Thanks John, Weiser is near Ontario Oregon on the Idaho side of the Snake River, I was riding on the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon about a 3.75 hour drive for me. u2u me if you have any questions about Alvord. you can also go to A.B.E-Alvord Buggy Expo on facebook.

Bassetman, sorry for the thread getting a little off topic.

It is cool....I know nothing right now so almost any thing is a learning experience. I decided on the buster 3.3 to get started. I will make my own starter buggy this winter, I have a lot of aluminum air craft tubing and light weight wheels. In the spring I will start working on a couple more kites and an ATB . I was fling the symphony this morning at 35 mph....great fun it almost will pull me and it works out to about 1.1 meter. The 3.3 should be a kick at 7-10 to star t with and higher when I figger it out....

Great choice! you are correct, the Buster will be a kick in 7 -10 to start out! be prepared though, huge difference in power from your Symphony, not just because of the size but because of the AR (Aspect Ratio). the Symphony was not designed for power so be careful, I had a 2.5m kite kick my butt in 15 mph wind when I was starting out, still have the scars and good luck with the buggy build! go to www.popeyethewelder.com for info to help with your build. the best buggy site on the net IMHO

Welcome Bassetman... Is that a cichlid in your avatar ? Looks like a Tilapia...

Welcome to the forum Bassetman! I, too am going through the same beginner phase of this whole traction kiting thing. I actually just got myself a Prism Tensor 5.0 as my first power kite. The only foils I flew before was my Snapshot 1.9 speed foil. It was fast and gave good pull in higher winds, but we don't always have the best winds here on Long Island, so that's why I went for the 5m in the Tensor.

I took it out last weekend in about 5-7 mph winds and it did give me some really good pull. I realized that I definitely have to get a harness for it. After a few hours, my grip was shot. haha! I'm currently running it with handles (vs the bar setup) and going to have to decide on how I can attach a line from the upper handles and hook in somehow without compromising safety.

Glad to have ya on the forum and I'm sure I'll be learning alot from watching your posts. Best of luck with your new Buster, too!

The fish is a Congo Calvus from lake Tanganyika....I raise rift lake cichlids as a business .....it has paid for a house two kids and now starting on kites. I am retired army and it brings in the fun money. I also raise several frontosa varieties and many other rare African cichlids. Thanks all for the advice and welcome....now I just have to wait for the kites and get proficient at flying them:bouncing:

Sorry I am late to the discussion but while most of the other responses are from people that have a lot more experience then I do, in this case I am uniquely qualified to offer my advice!

I also started out with the symphony 2.1 back in the spring and I am about 220 pounds and quickly wanted to upgrade to a larger kite. I asked the same questions and got the advice that a 3 meter or a 3 1/2 meter would be a great next kite, so naturally, since I rarely do anything half way, I purchased a used 5 meter beemer! The winds around here are usually 10 to 20 MPH as well. If you have a free afternoon and want to get a good laugh, read some of my experiences in some of my previous postings!

Well, I got the 5 meter and that thing drug me around and let me tell you, that thing will drag you across the field, the highway, the grocery store parking lot, and then across lake huron if you do not let go! While it is great to fly in 8 MPH winds or so, I quickly added additional smaller kites so that I am prepared for more variable wind conditions!

Go get a 3 meter kite, everybody needs a good 3 meter kite anyways and it is money well spent! Currently, while I do fly the 5 meter occasionally, I usually choose a smaller kite based on the wind speed and the wind quality (gusting or constant). A four meter will probably be too big as well, stick with the three meter!

Regards,
Cranky

Welcome to the fold Bassetman! you are gonna love that 3.3m soulfly. http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=24116 see this thread if you want to see what a 2.2 and a1.5 soulfly will do in a 20mph wind!