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Rod Comparison


Warrenlan

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I have a newbie question regarding the use of the various rods. I understand that 2 wrap, 3 wrap, and 4 wrap rods are increasingly stronger and heavier and for use with increasingly strong winds. How do Race Rods fit into this structure? Are they the lightest (weakest) or the heaviest (strongest) or somewhere between?

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I have a newbie question regarding the use of the various rods. I understand that 2 wrap, 3 wrap, and 4 wrap rods are increasingly stronger and heavier and for use with increasingly strong winds. How do Race Rods fit into this structure? Are they the lightest (weakest) or the heaviest (strongest) or somewhere between?

I have attached a .pdf file that has a basic breakdown of all the rods currently sold by Revolution. :)

Revolution Rod Types.pdf

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I have attached a .pdf file that has a basic breakdown of all the rods currently sold by Revolution. smile.gif

Hey Watty,

I am attaching some recent weights, that I took on some sets of rods, that I currently own.

They are listed in ascending order, according to weight, and they lined up, just as you might expect.........

These are 5 pc sets.........weighed in grams, and then re-weighed in ounces.........nick

2 wrap--------------75 grams--------2.60 ounces

Race (black)------80 grams--------2.80 ounces

Race (green)-----95 grams--------3.40 ounces

3 wrap-------------105 grams--------3.70 ounces

4 wrap-------------115 grams--------4.10 ounces

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Hey Watty,

I am attaching some recent weights, that I took on some sets of rods, that I currently own.

They are listed in ascending order, according to weight, and they lined up, just as you might expect.........

These are 5 pc sets.........weighed in grams, and then re-weighed in ounces.........nick

2 wrap--------------75 grams--------2.60 ounces

Race (black)------80 grams--------2.80 ounces

Race (green)-----95 grams--------3.40 ounces

3 wrap-------------105 grams--------3.70 ounces

4 wrap-------------115 grams--------4.10 ounces

Nick,

Thanks for posting this information. I had wondered about the relative weights for some time.

Maybe someone else will be able to do the same with respect to Rev 1 spars...

Felix

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Nick,

Thanks for posting this information. I had wondered about the relative weights for some time.

Maybe someone else will be able to do the same with respect to Rev 1 spars...

Felix

Back in 1995/96 when I wrote 9 or 10 Revolution articles for DrachenMagazin, one of the articles had the weights in it.

Unfortunately I can't find the article at this time.

I think the rod weights for the 2, 3 and 4 wrap individual rods were 14, 21 and 28 grams respectively. I measured this by taking several rods, without ferrules, weighing them all together and dividing by the number of rods.

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Nick, Thanks for posting this information. I had wondered about the relative weights for some time.

Felix

Hey Felix,

You are very welcome. I figured while I had them all here, in one place, and not in kites, it would be a good time to weigh......blue_confused.gif

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am now the chuffed owner of a (used) JB 1.5 Standard, courtesy of a respected member of this forum (for which my thanks again) so I know it comes from a good home and is in very good condition.

Unfortunately, I've not yet been able to fly it as the UK weather has been less than hospitable in the week that I've had it L Ho hum, maybe next week.

Anyway, today I decided (or at least my wife decided) that it was no longer appropriate to prop it up on the back of the settee and had to be "put away".

Having read a method of removing the (3 wrap) LE I tried it out and the spars came out a treat – This was the first time I'd seen the LE spars and found that they were a "mixture" of a silver labelled 3 feather Ultra Light centre spar and a pair of gold labelled ULTRALIGHT spars either side.

When I took the spars apart and picked up the (silver labelled 3 feather Ultra Light) down spars, I sensed quite a difference is weight.

With the help of aforementioned wife's digital scales, is transpired that one of the silver labelled spars and one of the gold labelled spars weighed 21g each (pretty much as I might have expected) but the other pair (of different labelled rods weighed in at a mere 14g each!

(I weighed the 2 wraps, and these came out at a consistent 13g – and they are all silver labelled).

So, two questions - but two statements first.

Statement 1– I am dead pleased with my Rev so don't really care about the rod mix.

Statement 2 – As an out & out newbie, I'm sure that the difference in rod weights will mean very little to me at this stage in flying (& un-scheduled landing) terms.

Question 1 – Has anyone got any idea why there should be such a difference between the rod weights (and within the same label range) – especially a 3-wrap rod at a 2-wrap weight?

Question 2 – What would be the recommended place for these rods to go when mother nature eventually decides that she's cried enough and it's time for a smile. Lighter spars in the LE or as the down spars?

Many thanks,

JP

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I am now the chuffed owner of a (used) JB 1.5 Standard, courtesy of a respected member of this forum (for which my thanks again) so I know it comes from a good home and is in very good condition.

Unfortunately, I've not yet been able to fly it as the UK weather has been less than hospitable in the week that I've had it L Ho hum, maybe next week.

Anyway, today I decided (or at least my wife decided) that it was no longer appropriate to prop it up on the back of the settee and had to be "put away".

Having read a method of removing the (3 wrap) LE I tried it out and the spars came out a treat – This was the first time I'd seen the LE spars and found that they were a "mixture" of a silver labelled 3 feather Ultra Light centre spar and a pair of gold labelled ULTRALIGHT spars either side.

When I took the spars apart and picked up the (silver labelled 3 feather Ultra Light) down spars, I sensed quite a difference is weight.

With the help of aforementioned wife's digital scales, is transpired that one of the silver labelled spars and one of the gold labelled spars weighed 21g each (pretty much as I might have expected) but the other pair (of different labelled rods weighed in at a mere 14g each!

(I weighed the 2 wraps, and these came out at a consistent 13g – and they are all silver labelled).

So, two questions - but two statements first.

Statement 1– I am dead pleased with my Rev so don't really care about the rod mix.

Statement 2 – As an out & out newbie, I'm sure that the difference in rod weights will mean very little to me at this stage in flying (& un-scheduled landing) terms.

Question 1 – Has anyone got any idea why there should be such a difference between the rod weights (and within the same label range) – especially a 3-wrap rod at a 2-wrap weight?

Question 2 – What would be the recommended place for these rods to go when mother nature eventually decides that she's cried enough and it's time for a smile. Lighter spars in the LE or as the down spars?

Many thanks,

JP

Hi JP,

The reason that the 3 wrap rods come in two labels is merely old and new label on the same rod.

Answer 1 - A slight difference in rod weights seems normal, and I wouldn't worry about it. Such differences won't make a noticeable affect on the kite. The importance of weight, imo, is secondary to the importance of strength and flex.

Answer 2 - Are you talking about strategically placing the lighter and heavier 3-wrap spars? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are asking about mixing 2 and 3 wrap rods, I wouldn't do that either. I tend to run in full sets, and not mix and match. Of course, I do think you should experiment with it anyway. The more that you try the more you learn.

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Thanks Watty - It did seem a strange quirk though that of the two labels, one of each were on the weight and one of each were (consistently) under weight - and by a big margin.

And yes, I was querying the placement of these 3-wraps. I'm sure that in the future I'll be experimenting with mixing different wraps (and sails) but at my stage of the game, I'll stick with the 3-wraps and leave those 2-wraps for another day.

Cheers,

JP

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