Which kite is right for me?
I’m a skier who likes to kite:
Gin Shaman
If you fancy yourself as a backcountry skier, and like the idea of having your own personal chairlift, this is the ticket. The Shaman is easy to fly, lightweight, creates a lot of power for it size making ideal for the person who wants to keep their pack weight down as they go into the back country. The forgiving handling, lack of internal cells to rupture, and massive depower ability have made it a favorite for everyone from beginners to Greenland expeditioners. If you want simple, dependable power that will open whole new worlds, this is the kite for you.
I’m a kiter who likes to ski. I spend a lot of time on snow/in the mountains but also foilboard.
Gin Marabou 2 and LC Pelican 2
Both the Gin Marabou 2 and Little Cloud Pelician2 set the benchmark for versatility stand out from others in the market as kites that do everything well. Sure, there are certain kites that may be better performers in specific niches such as boosting/Big Air (Gin Spirit), but few other kites are able to cover the entire gammut of kiting - from twin-tipping, to foiling, to mountain exploring in severe conditions - as well as these two kites. If you hate the idea of having specific kites for each specific kite discipline, these are going to be the kites for you.
Ironically, despite the dramatic design differences between these two, I find them to haver very similar design goals with slight gradations of performance. Between the two kites, the Pelican is going to be the more traditional closed cell foil kite, with just a bit more lift and efficiency. It has a very loose and surfy feel, and you'll feel like you can carry a bit more speed with the Pelican over the Marabou. The Marabou on the other hand has more low-end grunt per size, and will be a little easier to use for beginners and 1st time foil kiters.
The Marabou has all the trademark characteristics of a traditional single skin: they pack a lot of power per size and are very straightforward, stable and easy to use. The Marabou is legitimately a kite that you could purchase as your 1st beginner kite and never outgrow. As someone who has been kiting for 15+ years, the Marabou is currently the kite I'm grabbing for mountain adventures, not because I need to but because I want to. Between its light weight and ease-of-use, the Marabou really gives you a sense of security while still having some fun lift/hangtime, incredible power, and better upwind performance than a traditional single skin. For the average rider, I really do think this kite is going to be a game-changer.
Go Big or Go Home! Also, I love performance foilboarding.
Gin Spirit
If Big Air is what you want, the Spirit is what you need. The Spirit has been coined a Performance Freeride, sitting somewhere between the Flysurfer Soul and Sonic III in terms of performance. This summer the Spirit has consistently been topping the weekly Woo charts for highest jumps both nationally and internationally. It builds power fast and has a lot of lift, but also sits pretty far forward in the wind window and is quite efficient, making it a performance beast. It does all this while being surprisingly easy to fly: very quick to inflate; rock solid stability, and easy water relaunch. The aggressive power of the kite might make it a little less favorable for technical mountain ascents – where winds are often turbulent and less forgiving. With that said, some of the Gin team riders have been absolutely hammering the hills this last winter with the Spirit, blurring the lines between kiting and paragliding. Enormous potential in this kite. I have yet to hear of a person who prefers the Soul over the Spirit, when given the opportunity to try both.
I'm not a millionaire. I just want to get powerkiting as cheaply as I can:
HQ4 Apex
The HQ4 Apex is the best value entry-level, depower foil kite on the market. Period. If you want to get started on your journey to learning how to use powerkites with as little investment as possible, this is going to be your ticket. The good news is that it has a lot of versatility and can become your backup bad-wind kite as you progress and yearn for something more. I spent years riding the Apex long after I had moved to much higher-performance kites - they are great when you just want dependable power in tricky wind situations, and don't really want to have to think about the kite that much. The HQ4 Apex is a lot of kite for your dollar.
Gin Shaman
If you fancy yourself as a backcountry skier, and like the idea of having your own personal chairlift, this is the ticket. The Shaman is easy to fly, lightweight, creates a lot of power for it size making ideal for the person who wants to keep their pack weight down as they go into the back country. The forgiving handling, lack of internal cells to rupture, and massive depower ability have made it a favorite for everyone from beginners to Greenland expeditioners. If you want simple, dependable power that will open whole new worlds, this is the kite for you.
I’m a kiter who likes to ski. I spend a lot of time on snow/in the mountains but also foilboard.
Gin Marabou 2 and LC Pelican 2
Both the Gin Marabou 2 and Little Cloud Pelician2 set the benchmark for versatility stand out from others in the market as kites that do everything well. Sure, there are certain kites that may be better performers in specific niches such as boosting/Big Air (Gin Spirit), but few other kites are able to cover the entire gammut of kiting - from twin-tipping, to foiling, to mountain exploring in severe conditions - as well as these two kites. If you hate the idea of having specific kites for each specific kite discipline, these are going to be the kites for you.
Ironically, despite the dramatic design differences between these two, I find them to haver very similar design goals with slight gradations of performance. Between the two kites, the Pelican is going to be the more traditional closed cell foil kite, with just a bit more lift and efficiency. It has a very loose and surfy feel, and you'll feel like you can carry a bit more speed with the Pelican over the Marabou. The Marabou on the other hand has more low-end grunt per size, and will be a little easier to use for beginners and 1st time foil kiters.
The Marabou has all the trademark characteristics of a traditional single skin: they pack a lot of power per size and are very straightforward, stable and easy to use. The Marabou is legitimately a kite that you could purchase as your 1st beginner kite and never outgrow. As someone who has been kiting for 15+ years, the Marabou is currently the kite I'm grabbing for mountain adventures, not because I need to but because I want to. Between its light weight and ease-of-use, the Marabou really gives you a sense of security while still having some fun lift/hangtime, incredible power, and better upwind performance than a traditional single skin. For the average rider, I really do think this kite is going to be a game-changer.
Go Big or Go Home! Also, I love performance foilboarding.
Gin Spirit
If Big Air is what you want, the Spirit is what you need. The Spirit has been coined a Performance Freeride, sitting somewhere between the Flysurfer Soul and Sonic III in terms of performance. This summer the Spirit has consistently been topping the weekly Woo charts for highest jumps both nationally and internationally. It builds power fast and has a lot of lift, but also sits pretty far forward in the wind window and is quite efficient, making it a performance beast. It does all this while being surprisingly easy to fly: very quick to inflate; rock solid stability, and easy water relaunch. The aggressive power of the kite might make it a little less favorable for technical mountain ascents – where winds are often turbulent and less forgiving. With that said, some of the Gin team riders have been absolutely hammering the hills this last winter with the Spirit, blurring the lines between kiting and paragliding. Enormous potential in this kite. I have yet to hear of a person who prefers the Soul over the Spirit, when given the opportunity to try both.
I'm not a millionaire. I just want to get powerkiting as cheaply as I can:
HQ4 Apex
The HQ4 Apex is the best value entry-level, depower foil kite on the market. Period. If you want to get started on your journey to learning how to use powerkites with as little investment as possible, this is going to be your ticket. The good news is that it has a lot of versatility and can become your backup bad-wind kite as you progress and yearn for something more. I spent years riding the Apex long after I had moved to much higher-performance kites - they are great when you just want dependable power in tricky wind situations, and don't really want to have to think about the kite that much. The HQ4 Apex is a lot of kite for your dollar.