Trainer kite to teach daughter

[14ToeSide]

Any input on the most realistic Trainer kite to teach my 20 year old Daughter to Fly the kite so I can teach her to Kiteboard?
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[Jantrit]

The two/three line trainers are OK for teaching the basics of how to handle a kite but they don't depower so it doesn't completely translate. That said....I have the HQ 350 and its too much I think. Because it is all on all the time, if you take it out in good wind you get a lot of pull when you bring it across the wind window. I have to make sure I am really ready for the pull. I'd go a size smaller for people that haven't handled a kite before.

I'm not an instructor so I'd wait for some of them to chime in though. See what the folks that do this everyday have to say.

[icebird]

If you have a 6 or 7m kite and shallow water with no rocks , you can go out on a sunny light wind day. They are not as fast as trainers and have the depower system, so this can be a good way to learn, with the kite hooked into you and she steering the kite, and also learn to assist launch and landing, and work the release system. When kite control is solid, she will be ready to hook in and learn body drag.

Teach self rescue early because you may not be close enough soon enough if things get messy. This is regardless of prior trainer kite experience or not.

[clubkite]

I highly recommend the Flysurfer Viron. Its the best trainer kite I have used and I have used many. It flies similarly to full size kites.

The Viron is extremely stable and moves very slowly so students have time to react correctly. The largest Viron at 6m can even be used to pull a rider in stronger winds.

The Viron also comes in deluxe cloth which costs more but in my opinion is worth it. The lighter deluxe cloth allows the Viron to fly in just 5 knots of winds.

We have been using the Viron for 2 years (4 seasons) with not any tear or damage at all.

I am a flysurfer dealer.

[rtz]

I have the little 2m SlingShot trainer(the B2). It's fine as is for two people so the other can relaunch it. Possibly get the 3rd line for it for easy relaunch(I don't have experience with that).

A better trainer option would possibly be the Sensei trainer from kiteboarding.com. It's claimed to be easy relaunch on two lines. If I was buying again; that's what I'd get.

Most of the two line trainer kites totally suck for one person to relaunch.

The primary advantage to one of these style kites is to initially learn how to just fly the kite and not crash it all the time.

With a LEI kite; the possibility of blowing out the bladders is there.

One thing that is good to do when static flying one of the small trainers is going for a walk with it. It's easy flying standing in one spot. If the wind is blowing from the south for example, walk east/west and have the kite in position like one would have if going across the water and then simulate turning around. Also practice landing it.

For the money; that little Ozone kite seems to be a pretty good deal. I'd only fly it in the water and do body drags with it and practice/learn how to fly. I definitely wouldn't fly it on land. Due to crashing it or getting dragged on the ground by it.

http://ozonekitesusa.com/proddetail.asp ... 3_uno_size

[Séb]

Perfectly agree with Clubkite above, Flysurfer Viron 6m deluxe would be my pick. Very safe, stable, auto relaunch, slow for a 6m so it is easier to learn. Can take a lot of abuse. We use to teach with the 4m and 6m standard version but now we only teach with the 6m deluxe and it is much better because it need very little wind to practice.

[jbdc]

Both here and on the Kiteboarding subreddit, I usually advocate for a 4-line fixed-bridle foil powerkite on handles as a trainer. For someone just starting out, it gives all the control (but no depower) at the lowest cost; and doesn't require a harness.

...but since you probably have a bunch of kite gear already, you can leverage that; the bars and lines specifically. To echo some of what others have said: If you have a small (5m-ish) SLEI, or can find one for cheap; that could work if you're in the water, and can fill the role of a storm kite for you. I wouldn't want to put an inflatable in the hands of an abject beginner on land. That's a repair waiting to happen.

If you'd prefer to do the introduction on land (most do), a depower foil like clubkite mentions is your best bet. FS has the Viron, HQ has the Apex 4. The cheap alternative is the Pansh Blaze II. I'll be getting mine this week, so I haven't tried one yet; but I've heard it works pretty well. These can also be used for traction activites on land: buggying, all-terrain boarding, snow kiting.

Just remember that the safety system on whatever bar you're using probably won't work with a foil--they are usually flagged on the rear lines instead of the fronts (as with most inflatables). You could make your own safety system, but the easiest thing to do if you have a bar with "Oh Shit Handles" is just to clip the kiteleash into one of those.

While I respect the simplicity of 2-3 line trainers; I think they do a piss-poor job of teaching anything other than a very basic introduction to the wind window. And I think it's why people tend to write-off trainers entirely, or quickly abandon them after hitting the water. If that's all you want out of a trainer, then fine; but if you want to learn any sort of actual kite control, you need four lines.

[SO_FL_Kiter]

Picked up a 3M best Guroo... Hard to find, but it's a similar design to the Waroo without one pump and reinforcements on the LE for handling the inevitable crashes. My priorities were actual 4 line control and water relaunch capability.

[14ToeSide]

Thank u all for taking the time to give advice. I have a good idea now on what to buy.

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