ok , the right steering line was going through the V of the front lines
- In a similar fashion, one of the bridle lines was going through another bridle branch and needed to be disconnected and reconnected out of this.
- The 5th line is a few meters longer than it should be. That makes it tangle everywhere during landing and is also a stumbling potential. (made a brummel splice higher up, later on)
It flew ok, considering that we were both ram rookies. (We did not go into the water as it was too late and not in the right clothes)

After correcting the above issues I took it for a ride with a regular sized Twin tip on a couple of days that my 10m Switchblade would either not fly or would not allow me to stay upwind.
My impression (probably mixing general foil impressions as well):
-It had a strong but very gradual/ steady pull
-It was very slow on turning (25m line+bridle…) but very fast on riding [Everything compared to my 10m Switchbalde but for sure applies as well to 12m Switchblades I’ve ridden]
-Bar pressure was so low that I was missing feedback from the kite
-I was going fast upwind in conditions that the Switchblade would have not stayed in the sky. (light wind)
-Upwind angles were better that the best I’ve experienced with Switchblade.
-It had a very Zen and cruiser feeling (opposite of adrenaline)
- In general I was very conservative and did not try jumps or relaunches yet. I once got it down with the breaks and it flew up again when I released them
-25m lines + bridle length + foil launching technique make it quite demanding for the beach (space and ground quality). There are 2 beaches that I kite frequently and I can’t launch it there because of space restrictions, especially if other kiters have landed in between… :( :(

All in all quite happy with it (after minor corrections).
Now, I want to become a bit more familiar with it (and foil kites in general) in order to use it with a hydrofoil when my 10m Switchblade can’t reliably stay in the air.

kriskris
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby kriskris » Fri Nov 24, 2017 4:23 pm

Hi Kykeon,
I am thinking about buying the same kite possibly in light fabric. What is your opinion after couple of months of use? Any issues? Did you have to play with the bridle adjustment? Did you have a chance to weight the kite? I am trying to decide between regular and light weight version based on the weight since it is going to be my light wind weapon for hydrofoiling. thanks, Kris

Regis-de-giens
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Regis-de-giens » Fri Nov 24, 2017 5:05 pm

Light wind on hydrofoil= light cloth with no hesitation if you target below 7-8 knots. Even taking into account the additional cost (which appears high vs pansh kite price, but however... you will save confort, efficiency and swimming)

kriskris
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby kriskris » Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:10 pm

thanks again Regis. i am leaning toward A15 but my concern is kite tune up. I read some posts pointing out that A15 needs complicated adjustment and Aurora 2 is ready to fly right out of the beg. Did you have to do any major tune up on your Aurora 2?

Regis-de-giens
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Regis-de-giens » Fri Nov 24, 2017 11:45 pm

None on the v2 light (while v1 was requiring re-briding) and it flies very well. I think it is the same for a15 ; as far as i remember Foilholio felt that A15 was ok out of the bag but made minor adjustments to fit its own feeling (but not mandatory if I remember well).
To me light cloth is even more important on aurora because less agile to loop it and maybe less drift ability.
Last edited by Regis-de-giens on Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kriskris
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby kriskris » Sat Nov 25, 2017 1:05 am

That would be great. I realize that sooner or later you have to tweak bridle some since all the lines work stretch or actually shrink (I experienced that with my FS 21 Silver Arrow) I just wanted to avoid that without even knowing how the kite should behave in a first place! Thanks Regis.

Regis-de-giens
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Regis-de-giens » Sat Nov 25, 2017 9:10 am

Your welcome. Be careful, unlike FS speeds (If you talk about 21m it should be a s3 dlx and not a s2 Sivler arrow, right ? ) you cannot set easily the B and C bridles deviations because there is no mixer test.

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Kykeon
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Kykeon » Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:00 am

Hi,

I'm glad to help although my experience in hydrofoil and foil kites is limited.

I have the standard fabric and I did not even consider the light one.
I'm not experienced with foils and I could damage it , moreover our beaches are sub optimum. I went for durability.
Also for the low end, I have so much room for improvement technique wise...

I think that the weight is about 2.5kg (Can't weight it right now as it is in my vacation house)
That's lighter than most LEIs
I found it to stay in the air with light wind easy but I haven't played a lot with other foils or strutless/single struts

The bridle seems OK to me, Both for light and medium wind.
The only issue I had was that although b6 was connected at the right spot it was passing through c56, piece of cake to correct but a bit confusing if you see a foil first time.
Also the quick release is totally crap. You have to change it.
Considering the price, I would buy it again as a first foil. ( but I would also consider a light LEI for ease of use)

I was lucky to have strong winds and did not fly it much. Therefore I can't comment degradation over time. I've seen none so far.

Where do you live/kite?

@Regis:
Bridle re-adjustment needs lots of time/tests and experience. Sounds impossible for me.
On the other hand, mixer adjustment is another thing. Much easier.
I took some measurements while it is still flying perfect (IMHO). If I notice degradation, I'll bring it to the original setting by adding handmade pigtails (brummel spice on 1.5mm Dyneema)
Here are the measurements:
viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2391108&p=984053#p984053

Regis-de-giens
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Style: 62 kg , light wind, waves
Gear: Conceptair pulsion 18&15&12S, OR Flite 10m , Airush One 9&6, peak 5M , Rally 6, Elf 11 &7, 19m2 single skin proto.
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Regis-de-giens » Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:34 am

Kykeon wrote:
Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:00 am
I took some measurements while it is still flying perfect (IMHO). If I notice degradation, I'll bring it to the original setting by adding handmade pigtails (brummel spice on 1.5mm Dyneema)
Here are the measurements:
viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2391108&p=984053#p984053
Well that is a very good idea, Specially if you are not yet skilled with foilkites.
I have not looked yet at your measurement but I also recommend you to measure and take a picture of the B an C knot location (when A and Z are aligned). Because The 2 spare lines that go through the pulleys can shrink earlier that all briddle network itself , which can lead to loss of low end or loss of stability.

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Kykeon
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Re: Pansh a15 12m review & experience (1st foil kite)

Postby Kykeon » Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:17 am

Regis-de-giens wrote:
Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:34 am
Kykeon wrote:
Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:00 am
I took some measurements while it is still flying perfect (IMHO). If I notice degradation, I'll bring it to the original setting by adding handmade pigtails (brummel spice on 1.5mm Dyneema)
Here are the measurements:
viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2391108&p=984053#p984053
Well that is a very good idea, Specially if you are not yet skilled with foilkites.
I have not looked yet at your measurement but I also recommend you to measure and take a picture of the B an C knot location (when A and Z are aligned). Because The 2 spare lines that go through the pulleys can shrink earlier that all briddle network itself , which can lead to loss of low end or loss of stability.
I think I did exactly what you described, when you click the link, it's in front of you.
Not sure what you initially thought I did.


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