Anyone heard and thing about the HQ Montana? Good, Bad? Pros, Cons? Thanx.

all that i can say for myself is that I have never flown one, and this is b/c the one that was to be demo'd had some serious problems with the bridle, but you know, the kite is trying, it is something that can pull you, you can jump with it, fly with it and beat it up on the ground when crashing, HQ has certainly been around,.....here it comes.........
BUT, you know, why buy a matchbox car of a porche, when you can buy the real deal....
OZONE Frenzy..
good luck....I know that they are cheap and will go in the air....and better yet pull you around on the ground!

The HQ are almost exact replica of the frenzy. Ive looked and flown Both, an experienced kiter can tell the difference, but The Montana is the way to go if you ask me. Be wary of all the hype surrounding the Frenzy. I dont know if its worth the money. All I ever hear is the same thing from the ozone crew, but I wonder when the last time was any of them have flown anything else, They are much to proud of their frenzy to even try new things. I have flown Both , and they both rock.

I love all kites.
Take it easy with the jabs AJ
Unfortunately I had to put my Frenzy down for the first summer in years...to fly the Instinct on the water....along the way I flew as many other flat/bow kites as possible to know properly how to compare our blimp for customers.

Throughout the summer I've put my hands on several of my favorite foils as well. I have been most impressed by the Flysurfer Silver Arrow for light winds...the arcs from Lynn are retaining their renowned stability while getting quicker turning with every new generation. And Flexi has done it once again with the Blade, although the gen 2 are still my favorites. Every now and then I remind myself of how good we have it now by pulling out one of my original quadrafoils....funny how they are dogs now but once scared the hell out of me!

The new Frenzy's arrived before the last water session of the season tho, and I had to take them out just to get that different feel that I have grown to love. Yup, still my personal favorite...and I love to talk good about the things in my life that bring me such happiness

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

I have a limited number of hours on the HQ Montana, and i must say it reminded me of the original 03' frenzy, only with a little easier turning. It has a similar safety sytem, and it does fly and makes power and it turns and depowers and it is a little cheaper than a Frenzy. i thought it was a decent kite that will get better. BUT, I can't compare it the 07', the 06' or even the 05' Frenzy because those kites are the best 4 line bridled foil kites i've ever flown i personally believe they belong in a class by themselves.

( and since we have to qualify ourselves these days, the 4 line foils i've flown are the frenzy' 03' 04' 05' 06' 07', and the Ozone Access, Access2, the HQ Montana, and someone's attempt at Wipika to make a 4 line sheetable foil that wouldn't even get off the ground.)

And to defend Brian's character a little bit AJ, there is a reason that people all around this country talk up Ozone and its not because of hype,

First they have been pushing Snowkiting in the U.S. longer than most people and since they were the first ones building a dedicated snowkite they have had a longer time to refine their design,

Second,your right, its not all about the kite, it is about the person riding it. Brian, Heather, and the rest of the Ozone crew travel around the snow country more than anyone, they have represented at almost every snowkiting event for the last 5 years including all of ours, They bring Chasta over here to promote stuff, and when is the last time you've actually met a Kite designer like Robbie Whital who spent a whole winter traveling around the U.S. to help make his product better,

Now i'm not saying anything bad about the other companies who want to break in to our little snowkite market, but i Like the people behind Ozone as much if not more than i like their products, is that why i support their product? yes, Does that mean i think all other products suck and won't buy them ? definitely No, because there are a lot of companies out there that do care and i will spend a little extra because i know they care. Thats why i have always supported Windzup/Ozone and always will.

SO, to anwser the original question of do i know anything about the HQ ?
the answer is i know about last years kite not this years, i know that they made some changes on the hq montana for this year, but i haven't had a chance to fly one. My suggestion is to ask your local dealer if they can get their hands on one and try it.


Your right Eric, This forum should be all about the snowkiting, see you on the snow,

Joel Beatty, snowkiter

Hey AJ, remember back about three months ago (on the 19th of August) when you posted on Kiteforum this:

"Ozone makes the most superior snowkite on earth..."

You are right!

See ya out there,

Noah

I guess as the moderator, it's my job to encourage everyone to keep the conversation on track & peaceful.

It's true that we all have brand loyalties. However, I hope that each of us feels a greater loyalty toward the wellbeing of snowkiting.

Let's focusing on answering xtreme67's question and help him (her?) make an informed decision. I claim the right to remove this thread if the conversation goes elsewhere.

Thanks for understanding,
Eric