Prism Synapse Dual-line Parafoil Kite

Bought the Synapse 140cm after some minimal research. First kite I’ve owned - never kited before. Lots of fun - fast and pretty powerful. Was worried that it was too small to have some pull, but it wasn’t! Had it at the beach and it was perfect. Easy to launch (with 2 people) and straight forward to control providing hours of fun for all the family.The strings are stored on a good quality/design plastic which was easy to unwind and the length was great. The wrist-ties felt very comfortable and strong.Note: The 140cm comes with nylon strings and the larger models come with dyneema strings (stronger). Either way, they are a pain if they tangle up - trust me!Looking forward to using it again!

The media could not be loaded. This is such an amazing kite. It is the first one I have used that I have no problem with and this video is of my second time with it. It really is easy to use. There was another video taken bu only of my face whilst flying it - I smiled so much that my jaw ached the following day. My chest and stomach muscles also got a proper work out as it was a blowy day. I love this kite so much that I have bought my sister one and my partner one for their Christmas.....

The Synapse 170 is a great kite. This is the first two-line kite I have owned and it was really easy to fly right from the start. It pulls really hard in 15 to 20 MPH winds and is a lot of fun. Very soon after buying it I got a 20 ft and a 75 ft tube tail. You of course need higher winds for the longer tail, but it's really dramatic. It also slows down the kite a bit and makes it more controllable for a beginner when the wind is gusting to 20 MPH.The kit is well built and comes with a good protective bag.The only negative is that there is a slight defect in one of the handles that will make it hard to shorten the line on that side should I ever need to do so. I feel no need to take off a star for this, though. The whole package works so well.

This is the third kite I get from Prism. It is excellently built, easy to setup and very easy to carry and pack: we can go everywhere with it and fly it in minutes. It is a two line and therefore lets you do stunts and maneuvers so it is great fun. However, it can be frustrating if you do not have somewhat steady wind; we had the most fun on a day in which the wind was at the limit of the specs (and what fun it was!!). I have both this one and the Jazz and I would say I prefer the Jazz overall as when the wind dies off the Jazz frame will give you time to recover it whereas the Synapse just goes slack. Having said that, this one is totally easy to setup/pack and you never end up looking for lost straddles as it is frameless. So, a different experience altogether, I am very happy having both Jazz and Synapse and would be curious to try the bigger Synapse sails for the thrill...

I've flown a sunt kite so was ready for this. It pulls firmly in a 15mpg wind, turns on a penny and can be launched by one person proving you have something to weigh the trailing edge of the kite with. Landing again is not so easy as it blows back in the air! Great fun.

It seems unfair to give this good kite a three star review, it really deserves a four or maybe higher. But every time I've flown it I'm irritated by the knowledge that I can't keep flying it on the crappy polyester lines that it's supplied with. Why oh why for the sake of a few extra quid do they not supply this kite with lightweight Dyneema lines - it's just such a dumb short-sighted decision not to. Yes if you get the larger Synapse kites they come with Dyneema lines, but Dyneema isn't just about gaining strength, its about more precise control, lower weight and lower drag - something this kite would really gain benefit from at both lower and higher wind speeds.After 30 years of on/off kite flying you might ask why I bought the smallest Synapse foil, or even why I bought a foil at all! And I must admit that compared to a good delta kite there's very little attraction except for the speed and convenience of launch. Maybe it was a rash decision but I also wanted a kite that my young children could learn to fly safely with, and on that front this is an excellent kite to learn the basics with. It's small size is such that you can give it to an 8 year old on a windy day and be confident they're not going to be pulled off their feet, or destroy the kite in a plunge to earth. Another advantage is that it recovers from crashes very easily, it's rare to need assistance to get this kite airborne again after a crash or landing.I'd say this kite is frustrating and boring to fly in its lower 25% of recommended wind speed and you need 15mph+ for interest and 20mph+ for fun. At the very top end (30mph +) it starts to get a little ragged but I think that's a cause of the excess wind drag on the cheap lines and not necessarily a problem with the kite itself.So I guess it's a trip to the shed to find my spool of Dyneema (probably the wrong weight for this kite!) and the threading kit I last used 14 years ago. Or, I just blow £27 on some new lines to save me the bother, but which I really shouldn't have to be buying - and in summary, that is why this kite set doesn't get higher than a three star review - grrrr!

Purchased for a friend’s child and they report hours of fun.

Great kite, unfortunately very cheap handles that soon broke.