Question:
Ok so here is our deal! There is no bloody wind here in Canada. We are flying the Beetle 2100 and want something for it to play with.
What do you suggest? How do you pick the right kite when there is so much out there? Thanks

Answer:
Hi/Bonjour/Ciamar tha sibh Jeff/Aimee, (English/French/Gaelic. Hope I covered all the bases) You're flying in Canada? That's that little island off the coast of Cape Breton, isn't it? (Hope you're laughing.) You're in Canada and there's no wind? Where are you flying? You ask an excellent question, "How do you pick the right kite (for a given wind) when there's so much out there?" I can share with you how I pick a kite and maybe it'll give you some ideas. I can start by offering that much of my decision process depends on the kind of experience I want on a given day.
1. Do I want a quiet, calm ride or do I want to get a full-body workout?  
2. Do I want to play or am I practicing?  
3. Do I want to fly quad- or dual-lines? (I don't fly single-line kites. They are fine kites, just not what I like to fly)  
4. Do I want to fly strutted or foil? (both cover lots of options. Strutted kites vary in design from deltas (like the Beetle 2100) to Revolutions to CQuads. Foil kites go from Symphonies to SkyTigers to FlexiFoils. I'm not sure where you'd put kites like the NPW but I tend to put them in with the foils)  
5. Do I want to tune my kite to the wind or do I just want to go fly?  
6. How much wind is there today?  
7. How stable is the wind?
Notice that I put the "wind" questions last? I tend to decide the "Do I want..." questions then match my answers to the "wind" questions. For example, if I want a full-body workout and the wind is 8-16kph, I'll take out my NPW5 LK300. If I want a full-body workout and the wind is 16-24kph I'll take out something like a Symphony Quad 2.5. If the wind is 24-32kph and I want a full-body workout I'll fly my SkyTiger26 .
By the way, I'm including pointers so you'll get an idea of the kites I'm describing. I'm not endorsing any one kite over another nor am I attempting to sell you a kite.
So much for kites for full-body workouts. What about a kite for a calm, quiet ride? I've noticed that most kite wind ratings are for steady winds in one direction, like a wind at a beach. I tend to fly in fields and on mountainsides or cliffs overlooking the ocean (I don't recommend this). My point is that I don't fly where there's going to be a steady breeze in one direction most of the time. This means I'm always going to have my attention on two things; the kite's relation to the wind and my footing (especially if I'm flying on the cliffs of Cape Breton). But can you have a calm, quiet ride in unsteady winds? Yes. I'm willing to bet that your Beetle would be quite responsive in a variable wind, provided the base wind was at least 12-13kph. By "base wind" I mean that the wind, regardless of direction, doesn't drop below 12-13kph. If the wind is steady in one direction the Beetle will probably be an enjoyable ride in around 8kph winds. Generally, the more surface area a kite has the less wind is necessary to get it airborne. However, more wind does equate to a more dynamic flight unless you go with a smaller kite. That said and using the same winds as before (8-16, 16-24, 24-32kph) if I want a calm, quiet ride I'll use a my Maxima (not sure they still make these. It's a 10+ft, dual line strutted delta, a Legacy and nothing because I've not found a kite which will give a calm, quiet ride in 24-32kph winds. The Beetle 2001 and the Maxima share one (to me) nice feature; they don't need to be tuned.
The Legacy and the Beetle's kid brother, the Utopia are tunable kites, meaning you can make adjustments to the tension on the wings, curvature of the sail, etc., depending on wind condition. Tuning a kite goes back to my questions about wanting to just fly or practice. My Maxima is not tunable and will give me a good ride in anything from 8-24kph winds, steady or not and variable in direction or not. I've flown a Utopia and it's the only kite I've seen which can do a true 90 degree turn, but it needed adjustments to do the same stunts in different winds on different days. Somedays I want to tune kites so I can explore flight dynamics, somedays I don't. Are you interested in just getting a kite up and then enjoying the sight with little work on your part, say the winds are 24kph or less? In situations like this, where I just want to mellow out and enjoy the sky I fly a Stylus
This is rated as a power kite but I tend to start beginners on it because it's an easy ride, goes well in a light wind and doesn't break when it crashes)
or a dual line Symphony.
To give you an idea of how things can vary, if I want a calm, quiet, zen-like ride in 8-12kph winds, variable or not, I'll fly the SkyTiger26 I mentioned above when I talked about a full-body workout kite. It really depends on the winds and what you want to do.
Now what about sheer profundity? If I'm flying for an audience I'll usually end with my Synergy kites. KitesOnLine.com website got me two of these a while back and I've not seen them in any catalog since, so you'll have to find out from her if they're still available. Synergies are three line kites (I've attached a photo) and are just sheer fun to fly although not for everybody, I'll admit. These kites are dynamic and will fly in winds from 4-24kph. I love them and they take some getting use to. I was out flying today with a friend and he couldn't fly one to save his life. I gave a gentle tug and got mine skyborne every time.
I hope that answers your questions, or at least gives you enough to ask more or something. Let me know if there's anything else I can offer. Toodles/A' bien tot/Le Meas, Joe

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