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HQ kites are a bad joke

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doodiehead
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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby doodiehead » Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:58 pm

I would have to disagree. I have a Montana III 9.5 and a Montana VI 12.5 and I love them both. The 9.5 will give you lift in 18mph winds, but you also need to know how to fly the kite.

The new Montana VI 12.5 is the liftiest kite I have ever flown. Yes there were a few times where I was dropped from over 10ft, but that was in the learning stages going from the III to the VI. Now that I have a few hundred hours on her I cannot think of flying anything else. I have had a couple 30ft high jumps off flat ground in 20+ winds with no problem.

I personally would not say a Montana is the best kite for the beginning, non hardcore kiter.

I cannot say enough good things about the kites I own. I LOVE HQ!!

My video of my flying my new Montana VI, most of which was from December. Jumps have gotten much larger since then.

http://vimeo.com/19403500

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby metivir » Tue Feb 15, 2011 3:46 pm

I have the Montana 3 and was wondering how you compare the 6 to it? I have had always great things to say about it but was thinking of a new purchase. The kite seems a little tired and doesnt handle the way it used to. I plan to replace the lines soon. I also ride the apex 5 and a Neo first generation.
Can you compare it to the new frenzy?

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby nicegrab » Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:50 pm

Many moons ago I bought original versions (2008?) of the Neo 11m and Rush II 300 Pro 3m Trainer. Gotta say they're not as good as my Ocean Rodeo's on water, but they have their place in the quiver, especially for mountain boarding, etc... Bomb proof AFAIC!
11mNeo.jpg
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Ittiandro
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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby Ittiandro » Sun Dec 03, 2017 11:35 pm

Hi

I assume somebody of Kitemare will read my post, because a couple of answers to Snowkitejoe seem to come from Kitemare people.

My questions are addressed to them bu also to anybody who knows about these kites.

I am in Montreal, Canada. I wonder if there is any dealer in Quebec, but maybe you can answer my questions. It may speed up my decision, because I may start using the kite on the snow in a few weeks..

I am considering one of the HQ Hydra trainer kites, ( the Hydra 300 or 350) but before buying, I’d like to see one or at least have some feedback on this Forum.

I have questions and mixed feelings. I know German products are reliable , but I wouldn’t want to buy a top quality..toy, as the word “ trainer” can easily be interpreted in this sense ( thanks for being frank, anyway, Kitemare!) .

The following questions arise in my mind:
1. Somebody in this thread , an instructor, says that he always mentions the caveats of these kites to students or potential buyers .
I don’t know if he means the usual safety caveats or if he means that , for the price, the buyer should expect some serious limitations in performance, as compared to top-of-the-range and more expensive kites. If I were to pay $ 500 for a Hydra kite kite instead of $ 1000 or $ 1500 , I would still have wasted my money if all I get is a..toy, good to play on the beach, but with little or no lift to kite around seriously.
Bottom line, how do these kites compare in terms of lift and speed to other more expensive kites?

2. If the amount of air in the cells cannot be controlled with a pump and depends on the “ natural” air flow into the kite as it flies, isn’t there a danger that the kite may remain under-inflated and become too floppy, with little lift, like a rag..?

After all, if the vents are open enough to let air in, they may be also open enough to let it escape ...In other words , there would never be a full air flow getting in and air would always escape.., unless there is a way to control the outflow ...
This is what may have happened with Snowkitejoe above . He probably got carried away when he vented out his bile after using the Montana and Hydra kites, but as usual truth is not always on one side…Maybe he did set it up wrongly, but maybe it was also the kite itself for the reason mentioned above.

3 The manual says that the kite will hold the air for" SOME TIME(?)" . This worries me. I’m a beginner and the kite will be in the water quite often. It would be annoying, if not dangerous, if it deflated on the water and I cannot re-launch it.


4 Can ( or should) it be used with a harness? I windsurf and I know that a harness is less tiring for the arms, probably even with a kite. I can certainly easily install a harness line on the control bar, but I want to make sure that it is safe.
5 By the way, some people use kites with windsurfing boards or even SUP’s in light winds . Do you recommend it from the safety standpoint?
6 Size: here in the Montreal ( Canada) region winds are usually low in the summer( about 10-15 knts most of the time) . Which one of the 3 sizes do you suggest, considering I weigh 185 lbs? The 2.6 m2 may be too small for light winds. I would love the 4.2 m2 for more traction in low winds, but may be it is too powerful in 15 knts or more.
Perhaps the 3.4 is a good choice. By the way I may be using it also as a snow kite in the winter. Which size do you recommend, overall?

7. How long are the lines? I want to have an idea how high it can go up as compared to other kites, because I think there is a correlationbetween the height and the wind power, which maybe an asset with a small kite in low winds, but a liability in a large kite in strong winds.

Please try to answer ALL the questions point by point. THey are important to me. If I have the least doubt, I won't be comfortable in buying the kite.

Thanks

Ittiandro

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby early bird2 » Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:23 am

You should first have a beginner lesson at a kiteschool , all your questions will be answered at once .

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby Schmidy » Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:28 am

early bird2 wrote:
Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:23 am
You should first have a beginner lesson at a kiteschool , all your questions will be answered at once .
for sure. :thumb: That will help answer a lot of the questions. :D

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby jakemoore » Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:35 am

I definitely would consult the ancient wisdom contained in early posts by PumpMeUp before attempting to fly an HQ hydra.

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby Matteo V » Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:40 am

jakemoore wrote:
Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:35 am
I definitely would consult the ancient wisdom contained in early posts by PumpMeUp before attempting to fly an HQ hydra.
Ohhhhh snap!

Let's not get pumpy involved here. Just me hoping to save some time.


Funny thing about this post is it is airing the old laundry that saw HQ take tons of business away from Ozone. Well, it would be more accurate to say Ozone gave tons of business to HQ

Back in 2009-2010 (and a bit prior), the US Ozone distributor was not making customers happy. Retailers were having a near impossible time getting obvious warranty claims to be honored by the US Ozone distributor. This saw myself, a loyal purchaser of BRAND NEW Ozone kites along with many others, switching to HQ. And what I found was amazing. Reliable high performance designs in the Montana V, VI, and VII, quality product, and no need for bothering with warranty claims. Even the HQ distributor was aware of the reason of the sudden increase in sales of their product. I continued to purchase their kites up until the Matrixx II. Then I started buying used.

HQ has produced some of the best kites of the time. The Matrixx I was one of the highest performance kites on the market when released. If you can fly one back to back with an Ozone "Chrono II" and a Flysurfer "Speed (2,3, or 4), you will see that it is almost as good as the Chrono II and light years ahead of the Speed series. And that was way before the "Chrono II" was ever available!

But that is not to say HQ has not made some mistakes along the way. The Matrixx II was one of those mistakes. It wound up having the lower performance of the Flysurfer "Speed" series. Then there is the HQ "Apex". In my opinion, it is such a bad foil kite, that it is the best trainer foil kite. All of the bad things that foil kites are known for are very apparent in the flight characteristics of the Apex series (II, III, and IV). If you can fly this kite, you will be a better kiter and your will be able to fly any foil. If you can ride this kite, you can ride almost any other bad (not dangerous) kite on the market.

Thanks for dredging this one up.

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby gbrungra » Mon Dec 04, 2017 6:19 am

I bought a new HQ Hydra 3.5m as a trainer kite. I wish I jd instead spent the money on a used harness, used bar/lines, and used LEI kite, in the smallest size I could find (4-5m). It would have been just as safe to learn, would have transferred skills better (depower, harness), and saved me money when I got full sized kites.

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Re: HQ kites are a bad joke

Postby Ittiandro » Mon Dec 04, 2017 6:50 am

early bird2 wrote:
Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:23 am
You should first have a beginner lesson at a kiteschool , all your questions will be answered at once .
Thanks early bird2

Evntually I will do it , may be next summer, but I am sure a kite school will be able to answer only some of my questions, not all and certainly not the more important ones.
I have to have these questions answered before I buy one of their kites.

This is because my questions deal only marginally with kiting technique or how-to-do issues, which, I agree, any competent instructor would be be able to answer regardless of the brand .
The more important questions are instead about some of the specific features of the Kitmare-HQ brand ( the German manufacturer ) and I doubt that any run-of-the-mill local instructor here knows this brand, or if knows it, that he knows it well enough to answer them.

I posted here because I noticed that Snowkitejoes’ caustic comments about his experience with this brand have been immediately picked up and addressed, somewhat defensively, by somebody who in all likelihood is a representative of the manufacturer or a dealer or somebody connected to (or having a vested interest in ) this company, because he identifies himself as "Chris-HQ Kites" and invites our disgruntled Snowkitejoe to contact him “ to see-in his words-what he can do”. If so he is probably my best bet to have my questions answered. I hope he will see my post and take the time to answer my questions..

Ittiandro


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