Rob,

For all the pain, suffering and waiting of trying to save $50 by buying from China just go and buy some second hand gear!
you can get yourself fully setup with a kite of about 2yrs old, board, harness for about $1200. If you cant afford $1200 then you are looking at the wrong sport....
Enjoy...

Hi Nixon,

We were asked by a customer to give him help trimming his friends brand new "Direct from manufacturer Chinese Kite".

When it was pulled out of the bag it all looked OK at a glance, but once we laid it out, the bar was nice but dead simple, and in fact was so simple it didn't even come with a leash and to cut costs even further, they didn't even provide places to attach a leash .... anywhere!

No safety systems whatsoever and no way to put something in place without rerigging and refitting the bar.

Now for the kite, the kite was high aspect and had no fancy trimmings which I actually quite like as the more fandangle stuff just adds weight and increases chances for breakage and malfunction.

The kite would not fly straight from the bag without major bar rerigging to shorten the front lines to a point where it would fly (about 8 inches). Once the kite was finally rerigged and trimmed so it would fly, it was launched and flown to 12 o'clock fully depowered with slack rear (steering) lines and had a massive amount of lift (ie no depower) . As soon as you pulled any back line tension with the bar, the kite stalled and flew backwards.

The kite is definately the biggest piece of crap I have ever flown, it looks awesome with nice graphics and a nice looking bar, but it was essentially useless as a kite and extremely dangerous to fly with no depower and no steering, or, good steering and massive stalling problems.

The guy still paid $1000 which is the most expensive wall hanging/bar room decoration ever purchased.

Do not buy Chinese kites from nameless brands over the internet. Stick to local stuff or name brands. There is a lot of crap out there, so find someone who can point you in the right direction or find a reputable shop or instructor who can help you into the sport safely and without spending a fortune.

Cheers and good winds,

Thank you all for your responses!!!
the main reason i even thought of going down this path is becasue i read that unclechops has done similar! I am actually heading to China, and i thought that armed with a little local knowledge (from an old high school buddy) i may be able to hunt down a place that manufactures all the named stuff we see here and convince them to sell direct! Im happy to fly a north kite that doesn't have north printed on it! and in some cases a bit of folding stuff can be a good way in!
At the end of the day, if im going to buy I'll find the $, I wont skimp on safety/quality to save $, but I will go on the hunt and shop around - buying direct seems like a top way to do it (ahh, yes, I am a tightarse!!!!)
Kitebored, ill but your junk if its good....and cheap!!!

Cheers

There is a good shop in Hong Kong.If your going there, why not.
As to all the horror storys, there are a few kites around right now, that wont fly " straight out of the bag" from the major brands, current models actually.
Do your reasearch before you go, and you will be ok

Ray

kitehard,
i bought a brand-name kite 2nd hand that was exactly the way you described. I have wondered if it were a chinese rip-off. I won't publicly brand bash, but i'll tell if anyone asks. I have heard so many good things about their other products that i find it hard to believe it's genuine.
It's about F%$#%d and due for replacement now anyway. getting a few holes etc.