Pansh Ace 3.5M

I took my Pansh 3.5m out today. It's my first 4-line kite, so this review is from a relative newbie. I have flown a 1.8m 2-line foil in quite heavy winds though, so I felt ready to take a step up.

I had read a number of the reviews of Pansh kites on this site first, and I felt prepared when I opened up the package on Friday afternoon. It only took 4 days to get to South Africa from China, so I was impressed with that aspect of their service from the start. The lines were carefully unwound, but it took about 40 minutes to disentangle everything and connect the handles up correctly. By that time all the wind had died, so the kite waited until Sunday to be taken out.. I tried parapacking for an easier setup the next time.

The one thing I had done when ordering the kite was to source kite killers from a local shop, after reading comments about the need for them in other reviews. I got some HQ ones, and was fairly impressed with their quality. The lines going from the wrist straps to the break lines are a fairly strong-looking elasticised cord. The only problem is that they are much thicker than the line they are connecting to, so I have to check the knots each time I set up.

Build quality and materials looked fine to my untrained eye. Other reviewers have gone into this in detail. I was a bit confused distinguishing the power lines from the break lines at first, but it all came clear fairly easily. Then the handles had to be connected. The colour coding wasn't consistent, but from looking at pictures of people flying 4-liners I had worked out that the soft coverings on the handles were meant to be at the top and that the power lines were attached there..

When I got the kite out I found that parapacking really works for me - 5 minutes and I was ready to go. The wind was light - only a few mph, so the kite battled to lift off at first. I did need to adjust the power lines to make them tighter relative to the brakes, because the kite tended to stall and collapse at first. Once going again it pulled hard and shot up high with no sign of the overflying and luffing that others have mentioned. As mentioned by others, it helps to work the kite across the wind window.

The wind died completely after an hour or so, so we came back later in the afternoon and I tried again with my daughter. Again, it took a little effort to get going, but once up the kite went really well. It is very sensitive to the brakes, and I haven't yet learned how to use them to assist with turns. The one side of the kite tends to collapse if I apply any brakes at all??

The kite pulls strongly in conditions where it is just able to fly. I'm a little apprehensive about how it will behave when we are by the coast in a real breeze. I'm well pleased with my purchase, and I'm thinking of getting a 6m while they are still so cheap.

By : brendonwp