What’s it all about?
A new offering from Kitehouse.de, wahoo! I’m a pretty big fan of all things Kitehousey, so I’ll try and keep this objective.
Of course the first thing I bought and paid for was the bag – with a ‘Kitehouse’ label on it. Oh hang on a minute though, there’s something inside – some crispy icarex wrapped around some sticks. It’s advertised as a gap filler between the ‘Drop’ and the ‘Sin’ in the current catalogue. A bit more advanced than entry level then, whilst not as accurate or tricky as the Sin? Maybe, except it’s a small, fast kite. So the ‘Sin’ then, is slower and more precise with some trickiness sewn in, whilst the ‘Pulsar’ is quicker and more nimble, but with some accuracy in there? Oh I don’t know, let’s put it together and see what’s what.
Build Quality
These particular Germans generally make a pretty nice kite. Raw materials used and the construction thereof is right up there with the best, and the Pulsar is no exception despite being relatively cheap. I say relatively because this is not a cheap kite, but it’s nothing like as pricy as some competition quality offerings or boutique freestylers available elsewhere. Mid-range pricing then, where’s the compromise? I wonder.
Sticks used are a mixture of 6mm CFK (whatever that is) for Leading Edges and Top Spreader and Skyshark P300 for the Lower Spreaders, and it all feels quite solid. There’s an Icarex sail, which is beautifully stitched together, though there’s a limited number of panels. Quite a striking design, but the sail tension does seem a little weak at first impression. We’ll see if there’s a negative effect in the air later… Ok, there’s a bit of ballast round and about, adjustable leach line through the trailing edge and a perfectly functional bridle, fully adjustable with just a bit of turbo. Oh, and then some yo-yo stops… You’ll not miss ‘em. Great big ugly ‘Kitehouse’ branded rubber do-nuts they are.
I can’t actually see a much of a compromise to construction then. I would say however, that within 5 minutes of first flight, 3 of the 4 leading edge fittings had become loose (failed glue at the ‘c’ clips) and slipped all out of shape. No biggy, a resourceful flier has a bag of bits to hand and a touch of decent glue and a bit of tape later and all’s good. Still… Hmmm, OK, let’s overlook that and attach some lines.
In Flight
Most small, quick, tricky type kites have a wind range issue. Generally speaking – there’s quite a blow needed to get them in the air to start with. Then, too much wind and they become really quick and ungainly. There are exceptions of course, but I can’t say that the Pulsar is one of them. The low wind range is actually quite good, at least to get it into the air and flying (trick recovery takes a touch more or some nifty footwork) – and the good news is that it’s robust enough to really handle being thrashed around at pace in higher wind, you’ll just need quick hands to keep up with it. The sweet spot then, is quite limited – below about 5mph and trick recovery is damned hard work, above about 12 mph and it’s too quick to be comfortable. Big fun, just ermmm… pacey. The trailing edge tension is adjustable though, so it can be slowed a touch.
There’s a light feel at the end of the lines. It’s not totally devoid of presence, but certainly isn’t going to yank your arms out of the sockets. ‘s quite a pleasant fly all told. Straight lines stay straight and cornering is sharp. It’s twitchy, so some careful tending is required to really hold turn exits without wobble, but generally the precision is quite precise. Nowhere near competition standard, but perfectly acceptable. It doesn’t appear that the sail tension issue in the set-up has much of a detrimental effect – ‘s all good.
This is primarily a trick kite, so it’s probably high time to stop fannying around and flick it some…
Stalls and Slides – no problem, easily held. Axels, Half axels, Cascades and Fountains, Cometes – nice. I really like the way that the Pulsar behaves with a soft input and plenty of slack – slow and controlled, very nearly graceful and yet smack it about and it’s all really sharp and snappy. Sweet.
Fades, backspins, flic-flacs and waps – no worries, maybe not quite as flat spinning as text book Tricks Party dictates, but solid none-the-less. Turtles, Insanes, Lazies, Multies etc. etc. – No gaps. The settled turtle isn’t so deep as to cause recovery problems, but deep enough to allow rotations whenever you feel like it. ‘Thumbs up’ smiley.
The Pulsar is really quite pitchy. Yo-Yo and Multies (caught good and solid on them there big old do-nuts) are quick and easy with wrapped flight and tricks causing no problems at all. Reverse pitch is also pretty straight forward. Yo-Fades easy enough to hit and catch, and Crazy Copters straight forward to initiate and not too fussy on the rotation. Excellent. There’s a trade off on straight forward flat spins and slots though – overcook the flare just a touch and it’s tip wrapped for sure, hit it right though, and the spin is nice. Taz-Machines are a give-away, much the same as it’s big brother ‘Sin’. Small, flicky, trick capability then – Check, with merit.
Overview
Compare and contrast the CR Fury with the .85, the Cosmic TC with the XS, the Gemini with the Minigem – then apply the same to the SIN and Pulsar, and you’re about there. This is an excellent trick kite. Great fun and really capable without being overly serious. I’ll be sticking with the CTC XS for this purpose if you don’t mind, but for very nearly half the price – and if you prefer the Sin to the Cosmic, the Pulsar has potential to inspire. It’d make an outstanding learning tool for noob types too, certainly take some growing out of until competition level accuracy and definition is called for. Nice work.
-Bryan