get your self a waroo...

Hi Col303,I am also a greeny/newby and after looking at the options:new/second hand,bow type/c type,I purchased a new 12 mtr(I'm 82 kg) switchblade.I purchased the s/blade for saftey and reliability.I looked at the second hand option and didn't want to take the gamble.I dont mind traveling distances to go to good spots and would be p$ssed if a ie:leaking bladder stuffed the day.The money was there,but limited time to source a good second hand one,so,new it was.I was a bit apprehensive after buying it due to all the invert,bridle tangle hype ect. I'm now on the board and the kites been crashed and dumped every which way and had none of the invert/bridle problems.For a second kite,Im looking at 9 mtr Tribal.

Dont know if youv'e had lessons,If not,get to board stage,then try as many different kites as you can before you buy.
The bows like sitting higher in the window,I lent mine to another student who'd been practicing on a c type.He was only practicing kite control on the beach,but it wasn't long before he handed it back,saying, "I could stick it up my arse",his neck couldn't handle it.

The 24yo in the 42yo body,I'm 43,look in the mirror and think,sh$t,when did that happen.
What happened to never never land

I'm a greeny and decided to go BOW because of safety and range. This means I can go out safely in a wide wind range using the same kite. As a newbie i only need a one kite quiver for say the first year.

I got lessons on a Switchblade and after waiting two weeks for my shoulder to recover would be happy to never see S/blade or a XBow again. BTW i'm not the only one. Everyone seems to have the same issue with bar pressure as i discovered. Even this forum has got fixes to re-engineer the bar on the S/blade and XBow.

After a lot of research, i went with the 12M Waroo just over the 11M Sonic. Clean, simple design and real easy to fly. Very forgiving for newbies like me, but can perform anything when asked by better riders.

I read all the reviews and found that all the bad reviews about the Waroo were because they didn't like Best - No details about what they think is wrong with the kite. There were good reviews that did the same but only in reverse. So disregarding all of this Hype and Negative Hype the "real" reviews give the Waroo (and Sonic) the thumbs up for very clear valid reasons. If you look at the design, both Waroo and Sonic, and understand basic engineering you can see why it can perform the things it claims over the other BOWs. EG the bridle setup, front pivot point, one to one bar purchase system.

Most of all in the end its only your opinion that matters.

Go and demo both c kites and bow kites and see what suits you best, all 06 kites are very good , as forums are good to read but they are not always true.