Cheap vs Expensive Kite: How Bad Could it Be?

As a broke newbie to the sport I went out and bought a bunch of used gear for 500$ total (used ocean rodeo flite from 2016, board, harness, bar, etc...) I do not regret my decision at all. After only a couple months of riding I'm now realizing that I need an additional larger kite so that I can get out on more light wind days. The Pansh will be my next kite. Why spend 2,000$ on the newest gear when you're going to suck anyways. And probably going to need to buy another kite anyways to maximize riding days. Get something functional and safe gear and go practice and have fun. People had fun kiteboarding in 2016 and so can you today! The gear doesn't have to be great for you to have a freaking epic time. Once I have skills and a quivver I'll slowly start adding in newer kites :) Just my thoughts as a broke, newbie, weekend warrior

I ride Pansh Genesis 6m, 8m, and 10m with a surfboard. My 8m is going on 4 years old and has not ripped or failed and cost around $200, I do however make two mods: 1. remove the 5th line and use a 4 line bar, 2. remove the blow out valve magnets and replace it with velcro, the magnets sometimes open in flight causing the kite to loose power. The Genesis is much easier to ride than the Aurora and more suitable for a surfboard with good drift. Compared to inflatables it is also quicker to setup and launch and I can land on my own using a stick in the sand. For the price it is excellent value.

I've been flying Pansh for well over a decade and it's really interesting to hear the mixed perspectives from those accustomed to premium brand foil kites. Regardless of which side of the fence you feel about the Aurora, you guys are no doubt boosting with it!

I have a 19m Pansh Aurora II. I bought it in 2017 I think. It does collapse on itself sometimes and I found out that after couple years of use, I have around 20 seconds to relaunch before the material gets all soaked and I get anchored. The lines didn't fail yet but it seems that they stretched. It flies strange now but can'tafford the fancy expensive ones :). Thanks for the video :)

Nice to see a pansh on the channel. I regret that you've chosen the Aurora III, a model with several design error reports. I think the ideal kite to compare with the Soul would be the A15. I have a 15m... it's very stable and pulls well. I also have a Genesis 9m which behaves more like an inflatable, has good power and weighs almost half of an inflatable of the same size, but doesn't behave very well in gusts. Anyway, congratulations on the test.

I Had some troubles with the sewing, my genesis 2021 it has broken few times because of sewing problems but, the problem got solved by sewing it again by my self. It is true that the pansh kites are probably slower than flysurfers but... as you said, it costs much less. In my opinion I would definitely not recoment this brand for a beginner but if you already know kiting and haven´t got a good budget like me, definitely go for a pash!

Nice to see you again, Paul! We met each other on the cruise through the grenadines in 2017. Greetings from Switzerland!

Thanks for the in-depth vlog. I got a 3.5M Pansh Genesis with bar and lines to use as a practice kite before I took kitesurf lessons. it's a great kite and fun to fly. I think it really helped me prepare for lessons and get pretty good at kite control. In light winds you can hot launch and loop the kite, which I wouldn't do with full size gear. Build quality is pretty good. The lines and bridles are beefy. The kite has held up to a few crashes and still looks like new. Even came with a brake strap, which I have no idea how to attach (haven't really needed it). Considering a 2-line trainer kite costs about $100, I think this is a much better value. You get the experience of a real 5 line kite for not much more. (I bought a cheap used windsurf harness on ebay). You don't really need a real harness for this, you can just use a belt or piece of webbing as long as the wind isn't too strong. The fifth line is strangely too long and I don't really know how to shorten it, and it comes with a really long leash. I'm surprised they haven't just included a short leash, which would be cheaper for them. Who's doing unhooked tricks with these things? I think these would make terrific snow kites. Not sure about in the water, but I use LEI on the water, so not skilled enough for foil kiting yet.

I agree with the review as I have Soul 15m and Aurora 2 in 15..The biggest issue is jerkiness or not smooth, but cheap and who cares if you crash it

I wish, for an upcoming video, a comparison between the punch and an old used kite witch you can buy in the same price level or even cheaper.

Nice VLOG like always 👏🙂 The only Pansh kite that flies decent is the A15. And thats actually good value for the money 🙂

I've ordered 3 Pansh kites for kite foiling and am looking forward to them arriving soon

Thanks for doing these kinds of videos. Even with critics, it's nice to have some options for non-eyewatering priced kites (students, normal people who maybe want an extra kite in their quiver). I like how you put everyone's opinion on their own. Right now I would'nt buy a paunch kite, but would probably try it if I started kiting as a student years ago.

Sorry, but you tested the wrong kite... Aurora is higher AR and has different goals than Soul. You should have chosen the A15 for comparison to Soul or Sonic to Aurora. Clearly the Aurora is not better than Sonic, too, but characteristics are closer. Aurora needs speed to build up power. Soul is more for beginner with brute force like tractor when starting but not much speed/power when getting faster. Both can be "good", depends on what you want. But if you compare, you should compare kites with same goals. Still I think the video is good. You were lucky with the Aurora it seems, some need some work on trim when you get it, but yours seems to work fine.

I had a Soul 15m, and a friend bought a Pansh A15 15m, while i preferred the Soul any day of the week, i really was quite impressed with the quality and performance for the price, the price was around a tenth of the Soul price, but the performance was maybe 75% of the Soul. Now i have a small 4m Pansh, bought for 90USD and it is a perfect learning kite or kite to show friends what flying a kite feels like.

A very informative video! Thank you for helping us understand the difference! It's pretty vital, especially for those who only enter the world of kiting :)

Nice range of opinions. I think a lot of people thinking about kiting look at the prices and think twice; but if they're dedicated try to get used or cheap equipment, not knowing where the difference can be critical. Did you guys all go to Cuba together? Nice to have such a group :-) I've only been on one group trip, and I was the oldest and least experienced. It was a nice trip / nice locations, though I wasn't quite in the same social niche (and with the pandemic pre-vaccine, different levels of concern for different age groups).

I just tried my 12m Pansh Aurora 3 foil kite here in South Padre TX and was really disappointed compared to my 9 m ozone hyperlite foil kite. The Aurora 3 had less power, was less stable deformed frequently in flight and It was a hard launch, I had to eject during one of the launches, which I so far have never done with my ozone hyperlite. I'm gonna agree with the people in your video who did not recommend this kite. I was just trying to get a cheaper kite but my opinioin is you get what you pay for.

I ordered a 3m Genesis for my daughters few years ago to use as a trainer kite. The problem I see with Panch is quality control. Not bad for the price but very irregular construction.Out of the box, it's was terrible. I spoke to many owners and everytime, the problem is different from a kite to another. It took me a moment playing with ABC, front, rear line's ratio to get the best performance of this kite. And, it's not perfect. I can't use all the power/depower trim range. As you mention, that's not a beginner kite compare to my plug n' play CONCEPTAIR high end foil kites(and it's a local product !).

I had a Pansh 5 metre that I tried to use for landboarding. I found it very jerky compared to my 5m Rush. It had twin handles though whereas my Rush had a control bar so maybe that had something to do with it. In the end, I kept the Rush, sold the other one.