Ozone Samurai 2 3M

After being inspired by the 'kite surfing' radio advert by vodafone I think, the wife decided that instead of whinging on about something yet again that I give it a try.

We were down in Cornwall at the time doing a bit of camping near Looe and after finally plucking up the courage to go in Mistral Kites, had organised a lesson to go out in the next few days. This was subsequently changed due to the wind, or lack of it, something which I have found quite important as regards this hobby of ours. So anyway, four days later I was in Matt's pickup heading into the moors, OK, sounding suspicious, with a buggy, a board, and some kites.

Had an awesome time flying first a little flexi, before moving onto a 2m samurai 1 and subsequently having a go in a buggy. Loved it all, but felt out of control, so upon returning to the shop, instead of buying everything, I picked up the Samurai 2, in the 3m size as my first kite.

Coool.

Now desperate to try it out, which had to wait a week or so. Some beach in Devon. Ripped it first time out, then sunk it in the sea. Not the positive start I had hoped for, but still fun, knowing that I had the 1 month free repair service. So off it went back to ozone and I sat and twiddled my thumbs. When I got it back couldn't wait to get it out again, and found a local field near my house which had recently been harvested. Off we go then.

So in terms of reviewing it, rather than writing my life history, the construction is bang on, really well made, nice bag etc but I would expect that for a £250 kite.

In flying terms it is truly excellent, fast, stable and forgiving; if you fly it out of the window, it will happily come back, rather than die on its arse like some other kites I have flown. Good power too; I'm a big bloke, and after an hour static flying you can really feel it in the old shoulders. One thing I didn't realise is the slight lift this kite has, only in really gusty conditions, high wind kite jumping had me 6 foot in the air before getting dragged off down the field, face first.

A nice moto X helmet has since been invested in. Also keeping my feet on the ground if I can help it! I got the kite primarily to get into buggying, so when the buggy arrived the combination of the two is excellent. Scarey pull in higher wind conditions, put I was finding that in lower wind, sub 15mph, it was struggling too get ant decent traction. Hence the purchase on the 7.2m. Again from Mistral kites.

Quality again is spot on, though getting it in the same size rucksack as they provide for the 3m is a bit of a squeeze. What really surprised me was the difference in the way that they fly. Whereas the 3m is a jetski, the 7.2 is an oil tanker. SOOO slow to turn, but using the brakes to turn soon sorted this out. Also doing little pirouettes under the kite to untwist lines, rather trying to loop it; 1 turn before hitting the deck if your lucky, that and having to run 100 yards down the field when it pulls through the window.

The 7.2m is a great buggy kite. In low winds, lock it into position and it just stays there giving consistent pull, haven't flown it in higher winds as too scared, never a bad thing. Still getting the overall hang on buggying, so not really in a position to comment on upwind performance as I find this a pain in the arse and usually end up doing the walk of shame. In comparisons to other kites I have flown, its seems very similar to the flexi rage, something I might have to get soon. A high quality kite, that wants to fly, giving you controllable feel and power.

Highly recommended!!

By : maxgtfc