Hi CapnNemo

The Naish Octopus in an older valve system where the air was passing from the leading edge to the struts via an Internal tube vs an external tube like every single other kite manufacturer. It was a pain to fix kites that had this system hence why it might have been removed.

My biggest advice for beginners like yourself is to avoid buying second hand kites without the advice of an experimenter kiter who can not only thoroughly inspect the gear for you but also tell you if the kite you are looking at is suitable for learning and the correct size, has a functional safety system, lines that are well tuned, has no leaks, etc.

It's a bit like buying an older second hand car with zero mechanical knowledge and without having it professionally inspected, there is at least a 50% chance that you will buy a lemon. Just like with cars, the lower your budget is the more likely you are to buy a lemon...so if you're looking at kites below $500 the risk is much higher.

I was in your shoes many years ago, and I did that mistake not once but twice! I bought very cheap second hand kite that were in pretty bad shape and one of them that needed to be fixed before it could be flown.

As an instructor, I've seen far too many newbies like yourself fall into that trap of buying cheap kites that were not even usable or totally the wrong type of kite for learning. In some cases, the gear they bought was beyond repair or too expensive to fix and that means they just threw a few hundred $ out the window

Christian

Thanks for that. I get it now. Today I bought a kite from a kiteshop who recommended it for my size and learning. So hopefully will be all good. Now to organise lessons.

I get a lot of guys wanting to get rid of it. Caching!! $$