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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 .........!

Okay then, I'll de-tune the whiskers for maximum raspberries to the crowd.

Picked up the Hydra and Kymera, that's a great price. (Thanks for pointing out the Into the Wind promotional discount in the other discussion). On my first assembly and inspection, the Kymera feels fine but the Hydra sail feels extremely tight. I couldn't lock the loop around the wingtip nock from the tension, it didn't feel safe to do more than put it through the loop and hook the loop over the nock rather than pull it through to the knot. The first side's standoffs were tight, but I needed to balance out the sail material to put the second set of standoffs in. The tension is greater than any other kite I own, even the indoors that were my former tightest kites. I can still assemble the kite, but there's not a single storage-wrinkle left in the sail. I double-checked that none of the fittings were only partially installed, everything seemed proper just very tight. Is that much sail tension normal for the Hydra? I'm concerned if setting up is enough to stretch out the sail, or if this is typical for the first few flights.

Gutermann thread gets highly recommended by many kite makers.. I use Gutermann Toldi-Lock a lot.. Regardless of brand, use 100% polyester thread.. Cotton content in the thread will encourage breakage and dry rot over time and exposure to the elements..

Find a few Youtube/Vimeo tutorial videos on basic sewing machine handling. Beginning with practice sewing on rags (or really worn clothes that soon would be used during some painting project or similar) sounds like a good start. If you can’t find any rags to practice on, sew on an ordinary (A4/letter) piece of paper. However you should not go directly to kite repair after this. IMO you should be familiar with the slipperiness of the ripstop before dealing with any kites (well the look of the kite bag on the other side might (?) be less important and the fabric is probably not ripstop). Just before doing the real repair job, practice on something as similar as the real job as possible, at least once! Other hints: Learn how to balance (upper/lower) the thread tension and don’t turn that wheel backwards ever. When you put the thread through the needle eye, the thread should go in the direction such that the thread goes along the long (almost needle long) grove of the machine needle. I also feel that I must make some advertising for a topic from earlier this year: There I covered unknown issues when building a small first model kite and mostly found out about the unknowns and put it into a context. Pointed at what was tricky and what seemed to work well. No, it is certainly not a guide from an expert, more the curious persistent rookie guide. Lot of links to external resources. Apart from the building process and material/equipment list, there you’ll also find explanations about the ways that needle dimensions are described, thread dimensions and fabric. Discussions on how heavy a seam is relative to the fabric. A thread combustion test is briefly performed (watch out for any remaining embers/glow). @Paul LaMasters contributed with various ways on how to attach the panels during the sewing process. Lot of links to external resources. Handling hints and some sewing exercises. Images on surprisingly blunt needle tips that worked...

I've seen news articles reporting kite fighting line injuries in India for the last 60 years. It is a persistent tradition and the day of the festival is well known throughout the land and a large percentage of the population participates. If you get the same amount of people riding bicycles at once there will probably be as many deaths and injuries, if not more.

White Leading Edge and single stitch on the edge binding is done. Second stitch is added with the framing and endcaps reinforcements.. Decided to use white thread for the LE stay with it for the Edge Binding . Getting Close!!

Didn't ask about the Jinx (way out of my price range), sorry. I've seen only a couple up here in the PNW, nice stuff!! PS: I've been flying since 1989, so I've flown pretty much every type of kite made. Been into quads after a stroke and a member of 2 teams. But dualies really got me started on this kiting journey!!!

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.)

I posted a new thread in reference to your post, I didnt want to take this thread off topic. Some places get upset about such.

I have several stacks of Trlbys I can take photos of. However, it will have to wait until the Hurricane passes. I'm kind of pre-occupied now.