Customer Reviews

Prism Stowaway Parafoil Kite

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own two Prism kites, this one and a 1.2 speed foil kite. I purchased the speed foil kite first (it's Prism's smallest of that type of kite after all) thinking that I was a fairly experienced flyer and could probably skip the beginner model. I was proved wrong in many ways. Speed foil kite flying is NOT easy. The way the strings attach to the kite is far different from standard kites, and they require two hands to control. I spent a few afternoons on the Alabama gulf coast (which is very good kite-flying country) trying to get that kite up in the air, but it just wasn't happening, even with my girlfriend there to help me. Humbled, I bought this kite almost immediately after my failed attempts at flying the 1.2. I recently made my way to the coast of Georgia and gave this kite a whirl. I loved it! It is very different from your standard delta-style kite, but every bit as easy to fly and control. As the title of my review suggests, the main difference between this kite and the standard ones is the fact that it resembles a mini-parachute. There are small pockets built into the kite that fill with air and kind of 'inflate' the kite. This is what allows it to fly, I assume, (I'm no physicist) without a rigid frame. This makes for a very smooth experience and a very fun one. --A couple of other good points: (1) the kite's tail is super long and looks very beautiful in the sky, and (2) the winder for the kite's string is not a complicated (and sometimes flimsy) 'flick'-handle, but just a simple circle. When I first saw the winder, I thought it looked a little too simplified and worried that it might be difficult to control, but I was completely wrong. The perfect circle is an elegant way to control and wind a kite's string. Highly recommend this one if you like to fly kites.

I am a beginner kite fan. This is my second kite with the Prism Stowaway Diamond as my first. I found this kite more difficult to get figured out than the diamond. It comes fully assembled and ready to fly. That's the easy part. As I said, I had a lot of difficulty figuring it out at first. It requires the white side to be up so it will fill with air. Once I did get it figured out though, I found it launched very easily and likes to fly. I was trying it in gusty wind though and when a stronger gust would pull it up higher, it would flip, causing the air to empty, and the whole thing would fall to the ground. I never got it to stay up for more than a few minutes at a time. While it was flying, it would dance in the air with it's 20 foot long tail flowing impressively. I can't wait to try it on a day with a more steady breeze. Recommended!

I purchased this kite specifically because it has no spars and stores compactly so I could have a kite in my bag/car for random sunny day flights.
It's PERFECT. If you do it right, it can fold down to as small as 4"x6"x3" and fits nicely in its little carrying sac. The reel doesn't fit in the sac though, that could have been designed better but o well, it's a typical hoop reel which I would take any day over a bar reel. The reel has 200' of line which I thought was a bit short but for this kite, it's better to keep it a little closer.
The kite itself is lovely, I got citrus which is a variety of greens rather than citrus colors (orange/yellow right?)
The tail is a different material than the sail (I know the sail is ripstop but I don't know what the tail is) and while I know that the sail is waterproof, I don't know if the tail is... This only matters to me because I fly near a lake and it might go down in it one day. So I will probably scotchguard the tail to prevent damage...
It flies very well in an easy wind but too gusty will have it doing flips and turning inside out too. It's nice that no damage occurs even when it crashes (to it or others) so it's very entertaining to play with and almost seems like it has a mind of its own.
I fly in Texas and the wind is gusty here. At least in those conditions, it's not a kite you can tether and leave without coming back every 5 minutes and relaunching it... Relaunching is fun and easy though as usually a tug will have it back in the air from the ground anyway.

The stowaway parafoil is not a light-wind kite despite the fact it weighs almost nothing, and you do need a reasonably steady breeze to keep it up and under control. Occasionally it will 'roll' upside down if you get a sudden lull and there is a quick dose of slack in the line. Sometimes you can right it in the air before it lands, or when it's on the ground the next gust of wind usually 'rolls' it back upright and you can take off again without having to do the walk of shame. It gives you a bit more excercise having to walk backwards and forwards to keep tension on the line, and I find that having to 'work' to keep it afloat a bit more stimulating than just standing there. Having said that, it's still a leisurely session and you don't have to run around like a loon to keep it airborne. You'll have plenty of time to just stand back and appreciate the spectacle. I have the Ice and Spectrum colours, and both are striking, very well made and wonderful to watch in flight. Can't figure out why several of the other reviewers were having trouble getting it up and keeping it up, although judging by the dog-flying-a-kite-video I saw, trying to fly it in a park close to a lot of trees is probably the first problem. You need an open area away from trees and you need wind. Sounds simple I know, but...
It's also very portable, Amazon did not bother to send mine with the bag it's supposed to come with, but I just bought an extra-small stuff sac from a camping shop, and it's a much better option. I've travelled overseas for work with it in my luggage, takes up next to no room at all. It won't pull too hard that a young child couldn't comfortably fly it, but it might take some assistance from a grown-up to launch it so a young-un could then take over. All in all it's a good all-ages kite that I won't travel without now. And being a foil, there's no worries about it crashing into the ground and breaking a spar.

I have 2 prism snapshot power foil kites the 1.4 and 2.5. I love them but they are not for the kids nor my wife as I tend to fly them in 20-25 mph winds. They will litterally drag my 6'6" 220 lb. frame up and down the beach. So I bought this little kite to entertain my nephews or my wife while I fly the power foils. Prism kites are fantastic and loads of fun to fly... Now go fly a kite or something...

Wanted a kite to take to the beach on our vacation. This is perfect. It tucks in a beach bag, you pop it out, and your flying. People on the balconies of our condo, told me how much they enjoyed watching it. The colors are beautiful, and bright. Would defenitly recommend !!

For a beginner kiter like me, the kite is perfect. Just lay it on the ground, let the wind grab it and there it goes. I let it out to the max and tied it to a bush. Then I drank a beer and admired it. I'm a hang glider pilot so when I want to fly a kite its just for relaxing and letting it soar while I watch and drink beer.

I bought one just like it for my grandson.

I bought this for my 4 year old granddaughter's birthday. I hesitated because of some of the negative reviews, but I am so glad I ordered it. I was afraid it wouldn't be large enough to be "showy", but the bright color and long tail made it easily visible. She had no trouble holding it on her own once her dad got it aloft. Getting it to fly was very easy also. I really wanted a frameless kite since the one she owned had broken easily. It folds into a small shape and easily stored in the pouch provided.

I like the looks of this kite and really hoped it would be easy to fly. I have children who are 3 and 6, and we like to go to the National Kite Festival. Based on other reviews, it looks like this kite has a minimum and maximum wind speed window in which it likes to fly. Unfortunately, we were not in that window; winds were too light. We did get it to fly about 15 to 20 feet high and 30 yards or so away from us. My 3 year-old was flying it, so people thought it was cute and did not mind walking into the line. One time, we did get it up high enough to where it caught some good winds and gained altitude... that was nice, but it took some effort to keep it aloft even at altitude.

The construction of the kite seems sturdy and the materials feel durable. It packs up small and is very light. Just know what type of winds you'll be flying in. I think it is a good kite overall. Hopefully we'll get it to the beach some time and try it out there.

Soft kites are great because there's nothing to break and they pack very compact. The one that I received had the old packaging, which included a small bag for both the kite and the line. But the kite folds up so well that both fit in the bag pretty easily. The newer packaging has a ring that you can use to clip it onto your belt.

The kite is all assembled. Just make sure that the cells of the parafoil are open and filled with air and it goes right up. It bounces around in the changing gusts, but with the 10 mph beach winds it never flipped over or deflated and fell.