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As a newbie I trawled all the info I could to wok out which kite to buy. Eventually I decided on the Beamer II 3.6. Why? It seamed to be about the right size for a blubbery bloke, they had a good reputation, you could buy a whole near death experience in a bag and the price was right. When I got it home I did the usual poking and prodding. To my untutored eyes everything looked ok. I was pleased to have both a kite stake and kite killers in the bag. The instructions were simple but comprehensive. All in all I was a happy bunny. The next day I want out to try it out. Setting up was easy, with help from a mate who knew what he was doing, and the beast was soon flying. Then things went a little 'Pete Tong'. In retrospect winds of 25 to 35 mph were a little ambitious for a maiden flight! Anyhow the only bit of kit that failed was one of the kite killers as it got ripped to bits! Darren, my mate, decided to insult the Beamer by saying it was a little gurlie kite so it dragged him all over the field we were using! So, how am I managing now? In short I've still relatively little flying time. This is because the winds have been a little high recently. When you can get a board going up wing at a high speed using a Radsail 145 you know there is a bit of power behind the wind! I do find that the kite often collapses at the edge of the wind window in a way that Radsail's (Pro 4m and Radsail 2.4m) don't. That may just be pilot error. On the plus side its powerful but with relatively little lift, especially compared with a Crossfire 3m. Apart from a failed kite killer all the kit including the bag has been robust. I did manage one day when the wind was below 10mph and the Beamer was great: easy to control and very responsive. What's next? Well, I'm impressed enough with the 3.6 to buy a Beamer II 1.8. This is so my son (9 years old) can use it on quiet days and I can fly something on windy days. (I'll still keep the Radsail 145 for days when the wind is over 40mph!) To summarise: good kit at a belting price, easy to fly in sensible winds, lots of power but relatively little lift. Recommended! By : s3t955i

OK decided that I should finally contribute! I bought my gear in May last year so am writing this from the point of view of somebody who has used it a bit. A bit about me first. I got into kiting when I was very young with the obligatory single line kites, moving through delta stunt kites in my teens. I flirted with the idea of kite surfing but after visiting some kite stores was shocked at the prices of starter kit and not living near the sea made it hard to justify. That was until I discovered Kite landboarding! Any I did my research, and went to speak to my local kiteshop Tradewind in Reading. My modest budget of £300 was fairly tight but for that I got a 3.6 Beamer, helmet and MBS Core 8 board. this review is about the kite though so I will concentrate on that. I do remember vividly seeing the kite for the first time when the guy opened it out for me in the shop. Errrr GULP! It's huge! Well it was to me bearing in mind I had only seen delta wings close up before this. Fast forward to later that evening and it's time for first flight and proper investigation of what I had bought. I've heard so much bad stuff about the bag, but I carried it around Reading for 3 hours after I bought the kite (dragging the board too!) and it was comfortable and did not fall apart. It has loads of storage and I think it looks cool. The bag also contained a groundstake in holder, that can be attached to your belt. I find this extremely useful as a boarder, and the stake is strong and very quick to deploy. Again I have heard so much bad rep about the handles, but i have never had a problem. Admittedly I have not flown with anything other than HQ handles, but I find that the wind is either so light that you don't notice the quality of the handles, or blowing a gale and you have other things on your mind. the kite also come with good documentation, although mine did not have the DVD. Anyway, I setup the kite as per instructions, attached lines, donned kite killers, gave the kite a tug and up it went. There was not much wind but i could fly it, and I could tell that it was going to pull a lot when the wind filled in. So good first impression, a lot of pull..Awesome! I flew the kite just about every time I could over the coming months, living only 5 minutes walk from Upton Court in Slough, meant that I could get out flying on every nice evening. The kite is powerful! I know it's a beginner kite but it has enough grunt to heft me around and I weigh over 15 stone. I have had air once or twice but only ever a foot or so and never intentionally. great for scudding though! It is fast through the air, faster than I was expecting and responds well to brake input at the edges of the wind window. It is quite easy to overfly it if you have slack brakes in high wind but I fly with quite a lot of brake anyway so I don't personally have a problem. As stated I use the kite for traction on my landboard. It works very well once you get the hang of it. it can get you going fairly fast, much faster than running speed and definitely fast enough to scare me! I found that the kite does not like lumpy winds much, and not the most stable in the sky. I said before that it is a beginners kite, but any kite with this much Oomph must be treated with respect. I've had my fair share of face plants, and the kite killers work very well! I even broke my hand on one, so that illustrates how much respect you must show this kite. Main Good points: Good pullResonable build quality, and robust (this kite has been crashed, me being a beginner, but there is not a mark on it)Good package, all you need to get flying, except helmet and padsExcellant value for money. In terms of fun per pound this has easily been my best purchase, ever! Main Bad points: Can be twitchy in lumpy wind I can't think of too many more major points. There are things to be improved, but this is not a top-of-the-range kite (even for HQ) but for the money represents amazing value for money. I would even say that if you rated a kite on the amount of fun it gave you against finacial outlay, then this would beat many kites from high end manufacturs hands down. Of course you can spend a lot more on a beginners kite, but can you justify the significant extra outlay when this does the job? I couldn't which is why I am buying another HQ kite this year, which says it all really. By : panthro

At last, I hear you say, a review on the Beamer 3.6. This just had to be done the kites are so rare and reviews so difficult to come by. It was thanks to all the great people on racekites.com that I finally decided to by the Beamer, thanks for all the help. So in September 2005 I make my way to the local kite shop and get great advice and a relatively cheap kite. As is the case with HQ it’s a complete ready to fly kit. * Bag (including comedy zip) * Kite (3.6m is bigger than you think) * Lines (4 x 25m of self tangling hell) * Handles (simple and firm) * Kit killers (use them but replace the cord, see below) * Winder (why? See later) * Ground stake (subtle colour scheme and holster so you can imbed the handle in your own hip) * Instruction book (in German but the pictures helped) * DVD Build Quality First impressions are good. The bag seems ok, the kite looks great and even the lines looked alright (after they were untangled which took and hour and nearly caused a divorce). 5 months, several crashes, wet / muddy fields and some new flyers have not changed this appearance. The kite and bag are still fine with no signs of wear on either. The lines are a different story though, one of the brake lines decide to stretch about 6 inches so was adjusted it then stretched again so adjusted again. One main line broke but that was my fault flying in winds too high for my ability. All lines are now ok thanks to my wife, several of my children and the great people at HQ (I cannot fault their customer service). The cord on the kite killers needs replacing with shock cord (it’s the stretchy stuff from your local hardware store) Jerry’s post on this site gives all the info about why and how. Flying (first flight and beyond) Setting up is nice and simple; larks head knots for all connections. The 2 thicker lines go from the top leaders on the handles to the main (top) bridle line on the kite, the kite killers attach against the second knot on the bottom leader from the handle and finally the 2 thinner lines go from the bottom handle leader to the brake (bottom) bridle line on the kite, try a knot nearer to the kite as it’s better to try and fly with too much rather than no brake. The only problem was sorting the tangles in the lines other than that it was as easy as it sounds. So all set up, handles staked, lines all straight, kite standing ready to launch, out in light but lumpy wind and off we go. Strap on kite killers, pick up handles hold properly and pull back. Cue wife covering the ears of small children and giving me a very disapproving look. Having never flown a “proper” kite before I found that all the advice and theory was not enough preparation for the pull / fun that this thing generates I’m afraid to say that instinctive swearing was the only option. 5 minutes, several crashes, some scuds later I’m grinning like I’m back on the medication and totally hooked. 5 months later I’m still grinning and even more addicted. Initial flight problems included the obvious; luffing, over flying, edges folding in and over turning. All solved by me finding out how to fly properly. Now the kite flies really well; no luffing or over flying and the edges only fold when I get too confident and fly to close to the window edge. Not having done anything with boards or buggies I cannot comment on this kites suitability but or static flying it truly is great fun. When other flyers have had the chance to try this out they have been amazed at its speed through the window, stability and power. Conclusion Plus side * Good value for money all in one introduction to kiting. * Seems to last well and has survived some horrendous crashes.· Pulls nicely and flies in quite low wind. Down side * Getting the lines off that winder is a complete pig. Throw it away and parapack every time. * It seems to have lead to a money leak in my wallet, apparently most of it is with HQ again as I find myself in possession of a 5.0m Crossfire. Whoops I wonder how that happened. * The cord on the killers can pull through the webbing. If you are looking at these reviews to find yourself a beginners kite then your search is over, make your way to your local kite shop and repeat after me “I would like one of those nice Beamer mark 2 3.6m kites please Mr kite supplier. Thank you.” Author : Tab3

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

It will fly in lighter winds, with work, but I not recommened anything less than 5mph which is the lower end of a 2 Bft. Package : The new Beamer’s for 2005 have undergone several changes. The marketing lists them as : * Completely redesigned sail graphics * Extremely pre-stretched bridle lines for even better performance in high winds * New quad handles with kite killer and ground stake loop * Metal ground stake for securing kite on ground *Cool and completely redesigned “Big Zipper” backpack The graphics do look better to me, and my daughter is delighted with the “purple” of the 1.8 version as to her it is “pink”. Not having flown the previous version I can’t say if the bridle is any better, but it certainly held it’s shape and performed well in the 20mph winds I tested in, but more on that later. The new handles, again can’t compare them with the “old” handles but I have to say I liked them in general. They are thinner than my flexi handles, as well as not being so deeply soft. To me this is a good thing. The black coating over the handles did feel as if it was moving slightly, rotating on the handle in the more powered up passes. To me, not a good thing. The ground stake is a solid piece of kit with a bright orange knob on the top. It comes in a sheath and is a vast improvement on the tent pegs I had been using. The backpack, hmmm, well, I wouldn’t say cool. I’m a middle aged bloke and I really don’t need any comments about the big zipper from passing kids. There are some stitching issues with the bag I received. Time will tell how resilient it is. On the plus side it is spacious enough with at least one good pocket. (I don’t think I’d trust the “Big Zip” pocket for anything essential, maybe a chocolate bar. Nope in my book that’s classed as essential as well.) You also get a CD with a video on it. Worth watching at least once. Kite Setup : Getting everything out of the bag on the local playing field in light winds and laying it all out was simple enough. I had an issue with one brake bridle having a longer “tail” then the other so counting the knots from the end and attaching the brake lines resulted in uneven lengths. Easily resolved by moving one side up a knot. The stitching on the seams looked solid and even. The material was light and very “crisp packet” sounding. Just because it sounds good what does that actually mean? If the material was a cotton it would be so pliable it would have difficulty maintaining the foil shape. The material on the Beamer is a rip-stop nylon and so maintains its form much better by not being so soft. Having said that, most modern foil kites use similar material but not all “crisp packets” are created even. My little Radsail 1.45 gets heavy when it’s wet, my Blade III also takes on a little water, but not as badly as the Radsail. The Beamer is more like the Blade than the Radsail in terms of water retention. Not very scientific, I know, but there you go. The bridles are knotted rather than sown, and while setting up there was the inevitable “loop through loop” thing going on. Easily sorted though and now the lines are on, their not coming off, so it shouldn’t be an issue again. Flying : When I set the kite up it was blowing between 3 mph and 5 mph, which is perhaps not the best time to fly this small kite, but you know what it’s like. It’s all set up and you have to give it a try. Surprisingly the Beamer did get off the ground, and in the stronger gusts it gave some promise as to what it might do. Sunday afternoon, and I had the afternoon to myself, but very little wind about. The “new kite phenomenon” strikes again. However I set off for the correct side of the Island for onshore winds. The sea looked like a mirror. “May as well go fishing” I thought and so headed into the mountains to Sulby reservoir. On the way I noticed hat the paragliders where out doing their thing, so I took a change of direction and parked up behind them. 7mph, much better! Looking upto the peak of Ben-y-pot I thought “What the heck, at least the view will be good.” So off I went, chatted with some of the paragliders still on the ground as I passed and headed to the summit. 12 to 15 mph. Much, much better! There wasn’t too much room on the top so setting up the Blade III might of seem me off the edge and joining the paragliders, so I setup the Beamer so see if it would pull. It certainly did! Straight to the top of the window, smooth and stable. No luffing, bouncing or jitters. It just sat there grinning. Brining it down into the power and immediately the pull came on. Nowhere near as aggressive as the Blade, and much more predictable. It flew fast across the window and was totally responsive to the brakes. Turning on a wingtip was easily achievable. The wind gradually picked up to between 15 and 20 mph as I was flying. Now there was some real pull on the handles, which occasionally had my 18 stone taking a few steps forward as it hit the middle of the power zone. I have no doubt that the same wind speed on the beach would have had my bulk scudding. An adjustment to tighten the brakes, a little more, was required in the stronger winds, but with all the knots pre-placed by HQ that wasn't a problem at all. Fast figure 8’ing, to keep it in the power, was frantic but positive, with feedback through the handles as to the kite’s position a welcome change to the Blade experience of “watch me like a hawk because if you stop I will bite.” To rest my arms I setup the two line Radsail 1.45. In comparison the Radsail had very little pull, as you would expect from such a small kite. What you perhaps wouldn’t expect is that across the window it was only marginally faster than the Beamer. Being on top of a mountain, and flying at the ridge, one thing your going to get is updraft with associated lift. When the updraft kicked in, and if the Beamer was at the top of the window, the lift was immediate and apparent as I adopted the classic Blade flyers pose with arms outstretched overhead, however most of the time there wasn’t much lift at the zenith from the Beamer. This was not the place or time to setup the Blade though. I did come down eventually to the lighter winds and setup the 3m Blade III. Having flown on the Beamer handles for a few hours it would give me the opportunity to compare Flexi handles. For the first time I noticed the neoprene sock on the Flexi handles and that difference in feeling between the fingers on and those off. The extra cover over the main lines was thicker but it didn’t feel as if it chaffed as much as the bare lines of the Beamer handles. I’ve got big hands, so the extra width on the Flexi handles has never been an issue for me. In fact on balance I prefer the extra width. That is not to say I dislike the Beamer handles, because I do like them and certainly won’t be looking to swap them in the immediate future. Conclusion : My daughter hasn’t had the chance to fly the Beamer yet as she was at a party while I was testing. You’ll have to wait for a follow-up review when she has got her hands on it. To me this is going to be a great high wind kite, and lots of fun for a lunchtime whiz. The package is great value for money. When I do get a ATB I think this will be the engine for it while I’m learning, as it is much more forgiving than the Blade. As it is so stable and forgiving I have no worries about using this as a training kite, putting it in the hands of the totally inexperienced in lighter winds. However, once the wind picks up, make no mistake, this is a serious bit of kit. Author : Custheyder

After flying a 1.8m decathlon 2 line kite for a year or two, I decided that I wanted to get scared. After looking around online, I discovered that a really, really god kite shop was less that 10 minutes from where I live (Powerkiteshop, Oldbury) and so decided to take the plunge. I didn't want to spen big bucks but wanted something that would throw my 14 stone frame around a field if the mood took me and it appeared that the HQ Beamer range was the best kite for the job and was very, very good value. Anyway, cut a long story short I went, got some superb advice and tips, and walked away with a Beamer 3.6 in a big rucksack, with a big zip and a big smile. On the day of purchase the guys in the shops recomended that that I did not fly that day as the wind was too bloody strong. I took their advice. Until about 6.30pm! I couldn't help myself and so set off to find a patch of open ground. Having found a playing field I proceeded to set the kite up. Although a lot harder than a two liner, I set the whole thing up in about 5 minutes. Anyway. Not much wind, got it up, moved it around a bit and packed it away. On the way home I was cursing myself for not getting a 5 meter as I was convinced that this would have been better. The next afternoon, I had nothing on, the sun was out and although there was no wind (or so I thought) I decided to go to the local clent hills to have a second bash at the beamer. Setup this time was about one minute (having read the how to's on various sites) and I had the beast staked and sitting on it's back edge ready for action. I unhooked the handles, grabbed hold and WWHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHH! Despite there being no wind (;-))))), the thing took off like a rocket and nearly took my arms with it. Although, as I learnt within .001 of a second, this was a seriously powerful kite, my experience with the two liner stood me in good stead and I soon had it zigging and zagging all over the place with me following closely behind and at a rate of knots. Despite the lack of wind, once in the window, this kite is fan bloody tastic. Easy to control, powerful beyond belief and mellow beyond words. I was a very happy man. Sun out, sky blue, peace and quiet and a ferrari on strings in front of me. An hour later, aching, shaking and sore, I (para)packed the monster away and staggered to the car. So what had I learnt? 1) Forget 2 line kites ! 2) Take advice. 3) Size isn't important :-)) 4) Be carefull. This is a serious kite in light winds and will probably be frightening in stronger winds (read frightening as wiicckkkkked !!!). It threw all 14 stone of me around like a rag doll. 5) Stake the kite out and sit it upright on its back edge ready for action. Because with these kites you can. 6) Learn how to use the brakes and land the kite backwards on it's bum then leave it there until you want to go again. 7) The 3.6 Beamer is good 😎 The 3.6 Beamer is WIIIICCKKKKKKKEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDD. Although I have absolutely no experience of any other kite, for someone like myself with no experience of proper kites but with the need to feel the fear as a beginner, the beamer is an absolute cracker. More money may equal more performance etc etc but it will take me a long time to build up the stamina, courage and strength to move on up. All in all a fantastically eye opening serious gear change of a kite and good, good value. If you want to be able to pick things up without bending, get an arm stretching power kite :-)))))))))))))) By : devs

O great! another, yes another! review on the Beamer II. lol. well firstly the price, i got mine for £104.99 with free postage, seems very cheap for what it is! A nice good quality bag with the "big zipper" contains everything you need to get started including the most important instructions! and an quite cd with some nice clips on. Setting up... at first all the lines can look very confussing if it is your first time flying powerkites, and if your like me you dont want to get them tangled up all over the place! anyways, after finding out the the correct way the brake and power lines go you should be ready to go! Flying (the best bit!)... taking off is really easy, just a quick tug of the top of the handles and away it goes! However remember to respect the wind, on my first go it was about 18mph and i wenting shooting up with it... i would recomend about 10 - 12mph wind for first few attemps, its enough to get quite abit of power but not enough to pull you up! Performance is pretty good, turns nicelys and you can keep nice control. i went out to some very strong winds with this kite and it was dragging and lifting me all over the place, however i am very light at 9.4 stone but it also had my 14 stone dad up a few times. Im only a beginer buggier but its had me out of my buggy, and had help me do a 360 spin on the spot, hehe! Packing away... my dad and have had many different ways of doing this but have decied to do a slow but neat way at the moment but are yet to try para. packing. more details can me found in guides on the web site. Also the bag is very good in size for easy packing, i have fitted all the kite stuff, a harness, gloves, drinks and my dads fags in there and still had room! Overall a great kite to start powerkiting with, and although people say its a great starting kite dont under estimate the power it has! Happy flying! By : joshyounguk

Hello everyone, this is a review about my relatively new beamer II 5m. I've now flown it in a variety of wind conditions now so I'm fairly sure of what it's like now. I would say the build quality and material used is generally pretty good, it's already taken a lot of abuse which I wasn't expecting it to be able to take (due to it's price being quite low compaired to other kites of it's size). The general 'ready to fly' package is rather good I must say, the handles are quite comfortable and quite a nice size, the ground stake defently useful for setting it up by yourself and on windy days, and the lines (485/220lb) seem very good and hasen't let me down yet. The back sack is also pretty good and yes, the novelty size zip is there, and IS as cool as it is useless. It also comes with kite killers. I find it rather nice to actually fly too, while it's quite slow (probably due to it's size) it's quite easy to make nice long (and when it's not so windy) low swoops in quite a majestic fashion. Faster turning can be accomplished with little tugs on the brakes here and there, I generally find this method less effort and much more effective for manovering rather then moving the handles vast distences apart. In conclusion of performance, I generally find it very nice and relaxing to fly in light winds (although if it's too light you do have to keep it working) but defently a beast in higher winds (I call mine "Mary, the spankstress"), this kite certinly does pull, and in certain conditions lift too. It's certinly dispenced it fair share of beatings to be sure. Generally when you keep it working it's very stable, but there are times when flying in light winds (or gusty/) that the kite will fold in on itself, this can usually be easily recovered from with a quick tug on the power lines. These will probably become less frequent as you fly it more. I defently don't regret buying this kite and I see it as a very good price (I got mine for £135 new) and it defently will give you a kick if you're not paying attention or don't respect the wind conditions. My advise would be with this kite - if you're not sure whether you should fly it, don't. Also when starting off with this kite, wear those kite killers too, and don't forget that they're there! Anyway, hope you found this useful. Happy flying : ) By : Penguinwithhair

What can you say about the Beamer II 3.6 that has not already been said in all the other reviews? This was the first 4 line kite I purchased about a year ago and I still use this as a 'High wind' kite. I've certainly moved on in terms of kite size and even experimenting with depower but when I get this kite out of the bag it always gives me a feeling of faithfullness that it is never going to let me down. I can't tell you why I picked the Beamer over similar priced entry level kites just instinct I guess but the thing I like about the Beamers is that everything it does is based on simplicity. Starting with the contact you have with the kite i.e. the handles simple but strong and obviously effective ... OK so they might give you a few blisters but nothing major. The lines are pre stretched so you don't have to worry about line lengths and the chosen length of line seems to suit the kite perfectly, the bridle again simple but effective - even the worst bridle tangle I have had has only taken me 10 minutes to figure out. The flying bit of the kite isn't the prettiest to look at and they always look like they have too much brake on but again its functional and the graphics are OK I guess. How does it fly? Hardly any lift, fairly predictable around the wind window, not the most stable on gusty days - but what do you expect - a good board engine (if you don't want to jump) that does require a bit of work to keep it moving. The best thing I can say about this kite is that its the first one I reach for when I am teaching someone new to powerkiting you get everything you need in the bag (ground stake, skinny little kite killers (that work) etc etc all in a little back pack that Dora the Explorer wouldn't feel out of place with. The reaction of begginers to the first flight with power (and boy can it pull sometimes) seeing someone being able to reverse launch and brake turn figure 8's within 30-40 minutes of picking it up are an indication of how easy this kite is too fly. Funniest moment with the Beamer II - A freezing cold day at Greatstone beach, a big lake of water in the middle of the beach..... 30..ish mph winds. My friend who normally flies a 4M Crossfire and berates the power that a little Beamer II 3.6 generates face planting off his board and being dragged head first through the lake .......then chosing to release the kite killers, then the sight of him standing up and looking like the Swamp thing. By : daisy186

I'm brand new to kiting and wanted something with decent power and stability to learn to fly on...I think I've found it. After researching I was convinced that one of the smaller Flexifoil kites would be good to start on. However there was one problem, I'm a poor college student. I didn't have $300 to spend on a kite, so I started searching for alternitives. After searching through ebay I came across some kites made by HQ. I did some research and read some reviews on this site and I decided to go for it. I purchased a Beamer II 2.5m from a kite shop in GB. I waited and waited for the kite to come. Overseas shipping seems to take forever (btw I live in Texas). The kite finally came and I couldn't wait to get it out in some good strong winds. I took it to a parking lot and hooked up the lines and inspected the kite. The bridle lines were easy to seperate and to connect the main/brake lines to. Others have complained about the handles included with this kite, but so far they have not hurt my hands or caused me any discomfort (this could be due to the fact that I rock climb frequently and my hands/arms are pretty strong and calused). About this time I was ready to launch the kite for the first time, but the wind just wasn't strong enough. Me and my girlfriend (btw ur the shit amy!!!) decided to pack it up and try again another day with higher winds. The next day after I got off work I got home and there seemed to be a little more wind, so I took the kite over to a large parking lot with an adjoining field and prepared to fly it by myself. I took the kite out and got the lines straightened out. Doing this was rather difficult due to the fact that two days previous I had sprained my foot and it was hard to walk on. I highly reccomend doing this with a friend the first few times, It makes it far easier. The breeze picked up and I pulled on the main lines. The kite lept into the air and I felt an addicition starting. I took it easy at first keeping the kite high in the power window. It had little lift and little pull up top, but that got boring. I started to let it turn and swoop down some, I felt some power being generated. This was starting to get fun. I eventually worked up to where I was swooping down and flying just inches off the ground. The kite was very predictable and as long as the wind stayed constant I could always save it from hitting the ground. On later expeditions to the parking lot, I let my little brother fly it, but he tended to crash it into the ground. I guess I just have magic fingers... All in all I'm very statisfied with the kite and can't wait to get the money to buy an even bigger one. I'm hooked and can see this becoming a life long fascination. I would highly recommend this kite for anyone who wants to get their feet wet in kiting. This kite will teach you the basics without killing you, and it will do so for a fairly reasonable price. By : yertnamreg1218

After going down to the local football fields with a mate and his 4m Blade III and getting myself thrown, lifted and generally manhandled by it in what were supposed to be 12 - 15mph winds (a visit to http://www.xcweather.co.uk/ showed the wind history to be 29mph), I decided that I had found my new sport having just given up karting. I then spent days reading reviews and comparing prices, and decided that it was going to be a Beamer II 2.5 m. My mate got one as well with the idea of finally using his ATB. It arrived, we packed the tent and kites into the car and of we set off in the torrential rain to Skeggy. Put up the tent in Beaufort 5 - 6 winds and even hevier rain. Next morning a miracle had happened - a clear sky and 20 - 30 mph winds. We got to the beach at 10 am set up one of the Beamers and the Blade and started to fly. The Beamers were easy to set up although the colour coding on the power lines on one of them had a red braid at one end and a blue at the other. Started with the brake lines on the third knot which proved ok, but as the winds picked up (24mph upwards) we had to move them to the forth knot as they were proving difficult to land. I know a lot of people complain about the handles, but having done 6 hour endurance racing in karts, I actually found them very comfortable and prefer them to the flexifoil affairs on the blade. The lines were all equal lengths and the overall construction is very good. We got sand in the pockets during the day as we skidded them horizontally accross the sand, and crashed them once or twice but they still flew wonderfully. At the beginning of the day we were taking off at the edge of the window which just invloved releasing the break lines and away they went. They fly superbly are massively manouverable, and the power you get as you fly it though middle of the window is enough to drag a 12 stone bloke 20 feet on his arse in the sand or three or feet into the air. When they come down the wrong way up a quick pull on the break lies will have them the right way up and back in the air again. They will spin on there axis and happily float above you in the zenith when you need a rest. However, on occasion they will fold up at the edge of the window, but a quick pull on the opposite powerline nearly always sends it skywards again. The Beamer is a superb Kite for those looking to get into powerkiting, it is relatively cheap, easy to fly, very manouverable, predictable and well made.I prefer their range of ability (being new to the sport) to the Blade, they don't have the same power but we spent ten hours on Skeggy beach and we all kept going back to the Beamers. I am waiting for my two new ones - 3.6 and 5m, and we are going Land Boarding (now we can balance on them) on Friday with them. I will let you know how it goes! By : hammer

I was introduced into power kiting by one of my friends (Panthro on here). I’m a complete beginner and have never flown anything more than a single line kite about 18 years ago. Anyway Panthro was saying to me how much fun it was and I should give it a go so I read up and looked around and decided to go for a HQ beamer 2 3.6m. I wanted as big as recommended so I didn’t have to buy a bigger one so soon (it was hard enough getting my wife to let me get this one let alone another one in a couple of months). A couple of days later and it arrived. I can’t really compare it with any other kites as I haven’t used or really seen any others but this is what I think of mine. It came with very clear instructions and with the beginners guide on here I decided I was confident enough to go out and start. The lines only needed a little adjustment to get them all the right size and I liked that it came with an easily adjustable brake lines. It probably only took me about ¼ hour to get set up and ready to fly (baring in mind this was my first time and I was on my own). I also liked the ground stake (might sound strange) it came in a belt sheath and wasn't pointed at the so you can't stab yourself and it has a nice bright orange handel so you can see it a mile off if you forget to pick it up straight away. It took a few attempts to get it in the air and much muttering under my breath about how easy everybody makes it look. But I did eventually gat the hang of it to a low standard. I found the kite killers that came with it worked but got in the way more often or not particularly when I crashed and I found I didn’t really have a problem hanging on to the handles anyway so I took them off. After mastering take off and landing I got to grips with steering which was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Again the reading up before hand helped a lot there too. This all took about an hour and after all that I was happily getting dragged round the field in a relatively controlled manner. I was able to drop the kite if I thought I had lost control or was sliding too fast or far. Overall I think the kite is excellent and good fun. As I said earlier I can’t compare with any other kite but this one is certainly easy to control and great fun. So if you’re also thinking of getting in to kiting I can strongly recommend this kite but can I also warn you it is highly addictive. I have spent most of my free time flying it since it has arrived. Author : Gaddy

Wow, I hear you say, a review for the Beamer 3.6. That makes a nice change! Anyway, I won't bore you with details of the bag, DVD etc as you don't buy a kite for all the accessories. Bought from the good people at powerkiteshop.com, I was advised to go for the Beamer as a good beginners kite for someone my size (15 stone) and with fairly limited experience. Since I bought this kite I have used many others and should therefore give a fairly balanced view of what the kite is like. First flight. Inland with a 10mph wind with a few gusts. Set-up was a piece of cake with all lines being the correct length and the break connection point guessed at knot 4. Gentle pull and up, needing a bit of work to get it ot the zenith as the wind was inconsistent. Easy to control, pulled well across the power zone and generally well behaved. I found it wasn't to happy sitting at the zenith but put this down to the wind level. Had a bit of a problem with luffing at the edge of the wind window and some overflight above me. I changed the lines to 30m to give it more 'play area' and found it made the world of difference. The next few flights were again in land but with winds around the 20mph region. Not much of a problem with luffing now and managed to skud along the local playing fields for a stop-start 100m or so. Yes! Try as I might could get more than a weedy 3 foot in the air with pendulum jumps, but hey, it's not designed for this! Without access to a buggy or board at this point, I fashioned a unique method of traction with a metal tray - highly unsuccessful but funny trying. The last flight I had was on a picnic field on the river Severn where the northerly wind was perfecly channeled to a fairly consistent 35mph (my pocket windmeter measured gusts of 42mph!!!) Without adjusting any of the kite, launched directly into the wind. Now I'm sure you know what happened next! I landed on my face and shot across the field at some ungodly speed to the amusement of many on-lookers. From my horizontal position I applied the brakes but all they were doing was making it twitchy. Eventually I steered it out of the wind and came to a stand still by now wearing tatters where my clothes were and blood everywhere. Unperturbed by what happened I adjusted the brakes to the point where the line was as taught as the power lines and managed to have more control but still with awesome power. Anyway, to summarise: Pros - Great value for £100. Will take punishment and a great starter/intermediate package. Cons - Handles. Luffs at wind edge. Can be unpredictable in uneven winds. By : davekermito

If youre looking for a review that is glowingly positive, then stop reading now. This is no such review. I must stress to all the happy 2.5 owners, this is just my opinion. The beamer II 2.5m. Where to begin? I tested a 2.5 before I bought it and in my uneducated way was impressed by the way it flew. Like the 3.6 it seemed to handle really well. Turning rather quickly and responsively. I couldn't afford the 3.6 which I liked better, so I went for the 2.5. i was assured that it would last me for ages being it a good beginner to intermeadiate kite. Not so. From the start I have been a little sceptical. "Ready to fly" I would have thought meant pull it out of the bag, run the lines out, untwist if any, stap on the kite killers and begin the fun. Oblivously HQ's interpitation of ready to fly means, lay out the sail, run the lines out, un twist the lines, attach the lines to the sail, attach the handles to the lines, attach the kite killers to the handle and then it's ready to fly! It must be the shops that get it ready to fly out of the bag. Not impressed. The bag is okay but not a brilliant fabricated bag. Untill I flew it a few times, everything seemed positive. I was coming away with a smile on my face and a bounce in my small footed step. Then after a couple of complimentry lessons and many hours of practice, the flaws became blindingly apparent. Thus begins my gripes. Listed in point form! 1 - In winds of around 12-19kmh it launches sideways at completely random directions. No matter how even the pull for launch or the hands on launch. maybe once a session it will take off vertically. 2 - In 19kmh plus winds, on launch it spins frantically again with random direction. 3 - In 19kmh plus winds when any brake pressure is applied, particularly when landing the sail, it spins franticaly again in random directions. 4 - When the kite is at the zenith, it moves around like a hyperactive child, I have to work constantly to keep it centered. 5 - Last but not least, It will not at any point, wind speed, wind consistancy or any brake setting sit on the edge of the window with out loosing height and folding at the bottom. I have flown Bullet's, Rebbel's and Fury's. Non of them had these problems. As a beginner kite, the price and ease of flying can't really be beaten, though I'm curious about the PKD range..... But once you get the hang of turning using main lines and brake lines, it becomes an embuggerance to fly. Trying to futher skill and technique is seemingly out of reach with this kite. To gain finner control, buy a rebbel. I have taken it back the guys where I purchaced it from and had it thoroughly check out. Nothing out of place, lines in good order and all of equal length. They flew it to the same conclusion, and were baffled by it. Even thier demo and a brand new one acted the same way. 3 out of 3.... Not good. I'm open to the fact that Australian winds may suck... But IN MY OPINION, look past this kite and get an Ozone, Flexfiol, Peter Lyn, PKD or anything that doesn't retain the name of Beamer II 2.5.... But in the end, it's what ever you are happy with, just make sure you fly it and do every manovoure you can first. Either that or take an experienced kiter with you. Frodes The regretful. Should have bought the Fury......... By : Frodes

I decided to go for the 5m kite when I wanted more power than my little 2.7m HQ Symphony would provide. I chose the Beamer over other kites because the nice people at Air Jam in Newquay recommended it for idiot tourist like me! The kite comes in a rucksack, which despite other peoples comments is holding together just fine. A ground stake is included, which is very useful, but no kite killers. Its got a single winder for both sets of lines which works but two seperate ones would be more convenient. First attempt at a flight took me a while to get going as I managed to get the lines and bridle twisted. I'm still managing to get the things twisted but am getting better so it's probably more me than the kite. First flight out there was very little wind but managed to get it up. This is my first quad line kite so had problems getting to grips with the brakes. The manual recommends that you attach the brake line on the third know. A bit of experimentation and I can control it more easily with the brake lines on the first or second knot, so they have a bit more slack in them. Second flight was far too windy and lasted about 10 seconds. I was pleased the brake lines worked as I was dragged down the beach towards the sea. Now I've flown it a few more times. There's plenty of power to drag me along even in grippy boots and dry grass. Its had me in the air (on my face, on my back etc) a few times, though not all of them on purpose. On the other hand, I haven't felt out of control since my sprint to the beach. Turning the kite is easy though you do need to use a bit of brake to get it around if you are at the edge of the window. It doesn't like staying still, especially when the wind is a bit gusty as it has a tendency to collapse (though that could be down to my incompetance). It also lufts (if that's the correct word) a bit, though lengthening the brake lines seemed to help that yesterday. On the plus side, having crashed it quite heavily a few times, its got to be fairly robust. I don't think I'll grow out it just yet and might even try a board with it next yet. If you've never flown a stearable kite before, you might need a few attempts to get the hang of it but with the steering and power being easy to control and progressive it feels like a good kite to learn with. Well I'm off to learn to jump next. By : matthelliwell

Hi this is my review of the 5m Beamer II. This was my second kite, the first was a 2.5m Beamer and I would warn anyone who is getting in to this sport that, personally I would get a smaller kite first. Even though the beamers are low lift kites, in the right (or wrong) winds this kite can lift me a good 6 foot plus and I’m 11 stone. The whole package I can imagine that every one and their granny knows about the BIG zipper on the HQ bag, but it’s like Marmite you either love it or hate it. The one thing that does impress me about the Beamer range is that every thing is in the bag to get you flying as quickly as possible, Kite, lines, handles, kite killers, and ground stake. You also get a good manual explaining the basics and how to set the kite up and about tuning the brake bridle. Now the main problem with HQ is that the handles aren’t all that comfy to hold, but they are good enough to start with BUT the kite killers do leave a bit to be desired as there have been many a report that they have snapped when used. Not good. There has been word that the KK’s prob has been sorted, but a set of Flexifoil handles with KK’s is about £10-15 and feel much nicer. The flying experience The first flight with the 5m Beamer was in about 10mph winds down the beach, after only flying the 2.5m Beamer the power this kite has is a real eye opener it pulled like a train. As I was accustomed to setting the kite up by now, this was no problem for me and soon had the kite ready for take off, a gentle pull on the handles was all that was needed and it went straight up to the zenith and sat there waiting for me to do something so I did and brought it down the side of the window and swung it though the power zone and scudded through soft sand like never before. This kite does prefer clean wind but as the beamer’s are a stable kite inland flying is not to bad. The kite only lifts you if you work it or do something silly with it, at my weight I could fly the kite in winds up to 20mph before it really started to lift me at the zenith and in winds above 15mph it has to much power to static fly comfortably but this is the perfect speed to board in (my opinion).This kite has enabled me to master boarding techniques like power slides, broard slides, 180 to toe side and a few more besides. I have been down the beach before a few times and had seen people with 4.9 blades not doing much, and me and my mate will be screaming up and down the beach this kite, it installs confidence Summary A great cheap second kite if your not into brand names, but the same as with anything cheap you do get what you pay for. The kite is very well made and fly’s very well, you need at least an 8mph wind to get moving in and it is the first to come down when it starts to rain. With static flying it gives a great work out and if you do a figure of eight you will just scud non stop down wind. In anything over 10mph a harness is a must if you want to fly for more than 10-15 minuets, I don’t own this kite any more but I would recommend it to any one who wants a medium sized budget kite, in fact I do miss the 5m meter Beamer. Six months of owning and flying this kite had given me the confidence and skill to move on to a more powerful kite. Down the beach one day and a couple approach me and start to chat, it turns out he had a 4.9m BladeIII and had owned it for about a year and had a Silver reef board which he got at the same time. I had been boarding for about 4-5 months, after a while of me and him going up and down the beach, both him and his wife said I looked a lot more relaxed and rode better than him. I know own a 4.9m BladeIII. If your one of them people who wants to get into boarding but don’t to spend money on a kite to learn with and then another when you get good, then your daft I know about light winds first then progress but from what I’ve seen this doesn’t work that well. A 5m kite of any make will generate a lot of power the Beamer lets you discover this with out wanting to kill you. Author : eazyrider

I will start off by saying. This is the best £140 I have ever spent. After having a short go on a friend's Beamer 3.6 I was instantly hooked and had to order my own. So I went home and purchased a shiny new Beamer II 5.0. I thought 5 meters will be way too big for me, and in some ways that is right. The kite comes in a nice shade of blue with a pattern in the cells of the kite which looks like and eagle when viewed from below, the kite seems extremely robust, shaking off the crashes and scrapes it suffered. It also comes with a bag to pack it away in which is also very comfortable and sturdy, however, I can't see the giant novelty zip lasting very long, but that doesn't affect the kite. My one gripe with the kite is the handles, very little in the way of padding, they do the job just fine but give you cramp and blisters at the same time. I would advise wearing full-fingered gloves whilst flying. So I get the kite to a field and with the help of two friends it is ready to go in 10 minutes, staked on the ground the kite beings to inflate and it's full 5 metes is spread across the grass, what a sight. I pick up the handles and wait for a good gust and I can feel the excitment rising in my body as I can feel the kite begging to take off. After a pleasing gust I grant its wish and pull back on the handles and it shoots up, passes through the power zone and gives one hell of a tug, lifting me over a meter then settles at the zenith as I land. Being new to kiting I couldn't believe it, heart pounding and a big grin on my face I begin to steer the kite from left to right to get a feel for it, with each turn a satisfying pull reassures me the kite is capable of some pull. After a few turns and listening to the swooshing of the kite I send the kite to the right of the window and run like there's no tomorrow, a sharp left turn later and I'm airborne, not the highest jump, but not bad for a beginner. My favorite point about the Beamer is how forgiving it is, while the kite can pick you up and chuck you to the floor, it is hard to make that so, and usually the fault of the flyer. The kite is very predictable and everything seems to happen as you expect it to, if you fly it through the power zone, it will pull you. So far it has not caught me off guard, but it's early days yet. Flying the Beamer is a pleasure, you have to make exaggerated movements to steer the kite, which is good because it is not twitchy and will not trash about unless you turn it very tightly, in which case can easily be corrected. The kite is also very stable, easy to maintain at any point in the sky of which you choose. Since I only had a short go on a board I would not be able to advise for it, but I can say with a big enough field and wind speed at least 10 mph you will be able to get some speed up, maybe even some air. At the moment I am just learning the basics of kiting and I find the kite best for this, jumping is also fun with this model as it all seems to happen in slow motion, which gives the user time to think and what to do next. For only £140 this is a great 5 meter kite, even though I have not tried the other models I feel confident to say this is the best 5 meter you will get for under £150. It is great for beginners and even experts would still get some surprises out of it. Everything you need comes with the package, lines, kite killers, stake and of course... the kite. There is no reason not to buy a kite that is fun and suitable for so many wind ranges. It's early days and I'm inexperienced but I still had a really good time flying at and I dare say you would too. By : clarkey1990

Started having fun with a 2 line kite this summer with my cousin who introduced me to it and am now completely hooked. Got home and had to buy one myself, so i went down to the local shop and asked for some advice about what i should be looking for. Having come to the conclusion that i wanted to pursue landboarding and traction i was suggested the Beamer 2, 5 metre version, a 4 line kite, which was something new to me. I was up for a challenge and decided to buy it. Took the kite for the first day to the beach with a friend and set up the kite to my satisfaction having asked and read about it. The wind was fairly constant but not too strong, so i wasn't expecting a lot of power from the kite. Well... it almost lifted me clean off the ground after it rose about 10 metres into the air which scared the daylights out of me, but decided to stick it out and eventually got the hang of it after a few days on the beach. The kite is amazing value for money, mine has taken a pretty heavy beating and still looks new. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to give this great sport a go. Having said that, i would possibly suggest a smaller kite if you are new to this,the 3.6 metre version ( one my friend owns ) is a lot better to learn on, but you won't feel so much pull if you want to take things further. i did leave the first few times with some nasty bruises and slight burns. Which brings me to my next topic ... ... SAFETY GEAR, no jokes guys, get some first before you give this a go. My full face helmet has saved my prety face many times now ! Hope you find this helpful, Jamie By : jammy_salsa

Let me start by saying that I have probaby broken all the rules here with Power Kites and the expected experience gathering steps and stages. A liitle over three weeks ago I purchased a Flexifoil Super 10, had one flying session with it; thought it was great but a little frustrated with the difficuilty of relaunching it, especially when it had landed upside down. Anyway last week I find myself in Huntington Beach CA due to work commitments and low and behold I cannot resist parting with $260 dollars for a HQ Beamer II 5.0 from KiteConections on the famous pier, Dave who runs it is a really nice guy, very helpful. I get it home have read the maual about five times, video about 20 times and cannot wait to fly the beast. Saturday evening I have all 5 metres of it spread in style across my lounge - this ting really looks impressive. Checked the weather and wind 11.8mph for Sunday afternoon, double checked the bft of the kite 2-5 bft - no problem should be an ideal day. Sunday comes the weather is perfect, and sun! My two children, wife and two kites all packed in car and we are off to the local excellently deserted playing field just outside the village. I follow all the rules lines laid out, anchored, kite laid out, (anchored with all my family pinning it down), make all the connections within about five minutes I am ready to fly, a quick briefing to the family of when and which way to run, back down the lines, pully on my shades, on with kite killers, pickup the handles and one flick and she stands up and gracefully lifts into the sky straight to that point you call the Zenith. I can say that a rush of adrenilin passed through me and massive satisfaction. The kite did look absolutely fantastic up there and it did have a really heavy pull, I could really feel the difference in size against the Super 10. I spent the next fifteen minutes just moving her about and understanding the break lines. I will say that the lines were all perfect in length and absolutely ready to fly out of the bag. I am not sure if the HQ guys have changed anything on the kite killers weakness, many reviews have talked about, but my own seemed fine and the materials strong and well made/assembled. Then my kids wanted to hang on the bars just to feel the power, it managed to lift both my four and six year olds off the ground who were both hanging on the handles with me in total control each time - they were thrilled. Next came my wife now she has never ever flown a kite before, first she had some time with me on the handles just to get the feel of this kite, then I let her have full control and I kid you not went off and played with the kids fro 10-15 minutes. It was good to view your kite being flown from a distance and other angles. Now this I think does say a lot for the kite, it is very easy to fly and very responive to instruction for such a big kite. I was very impressed and its great that I have found something my wife likes to do outside, as usually golf and horse riding do not mix easlily, also the kids have their own little runaround kites - this all means easy to get out kiting days! As I am a self taught, if not well read novice I can say that this kite was very easy and kind to fly. I had a long second session later this afternoon and had the kite spiralling and turning in really tight turns, also was able to perform really low fly by's(some to low) the kite was easliy adjusted just a foot one way or the other - very responsive indeed. Also very very easy to relaunch either way around and eve from a pile of fabric on the floor, after an unsuccessful trick, with a flick here and there it would regain shape and body and take off with either set of lines. In fact I had perfect a neat little trick turn from a take off using the backlines which righted the kite once again. A glider from the neighbouring airfield came right over real close to have a good look at it fow a few circles, it must have looked pretty impressive from above whilst it was flying. The kite was very stable in flight, simply refused to flypast the zenith point even when I tried really hard to force it past. If you took at wide in the wind arc and held their too long then the kite edge would be prone to foldinf inwards, but soon snapped back again when you take her back in. Under breaking heavily on either side I was able to effectively kill/collapse one side of the kite(I think you guys call it luffing or something close), but still empower the other half of the kite which I used to fly the kite out and return its full wing shape. I found myself soon dreaming up tricks with this process and others. I could not get myself off the ground but did experience and generate some real serious pull, I think in stronger conditions in the future I will leave the ground and experience some mega powerful pull, all 16 stone of me! In summary whilst I do not encourage other people to do the same, and I have yet to experience more difficult conditions, however I am very much a novice but I feel that this is a kite that if used in its wind range and treated with caution and respect you can learn and have a ball doing so with a BIG kite. This kite is very well made, absolutely ready to fly from the bag and will clearly take anybody along to more experienced levels(just look at those guys on the video). The kite anchor was geat and worked really well, the kite killers were fine and caused me no problems and obviously install you with extra confidence. The handles were flown for the first time today for about three hours in total and were found to be really comfortable. The lines were all exactly the same lengths and the harness wa neat and tidy appearing very symetrical and a stiffness in the lines sort of prevents them from entangling. I can say that this kite is an absolute bargain package, which I hope will take me from novice to intermediate and provide me time in static, board and buggy disciplines. By the way a great little bag understated against the kite in all ways except one clue is given to whats in that bag, a very big zip for a very big kite! I will no doubt fly this Beamer in stronger conditions inthe coming weaks, I am really looking forward to those days, and I will let you know how I get on. By : MinorPlanet

HQ's Beamer II is a great little kite for beginners and intermediate fliers, it's competitively priced, and comes as a full package with lines, handles, a ground stake, a pair of kite killers and an SVCD. All packaged in a nice-looking rucksack. The overall build quality seems to be excellent. The foil itself appears to be well made, the black pre-stretched bridle is attached securely, and kept tidy by virtue of being packed attached to two small loops on the trailing edge. The entire top of the foil is a bright yellow, with the underside being white with a yellow swipe on one side with a black bar down each side, and a small 'Beamer' logo on one cell. The light colour of the foil means you can see the patter of the fabric inside the cells when it's in the air - it looks pretty good, but maybe not as stylishly designed as some other foils. The handles are very good quality. Made of aluminium with a rough textured rubbery coating that grips well no matter how much you sweat on it. However I've read forum posts from people having problems with the lines rubbing against the bare aluminium holes in the handles and fraying, however I don't seem to be having this problem (maybe it's down to some handles having holes that aren't properly finished leaving sharp edges. It's probably wise to check this before your first flight) The leader lines are nice and chunky, and colour coordinated so you can tell your left handle from your right (repeat after me: red is right ) There is a 'pony tail' behind the power leader at the top of each handle for attaching a harness, and a loop behind the brake leader for staking the kite down. The Beamer's lines come on a plastic double winder with elastic straps to hold it in place, the power lines are prestretched white Dyneema 220kg with colour coded sleeving, and the brake lines are the same but 100kg. The difference in thickness is easily noticable, but they're not coloured as with some kites so make sure you get them the right way around! As with all dyneema lines these are very thin for their strength and have little friction when twisted. The lines on my Beamer were all well within 1cm of each other in length, meaning it's pretty much ready to fly out of the bag. After flying the lines are also pretty stiff, so they parapack well without tangles. The Beamer comes with a handy ground stake, which is of surprisingly high quality. A round tipped steel shaft, approximately 10 inches long with a big bright orange knob on top. It comes in a sleeve with a convenient belt loop and pushes easily into the ground and holds the kite firmly in position. The Kite Killers that come in the package are very chunky and comfortable. A large rubbery pad with a velcro strap that secures around a plastic 'D' ring. They have a thin but strong line to attach to the brake leader line. They're not as well designed as some others, but are comfortable enough. Unfortunately the line is attached to the Killer wrist strap by means of a thin nylon strap that the line is knotted to. On my third flight, whilst testing the killers this nylon strap snapped, and fired my left handle directly towards the kite at high velocity. This is a very dangerous fault on the part of HQ, and potentially worse than not wearing killers at all. I have contacted HQ directly, hopefully they'll revise this dangerous design flaw. In flight the Beamer is lots of fun, it's very deliberate and controllable in it's movement across the sky, doesn't give too much lift, and can be coaxed into creating some amazing pull while smoothing out the gusts. Launches are very easy, the foils inflates well with a litte tug, however the corners are prone to folding over if the wind is lighter, which is, i assume, caused by a combination of the leading edge being reasonably straight with square corners (rather than curved like a Bullet) and there being no vents on the outermost two or three cells. But this is only really a problem in lighter winds. The kite recovers from crashes well, pulling the brakes causes it to flip over easily, and i've had some big crashes with no damage. The kite produces lots and lots of pull when you want it to, it's very easy to control and the brakes deflate the foil effectively if you get out of your depth. It doesn't produce masses of lift (although it's managed to haul me off the ground for some good jumps) so is better suited to recreational flying, scudding, etc and traction activities such as boarding or buggying. Packing the kite away is very straigtforward. Personally I parapack it by collecting the bridle onto the white underside of the kite, then folding it into thirds to keep the bridle seperate from the lines and pulling the lines onto the center of the folded foil in large loops, then folding into thirds again, wrapping the killers around the handles, placing the handles at one end of the folded foil and rolling it up around the handles. But there's plenty fo space in the rucksack for packing the kite away however you see fit. In conclusion, it's a very nice package. It's very cheap, has everything you're going to need to get started, fun to fly, but not too twitchy for beginners, and can deliver strong pull to keep intermediate flyers interested. The only real downside are the killers. I simply cannot recommend them after seeing mine fail so spectacularly. However, this is still a very competitively priced package and a great kite. Just replace the killers - or even don't use them at all. I'm going to have a go at modifying my killers tomorrow to see if I can come up with a better (safer!) way to attach the killer lines. By : dan.

I have always flown kites since I was small and at the age of sixteen I have finally got bored of 2 line stunt kites. After searching the web I landed on this site and read some reviews which convinced me to get into powerkiting the beamers looked like a good beginner kite. As a total newcomer to powerkiting the ready to fly aspect of the beamer was apealing as it comes complete with kite, Handles, Bag, Lines, a ground steak and kite killers. The manual that comes with it is very basic. The 3.6 is BRIGHT yellow and looks very nice, the fabric is a bit "crinckly" and tends to keep creases rather then smoothing out easily. The handles are a bit hard they have foam grips but the foam is very solid and tends to rub the skin of you hands (bicycle gloves cure this) They are however a good size and easy to grip. The kite killers come preattachedand are paded strips with a velcro bit the raps through a buckle to hold them on they are comfortable but fiddly to take on and off. The lines have the loops tied on rather then sewn, and some of my loops have stretched a bit not enough to affect the line length but they do look abit ugly and suspect. The ground steak looks indestructable and is bright orange which is good as i keep losing it. The bag has a few frayed threads but other then that is very good a large main compartment for kite and smaller ones for lines etc. side pokets are very useful for storing keys+mobile so they dont fly out of you pockets. Setting the kite up was very easy having read "how to" on this site. And flew well with no input from the brakes as I got used to it. It was very easy to fly and I quickly learnt how to use the brakes to improve my turns. The wind wasn't very strong on my first flight but there was still some pull. The next time i flew the kite the was a reasonable wind and occasional strong gusts, I really enjoyed myself for and hour or so doing small jumps and being pulled around but not having any trouble controling the kite awesom fun. Until The kite managed to catch me unawares in a gust on a turn. It suddenly pulled forwards and up i landed on my back being dragged along fortionately i droped the handles and the kitekillers saved my back but to late for my t-shirt. The kite killer worked brilliantly and as soon as i let go the lines went limp and the kite folded up and dropped to the ground. Somewhat shacken i packed up and waited for a calmer day. Ive had the kite for a few months now and Ive flown it in winds stronger then that day and its been brilliant that is the one time the beamer has done anything unpredictable. It is so easy to fly that a friend of mine who has very flown only a few of my 2 line stunt kites was able to quickly get the hang of it and have some fun. The kite is easy to reverse launch as well (great function of 4 line kites saves alot of walking). The beamer doesn't produce much pull near the very top of the wind window good for resting your arms but makes it hard to jump. Which is frustrating. I over all find that the build on the beamer II is a bit lacking, but it has shown itself to be hard wearing if a bit heavy, for £120 you cant complain. The flying charecteristics are very dosile but with good firm pull. I am finding myself wanting some thing which will jump better. The beamer has been very good to get to grips with powerkites but now after a few months of frequent flying (summer holidays r great) I find my self wanting something more. It maybe that I learnt quickly because of my experience with 2 line kites but I find my self growing out of the beamer. Its still great fun to fly and "skud" with but... If your looking to get into powerkiting this is a great kite to start with I have learnt quickly but maybe its better to borrow one then get something more exciting. I will still get more use out of the beamer as I am hopeing to get a buggy so it will still come in use as a learning tool and to let mates have a go. By : Ferretish

I havent had any experiance with kite's so I can't compare but I have just bought a Beamer II 3.6. I did'nt want to buy a kite based on budget, but after a long wait and searching for deal's I decided this was the one for me and here's what I found. The bag is well constructed, look's the part and has plenty of room which is good, (anyone who's been camping and tried to pack a tent back into the supplied bag will know this), your not going to have that problem here! I have also got to mention the worlds biggest zip wich any man would be proud to have on his pant's. The handle's are well made and have a nice feel when your flying. The flying lines are good quality, they coil around the handles when you pack away and there's a protective sleeve to cover them and keep everything in place. The kite killers are excellent, nicely padded and feel strong when attached. They gave me security on the first flights. It also made the misses happy to know she wasnt going to witness a £100 being blown across the horizon. The ground stake comes sleeved with a biggish handle so there's no need for a mallet. It also comes in handy to fend of suicidal teenager's who insist "they have flown load's of power kite's" The Kite is well made the bridles are very strong, it's a great colour, nice logos and really look's the part in the air. On first inspecion I was absolutely amazed at the quality of this kite. The Beamer II definately is not a budget kite! My first flight was quite nerving, I think the wind was between 5 & 10 mph, a gentle pull and the kite went straight up. I flew it up to the zenith were it stayed for a few second's and then I put it in the power zone... WOW! I had a full on fight while I did some figure eight's and before I knew it I had travelled about 30 ft, which is not bad considering I weigh about 17 st. I tried the brake's a couple of time's which brought the kite to a stand still on the floor and then relaunched. After 20 mins I had a break and staked the kite to the ground were it never moved. The wind had become a bit stronger by now about 10-15 mph. I decided to give it one last go. The power was awesome, it dragged me everywhere, I ate so much grass my nipples started to produce milk and I hadn't been flying in the power zone! 15 mins of this is like an hour in the gym. Overall the kite is great I would definately buy another Beamer II and I hope my review will help somebody make their mind up. By : indieair

I bought the HQ Beamer 2 : 5.0 as my first kite. After talking to the shop I bought it from they suggested due to my size & weight :6ft - 15 stone that this would be the size I would not get bored with it quick. (I have written this review after flying & looking at good few other kites) The Kite : I was very impressed with the quality of the kite,the stitching was very good but the bridles are tired together rather than sticthed but I really don't think this matters on your first kite but looks & feels very strong. The one thing I liked was that if you had a rip or tear you could easliy repair it yourself due to the leading edge being open & you are able to put your hand inside the kite to make a repair or dig out any unwanted sand,dirt etc. I have landed it nose down at top speed a few times as a newbie & no sign of breakage at all,it certainly takes a hammering. I was a little uncertain about the lines because they seem to be like just "string" but have read there are Dymeana pre stretched lines so I will take there word for it !!!. Handles : Other people have had problems with the handles but I think there are of very good quality but I must admit they are not the most comfortable handles to hold but do the job very well. The kite killers : Again very good quality & very comfortable, I think they are pretty much the same as other makes so very pleased. The Bag : I really like the bag, the big zipper on the front is a great feature that sets it apart from the rest plus you can store things in it so its not there just for show. You have the main compartment for the kite which fits in no problem with room to spare even if you wrap the lines round the handles & store with the kite,there is another large zip pocket on the front to store your handles & lines if not attached to the kite & again STILL loads of room to spare.There is 2 small vented pockets at the side which I suppose you can fit a can of drink in or sunglass in there case. I think HQ listened to buyers of there first bags & have made these bags alot stronger. I know you don't fly the bag but when you have to walk a bit of a distance to your flying site the more you can stuff in the bag the better. Flying the kite : On the first fly there wasn't to much wind but boy o boy this baby pulled me round like a good un !!! It seems to fly quite slow but you should expect that from a large kite but not that slow you don't enjoy it. When the brakes are applied to turn it turns quite quick & when turning just on the power lines & looks very graceful. If you need a rest it sits at the top of the zenith with no over fly at all & it looks down on you as if you were flying a 1 liner when you were a kid, But you know when you bring that baby back down its gonna give you some serious pull. I do believe this is a very forgiving kite compared to other makes so making mistakes is not the end of the world. As for lift for this kite I'm not at that standard yet so I can't really comment on this. Verdict : When I first decided to get a power kite I had my heart set on the Beamer 3.6, which really I should have got first because i am a big bloke & not blowing my own trumpet quite strong. The Beamer 5.0 is NOT a beginners kite in my eyes because unless you are loaded to get the full set ie :1.8, 2.5, 3.6 ,5.0 you will be restricted to low winds because when i took the Beamer 5.0 out in what i thought was good day for flying I ended up packing it up & flying my wifes Beamer 1.8. If you are a similar size to me go for the 3.6 otherwise 12 stone & under get the 2.5 & you will be able to fly in most wind conditions . You will not be dissapointed with the performance & High Quality of these kites hence "HQ" Beamer !!! By : mightymart

Well i thought i'd better write my 1st review, if not at least to let you know my experience but to get a smiley face lol! so here goes, BEAMER 2.5. After waiting in for 2 days for the kite to be delivered, my fella chased it up only to find out they had been trying to deliver to his house, so a mad rush down to the parcel office and everything was looking good for the weekends activities! We had read many reviews on the kite thanks to you guys and decided this would be good for me to play with while my partner peaty flew the blade 4.9. EXCITED was not the word as i no longer had to sit and watch, i'd tried the blade and it was just too much for me recently having had an operation (not due to kiting) so gets down the beach, perfect weather maybe not quite windy enough, peaty set the kite up and launched within 5 mins or so, straight out of the bag. The kite spun round and crashed, reset the brakes and again the same, 3rd time lucky we got it right and it went up like a graceful bird, (instant smile) great my turn now, i was very surprised at what pull it had, great fun unfortunately the wind didn't last long but had about 20 mins or so and came away as proud as punch having had a good time with no incidents lol. Turned very fast and really nippy! The packaging was excellent and for all the comments on the big zip thing, i thought it looked quite groovy!!! only a little awkward to get back up once pulled down, as you have to do!!! winder and lines were good and strong, ground stake really good too. Bag itself great what can i say,mega amount of room in there, could have taken the kitchen sink too! Well sewn and lovely and rattly, fantastic, good value for money and will stop me moaning now because i'm not watching peaty have all the fun!!! 10 outta 10. By : betyboo