HQ Beamer II 3.6M

Well I bought this kite a good few months ago now and I must confess it hasnt got the use I would have like it to get. Sadly the reason are wind and the fact I picked up a 4.9 fusion that is just so great I have to be physically parted from it and it hidden from me or I would probably sleep with it (wife would be upset)

Anyay it has had enough use for me to feel confident enough about its strengths and weakness to finally write a review.

1. Price, absolutely unfaultable! £105 ready to fly, which seems to be the standard price now from most of the reputable shops. Although if you are new to kiting or buying be VERY wary of ebay right now as I have seen 2 shops with the 1.8 at 165 the 3.6 at 199 and the 5m at 240!!! almost double the going rate!

2. Packaging. It comes in a good quality rucksack with HQ's HUGE comedy zip. I must admit I know you dont fly the bag and the zip is utterly pointless but I love it! Its great, makes me smile every time I look at it and that to me counts!

It comes with the standard HQ set up of bits of bumf, vcd, great kite stake in it own sheath and kite killers. The killers are essential but I have managed to snap both of mine a couple of time. resulting in what are now much shorter versions. however the shorter versions seem to work better as if you are overpowered and one gets pulled out of your hand there is not enough momentum to snap the killer! My advice, shorten the killer lines or buy better ones!

3. Flying. This kite has a reasonably good wind range, (sorry forget what it actually is as I am writing this on an oil rig waiting for my chopper home!)

It is a nice easy set up, the brake lines have several knots and it doesnt take a genius to work out that these are for having the brakes loose to tight. people reccomend knot 3 (middle one) but I founf to start with it flew better on the knot closest to the bridle... this could be me or perculiar to thhis one kite (feedback would be nice on this) but I find it flies better on these as irt has almost no brakes from 3 down to 1 (on 1 to land the kite I have to grab a handfull of brakeline and pull, the handles are useless as lines too slack to brake at all)

The kite goes up incredible easily, it powers up well without jerking and sits at the wenith quite happily to give you arms a break. It handles incredibly well. turns quickly sits st the enge of the window without problems. I have not yet got this kite to luff or overfly. Well OK I did once in the buggy when I was being smart and overtook the kite underneath!! lol

This has been a great kite for me, particularly for buggying when the wind is that bit too much for the fusion. Now dont get me wrong this kite is not a wussy 3.6 that I break out when the wind is a bit scary! It still provides an awful lot of power, it will lift you up easily in the right winds and if you get complacent it WILL bite you... it lifted me out of the buggy and dumped me very hard and unceremoniously on my arse in public only recently. and that was all down to me just not watching what I was doing.

All in all this is a WONDERFUL beginners kite, it is probably a wonderful intermediates kite as well. You cannot fault it for price, build quality and flyability.

I came across a bar going VERY cheap new and although this isnt the TSR it apparently flies well with the bar, so that is my next project. I hope it will be as good a learning experience on a bar as its been on the handles.

In conclusion what else can I say about this kite, except if you are thinking about buying one, particularly as a first kite it is unbeatable in terms of basic userbility, build quality and price...

In one word... SUPERB

By : BlindJP