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Sigh just went and put this dark hearted beast (Boris Karloff /Black Sabbath)together for the first time. Sail sure is crisp and purdy. Toes at the edge ,staring into the abyss, hoping the cookies are chocolate chip.

I will be listing a karma soon is there any interest in a Jeff Howard ul signed kite

Yup, moderators are pretty vicious here . When you screw up it's like getting beat with a rose petal. Doesn't hurt much and you come out smelling okay.

I just pulled out both of my ITW Hydra and Kymera kites to see if I can see your concern. I got mine earlier this year so they may be of similar vintage to yours. As between the two kites, at least for me, the Hydra is certainly the more taut when assembled. However, I was able to assemble it without too much difficulty, and it did not seem excessive compared to other kites I have. If concerned, using just the loop as you describe might be a good temporary solution pending the kite stretching out a tad after a few flights. One point to mention: the Hydra has a leech line going through the hem of the trailing edges, whereas my Kymera does not. This will result in some additional tension, potentially. Unlike some kites, the leech line does not appear to be adjustable on the ITW Hydra, so one cannot back it off. (The Kymera is the louder kite of the two in my experience, due, at least in part, to the lack of such leech line I expect.) Perhaps go over the kite again to make sure there are no excessive pressure points such as the spine not properly snugged in the nose pocket or obstructions in the standoff connector holes. Relaxing the velcro at the base of the spine (not too much) may help somewhat -- but not enough that the cross T at the base becomes too loose. The leading edges should also be snug into the nose and completely seated at the ferrule joints. I didn’t measure the length of my standoffs, but that could also be an issue. Perhaps post up yours for comparison with others if there is still an issue. Hope that helps a bit. Both nice kites! .

DEcided to go ahead and finish the bag while I wait for the answer..

Both my Kymera and Hydra were really tight. I had to slide the loop closer to the nock before I attached the line thru the nock. Haven’t flown the Hydra much yet but my Kymera is pretty tight and I store it in the bag with tension on the wing tips. Still flys great just saves me from fighting it every time I fly it. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

A good Full Vent sail with no holes or tears in sail or venting. JB Signature iQuad, autographed with JB LE and Wear Strip upgrades by JB himself. I have a four wrap in it. $290 + shipping. PayPal

This commissioned sail consist of the ChallengeMax Poly (Navy) with Silver and Sky Blue Icarex. A bit of a different look combo than I typically do but the combinations work in the colorizer so it should work in mockup.. More to come in a bit..

Hey all, I am headed to Ocean City MD on Sept 19-20 if anyone is around to fly quads. I know, I know the real fun starts Friday, but I only get Wednesday and Thursday. Anywho, if you are around and want to fly I'll be flying as often as my kids allow. Am aiming to do a night fly after they go to bed. Hope to see someone sometime.... Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using KiteLife mobile app

Thank you..Bag was made from the trim of the center panel and mockup stages. Added a bit of the Challengemax Poly and the bag kind of designed itself. The actual purchase of this kite has fallen through. (Life Happens) I decided since I had already allowed for it to go with the full 96" LE.. This is several inches bigger than the 1.5 standard but not Zen size either. I'd say it is about a 1.3 size given the way Rev defines their sizing.. The Advantage of additional sail area is enhanced low wind performance.. This will be (hopefully) a very good 1-5mph kite.. Framing in P2X camo and P4X camo. I've just completed the LE sleeve and hope to attach it to the sail this afternoon. Edge Binding will be in blue for this kite. (FWIW, the reason for this size choice is it allows me to frame the kite without having to cut the spars. Glue 2 Ferrules and the frame is done.)

UPDATE: We are no longer offering these upgrade services, but hopefully this topic will serve to assist folks who do their own upgrades in the future. 🙏🏻 == Extend the durability, lifespan and performance of your 1.5 sized Revolution kite (includes EXP, SLE, B-Series, B-Pro, printed sails, etc) with tab reinforcements along the length of your leading edge mesh - the exact same mods I make to my own own equipment, they are now available to other fliers upon request. Over 30 sails worked on so far! These mods will not prevent mesh tears entirely, but will make the kite more stable, reduce damage and ensure that your kite maintains it's important flight shape for much longer than normal. Ordering notes: All sails should be folded and sent without frames. Return shipping is included during check out, we pack and mail the sails via USPS Priority Mail flat rate box (US customers only), $13.45 covers shipping for up to 1-4 sails, $18.45 for 5-8 sails. All apparent dirt and sand should be cleaned out of the kites before sending (not good for our sewing machine) and a $10 cleaning fee will apply to each sail that we need to clean ourselves.

Keeping an eye on this and any updates: just picked up a Hydra yesterday from ITW. Waiting on the mail now! First dual line I have bought in 15 years! Recent festival using my Prism Ozone, got my itch up - needed scratching!!! Did chat with Paul de Bakker about his thoughts on the kite - he felt they have done a good job making this as he designed it. So now I wait .........!

A classic beauty. When you assemble the kite for flying, the upright spars go on the back of the kite. If they are in front it will make it VERY difficult to learn. Watch the beginner tutorial videos on KiteLife until you're sick of watching them and then watch again a couple more times. Believe everything John says in them. It is proven and works really well. Watch the line management one and listen carefully. It will save you some grief. Fly with an experienced pilot if you can, especially the first couple of times out. Have fun and enjoy the journey. P.S. -- The cookies are magic. They become whatever you have in mind, so don't think about broccoli because broccoli cookies....

Thanks. It does fit together, juse takes more tension than I'm used to. My concern is more about sail stretch. You can't unstretch the fabric nor lengthen spars or standoffs. With two votes saying it feels designed to be stretched tight, I'm less worried.

Aha that explains it . All this time I thought it was a bad attitude 😎. Going to try shrinking the tubes with a hair dryer. Low temp tubing hopefully will work.I'd like to keep the extensions. Every kite I have without them has sliced connectors. Yeah I know bad flying technique but what's a poor flyer supposed to do. Tried to get to the fly in NE couple weeks ago. Hopefully I'll get to Pine Bluff this Saturday. Still have a tough time driving long distance (snivel). Trip to ITW does me in for the day. Got plans made for the big fly in Long Beach next year. Think I'd have a blast being part of the ground crew. Doubt I'll have any quad skills by then. These duels seem to take up all my time. Sister is going back to China next month for a 4 year stint. Scrambling to get the cash to go see her off from SeaTac and pick up a new Fearless 2 at the same time LOL. Funny how kites seem to interject themselves into most everything.

Problem with uploading vids to Facebook is that they compress the heck out of it. Image quality is diminished big time. I’ve used YouTube for yrs and for music I use their YouTube Audio Library. Takes a bit of time to choose the right music but at least it won’t be blocked or muted. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Adding a thin protective layer at a strategic point appears to be a very nice fix. Bear in mind though that the bridle line core should not melt. Sacrifice the outermost 1cm of the long extended leaders to test if they can take the heat (unless you know it is spectra and wouldn't like to try). When I applied the heat shrink to a worn B-series bridle the fibres melted (and the bridle line was more or less cut in half on the inside) and I therefore replaced it with a bridle line of another type that could take the heat: https://kitelife.com/forum/topic/8841-how-much-longer-to-replace-this-bridle/?do=findComment&comment=70924 Spectra melts at 130 - 136 degC or 266F - 277F ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene#Fiber ). For a list of heat shrinking tubes filtered to display a max minimum shrinkage temperature of 115degC or 239F: https://www.elfa.se/en/cable-wire/heat-shrink-tubing/standard-heat-shrink-tubing/c/cat-DNAV_PL_090803?q=*&filter_Category3=Standard+Heat+Shrink+Tubing&filter_Shrinkage+temperature+min.~~°C=%2B100&filter_Shrinkage+temperature+min.~~°C=%2B115 With a well controlled heat source or rapidly applying the heat in short bursts (an allowing it to cool in between) could help if you would pursue the perhaps challenging task of putting heat shrink tubing on a spectra (core) bridle. Good luck with your bridle/extended leader fix!

I tell what was really cool [emoji41] at the clinic John was calling tricks out and Paul did one after another for several minutes. A couple times Paul said no, and then did the tricks anyways. I hope they put on another duel line clinic next year so I can take my boy again. We learned a ton and continue to improve now. Breezin maybe with the Mind Trick you would have a chance but only if they were flying with kites made of trash bags and coat hangers. We would love to see you show up and one of the clinics or a festival here in the PNW Pacific Northwest. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Rather "high" altitude ya got there.........lol!!!

from tension on the lines and leading edge of kite facing up-right,...... thumbs up, step back, lower your hands, hold the handles softer and closer together too. Relax, this is fun, breath, learn the cartwheel technique first so you can roll-over from inverted. only four moves are possible,.. 1 both thumbs @ nose= forward (NOT up), 2 both thumbs @kite=reverse (NOT down) 3, one thumb @nose =clockwise rotation (not a left turn!) 4, other thumb @nose=counter-clockwise rotation (not right turn) So the kite doesn't go up and down, and it can't go left or right, the controls are minor influence to major impact at the kite. Try softer,... and add in some body position movements and your feet don't have to be stationary either! you'll love the quads because they can fly anywhere anytime any conditions,... you just gotta want it bad enough!

No such thing as a dumb question.. To Answer your question.... ----> Exactly. Keep in mind depending on line size/brand/quality.. you will start getting resistance as the wrap count increases.. I usually keep a running tally in my head--> 3right,, 4 left OK 1 right to reset.. I reset my mental count whenever the wraps are clear.

Next up is a series of 3 sails all in gray tones (Black, Charcoal, Silver and White)..Not sure if this will be a stack or individual kites yet. Picture is to give an idea of what is coming. Patterns are by no means set yet.

Bridle check complete. this kite is ready for the field..

One minor note. Classifications for these foils is very specific and the foils you've mentioned are all known as sport foils. Speed foils often fall into this category but not always.. The Sport foils are numbered roughly to denote wingspan.. Traction foils a.k.a. Power Kites are measured in square meters. A 2M Traction foil is significantly larger than and more powerful than a 2.2 Sport foil.. Here is a 2.2 Sport foil (Symphony) on top of a 2M Powerfoil (HQ Crossfire). All that being said, the Sport foils fly pretty much the same all other things being equal. I prefer the Symphony Pro kites by far as the bridling is superior.

First a preface that those are all reliable kites from established brands. They're all good in that regard. They're the same class of kites. All of the kites you mentioned are parafoil speed kites. "Para" with its roots the same as parachute, the kites have no spars. "Foil" referring to the airfoil shape, similar to an airplane wing with internal cells. There are several sub-classes of parafoil kites. Those are speed kites, the bridle lines on the kite put the kite at an angle to make the kites move quickly, even in relatively light wind. You are right that these kites feel twitchy, that's because they are speed kites. Among the other sub-classes of parafoils, one popular style is traction kite or power kites which can have enough pull for buggies or skiing, and another popular style is lift kites or show kites that are large and stable rather than being designed for agility. The twitchy feeling is part of the style. All the parafoil speed kites move quickly and are sensitive to input. They CAN fly in a straight line, but it requires experience and skill. They are not designed to move slowly like kites designed for slackline tricks, nor move like quad line kites. Fast and nimble are intentional. Some difference, but they're similar because they're all the same class of kites. The bigger kites have a bigger sail area and generate more pull. The 1.3 is 130 cm across, relatively small. It has bigger brothers at 180 cm and 220 cm that can generate more pull. The Synapse family has similar sizes at 140 cm, 170 cm, and 200 cm. All of those sizes are still in the speed kite category. Parafoils are not usually considered power kites or traction kites until they reach about 3 meters across. (Different people use the names differently, commonly power kites are 2 line, traction kites are often four lines, but that isn't universal terminology.) Turning speed is going to be a matter of several factors. The wind speed, the kite's bridle configuration, and the pilot's body movements will all make a difference. Bigger kites tend to have more drag (slow down) due to their size, but with some experience a pilot could make a small kite turn slowly and make a large kite turn rapidly. Even so, they're all parafoil speed kites so they're going to turn fast and fly fast. The kite is marketed as a beginner kite. Parafoils are very resilliant kites because they don't have spars (no parts to break) and this one is smaller making it more gentle than it's bigger brothers. Combined this kite is easier for beginners, but that doesn't mean experienced people can't or won't fly it. If you like the parafoil style consider keeping the smaller kite in your bag and picking up a larger model. When winds are strong a large kite can be damaged or be overpowered, the smaller model with less surface area can let you have a similar flying experience. Whatever you decide to do with it personal preference is important, fly what you enjoy flying. If you live somewhere near others who fly, such as on a beach or near a kite store, consider asking about flying a variety of kites. Many people have a collection of different kites and will help you experiment a bit to find kites you enjoy. Flying other people's kites is the cheapest way to go when starting out. You'll be addicted in no time. ;-)

Challenger max is a great kite for the price. My son a I each have one and have beat the you know what out of them and they have held up well. I’ve flown it a few times in 25+ winds when I wouldn’t dare fly any of my other duel line kites. In mid teens the kite flys well will less pull than a full sail kite and will trick better then my abilities. Over 20 mph I just fly it, best trick is just landing it. Eventually I’ll step up to a fearless 2 vented. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Read a bunch when looking for a vented. Got the Mind Trick vented. If I could only have 1 kite it would be the 1. Helluva deal used or I would have gotten the Challenger Max vented. Kite that I want the most is a Fearless 2 light vented. Pricey but I'm a Lam believer. Worth more than you pay.