I bought the 15M ION last week and I had the chance to ride it in a wide wind range thus far and I wanted to give my input.

First my stats:
weight: 190lbs
Height: 6'-1"
Board: UG 152 FLX

When I first started riding the ION I was convinced that was riding a "C" kite. The bar pressure resemble a "C" kite and timing the jumps felt like a "C" kite.

I really put it to the test yesterday out at Pass-A-Grille. I arrived at the beach and it was blowing 12mph. I was up and riding upwind with ease in the light wind. Within an hour the winds picked up to 18 - 20mph with stronger gusts. Now I was having fun, I was ripping up wind and jumping to the moon. This is a great kite and my favorite thus far. It has the feeling of a "C" kite and the safety of a bow. It jumps like a "C" kite but floats you like a bow kite.

I let all my buddies try it out yesterday and they came in grinning from ear to ear.

Daryl you should be getting calls from Scott F., Paul and Alex F. and maybe a guy named Randy R. Randy didn't want to give me my kite back, he kept yelling at me saying one more time. LOL
They all loved the kite and want to purchase one, so I hope you are stocked up.

Flexifoil really has come out with a great product and I will end up purchasing the 9m for the winter time in Tampa.

My only negative input is they could have made a bigger bag.

-Chris

My kites fit with room to spare! You need to learn to roll a kite Origami style

I guess in need to go to ITT tech and get an AA in kite folding with the one pump. I have a hard time getting all the air out of the struts and makes it harder to fold.

Dude, no worries on the bag. Some more Bone Bagz are coming out of production soon, which is the way to go for local packing. Save the Flexi Bag for airline travel, for which it appears to be perfectly sized.

how does the 15m ion compare to big C kites in lightwind?

Put it this way. If I was riding a "C" kite yesterday, I would have had to come in and pump up a smaller kite. I was riding in 12mph while my friend Scott who is lighter than me was riding his 20M RRD. We were both hanging in the light wind, but once it picked to 18mph, he headed in. I was still out enjoying the wind.

Y2K - I have one on order with the shop. I'm pretty stoked that you had this baby going in 12mph. How much do you weigh and what board were you on. Did you pull in much depower when the wind went from 12 to 18 or was there enough just by pushing the bar away?

any thoughts on this set up.............

http://community.flexifoil.com/showthread.php?t=97961

Thanks in advance for any response.
Frank

Guest. I weigh about 190lbs. I actually didn't use the depower strap at all. The bar has enough depower that I felt comfortable with out feeling over powered.