Hello from England. I've had a lot of fun with generic dual-line stunt kites over the years, but after looking to go to the 'next level' I happened to stumble upon the quad line Rev kites in American online shops (even though I'm British) and on Youtube and the fun factor looks exponential. I'm blown away by the available flexibility in controlling the kites (four [string] dimensions instead of just two), the idea of being able control the kite around and along any axes, regardless of which way it is facing. The aforementioned being less doable with the dual-line stunt kites as you tend to be restricted to going nose-forward most of the time, you can't easily invert (reverse) the flight path, stop the trajectory dead, slide along any angle, or do 360 wheeling on the spot, as it were! It's great to see what you may be able to achieve on the quad-lines with extensive experimentation and practice.
Here in the UK the prices are anything from £164 ($265) for a basic EXP through to £270 ($436) for a top-end B-Pro, or even up to £370 ($613) for a Blast or B-Pro-Extra.
I'd be flying it mostly on the sandy coastline of Whitby (North Yorkshire, England) with its variable North Sea breeze - anything from 5 to 25mph at any one time - but the average is usually between 6 and 15mph or so... I probably wouldn't fly it greater than 20mph anyway or I might end up being pulled across the water all the way to Norway.
When inland, the wind is 4-12mph or thereabouts.
As such, from the specifications on the Revkites website for each kite, I'm thinking a Mid-Vent with 2+3-wrap frame and 90lb line would likely be the best all-rounder?
While I've been grabbing all info I can get my sticky hands on, some of the terminology is new to me. When I was reading up about the switchable frames - http://revkites.com/...tion-spars-rods - I wondered why frames are referred to in terms of 'number of wraps'? I'm guessing the rods are sheets of carbon fibre rolled into tubes rather than being solid all the way through, therefore fewer wraps make for a lighter (if more vulnerable) frame?
At this stage I would only like to get just one really good kite to last me, would it be entirely foolish to jump straight in and get a B-Pro mid-vent? The craftsmanship and customisable colourizable design certainly is compelling.
As handles aren't included, and that I have no prior experience of using any, can anyone recommend all-rounder handles to go for? The myriad of available handles is perplexing to the unacquainted. If it bears any relevance, I guess I have slightly smaller than average hands for a guy - female-sized hands almost - but very tactile (I'm a pianist)!
Can any UK guys perhaps tell me where they shop for Rev kites and accessories? So far I've only found Kiteworld and Go-Kites.
I've been watching John's YouTube tutorials on the correct way to handle the kites when assembling/disassembling them etc.. Are there further instructions included with the kite when you buy it, on how to properly tether the lines to the kite, configure the bridle (if needed) etc.?
So many Q's. Thank you if you've read this far, I apologise for writing so much, I didn't intend to! Running before walking and all that. The Rev kites look inspirational.
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Moggy
Hello from England. I've had a lot of fun with generic dual-line stunt kites over the years, but after looking to go to the 'next level' I happened to stumble upon the quad line Rev kites in American online shops (even though I'm British) and on Youtube and the fun factor looks exponential. I'm blown away by the available flexibility in controlling the kites (four [string] dimensions instead of just two), the idea of being able control the kite around and along any axes, regardless of which way it is facing. The aforementioned being less doable with the dual-line stunt kites as you tend to be restricted to going nose-forward most of the time, you can't easily invert (reverse) the flight path, stop the trajectory dead, slide along any angle, or do 360 wheeling on the spot, as it were! It's great to see what you may be able to achieve on the quad-lines with extensive experimentation and practice.
Here in the UK the prices are anything from £164 ($265) for a basic EXP through to £270 ($436) for a top-end B-Pro, or even up to £370 ($613) for a Blast or B-Pro-Extra.
I'd be flying it mostly on the sandy coastline of Whitby (North Yorkshire, England) with its variable North Sea breeze - anything from 5 to 25mph at any one time - but the average is usually between 6 and 15mph or so... I probably wouldn't fly it greater than 20mph anyway or I might end up being pulled across the water all the way to Norway.
When inland, the wind is 4-12mph or thereabouts.
As such, from the specifications on the Revkites website for each kite, I'm thinking a Mid-Vent with 2+3-wrap frame and 90lb line would likely be the best all-rounder?
While I've been grabbing all info I can get my sticky hands on, some of the terminology is new to me. When I was reading up about the switchable frames - http://revkites.com/...tion-spars-rods - I wondered why frames are referred to in terms of 'number of wraps'? I'm guessing the rods are sheets of carbon fibre rolled into tubes rather than being solid all the way through, therefore fewer wraps make for a lighter (if more vulnerable) frame?
At this stage I would only like to get just one really good kite to last me, would it be entirely foolish to jump straight in and get a B-Pro mid-vent? The craftsmanship and customisable colourizable design certainly is compelling.
As handles aren't included, and that I have no prior experience of using any, can anyone recommend all-rounder handles to go for? The myriad of available handles is perplexing to the unacquainted. If it bears any relevance, I guess I have slightly smaller than average hands for a guy - female-sized hands almost - but very tactile (I'm a pianist)!
Can any UK guys perhaps tell me where they shop for Rev kites and accessories? So far I've only found Kiteworld and Go-Kites.
I've been watching John's YouTube tutorials on the correct way to handle the kites when assembling/disassembling them etc.. Are there further instructions included with the kite when you buy it, on how to properly tether the lines to the kite, configure the bridle (if needed) etc.?
So many Q's. Thank you if you've read this far, I apologise for writing so much, I didn't intend to! Running before walking and all that. The Rev kites look inspirational.
Many thanks.
~Timo
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Moggy
Had the most wonderful two hours flying today. Everything seemed to 'click' into place and the overall control felt a lot more natural and intuitive. Was much more confident in controlling it and mak
Stone in Shoe Bob
That's why I spend so much time answering questions on the forum. it's good to share the joy and so rewarding when people acknowledge it.
Moggy
Thank you all, making good use of everything you've thrown at me. Was able to take the kite out today and put everything I've read and seen into practice, and, my, what a difference. Firstly, figured
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