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Don’t forget the slowing down and stall practice. The ground (when doing belly landings e.g.) tends to be difficult to negotiate with. Would any thought of Neil Young be very far fetched (“My my, hey hey … It is better to burn out than to fade away”… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cawk2cMTnGo 🙂). But it if the destructive crash thing would happen once more @Gladders , well again welcome to the KL community of occasional kite crashers.

My, my, hey, hey the search for the elusive sul will soon begin dare I say. Bet you won't have just one. Once you start holding the turtle start pulling the nose towards you. Then your in a type of fade. Do it high in the window to start because when you lose it the kite can power up nose screaming towards the ground. Haven't learned the Spine Shock Splinter trick yet. Close but I can live without it. Once the turtle and fade become fairly easy you'll find yourself trying other things pretty fast. The Limbo should be able to slide stall readily. Simple safe trick that for me is pretty hard to do. When you catch them the smooth glide across the window looks and feels really cool. I start my day and end it doing slides(trying to anyways)no matter the wind or kite. When you get a bigger slower kite you'll look back with appreciation on how the faster kite honed your reflexes.That advice don't forget to breath is sound. Sometimes I still forget to and fall over.Been going on for months now 😩. When I regain my senses I still always have a silly grin on my face though. You'll find that pacing your breathing to your inputs makes things smoother and you connect to the kite easier.Takes a while unless you're some kinda yoga, tai chi etc. type person.Keeps one calmer and more focused too. I don't fly with music yet. As I get better doing combos and figuring out routines music in the ear will become integral in progressing. For now I hum ,sing, whistle and mutter a lot. Mixed in with lots of yelps, whoops and laughter.

Crash and burn is usually the first trick in any flyers repertoire. (minus the burn part)

Including some Segways in action on the beach.

Excellent site. I'll visit often. Governments and religions throughout history often divide us.Even in our own countries. It always amazes me how the arts bring us common people together.Even well done graffiti LOL. If maybe some one doubts kiting is an art they need to visit this site along with many others. In my country we're kinda spoiled(good thing for me). We want something we go buy it. Looking at all those kites that were home made is inspiring. We've lost a lot of the art of craftsmanship in my country(bad thing). Most of our young ones are not taught the true value of it.Myself included. If the science of mathematics is taught without the appreciation of the art of music an integral part of self is not explored. Remember Srinivasa Ramanujan.Lam Hoac starts making kites as a kid in Vietnam out of whatever he can find. Now one of the most highly regarded builders and fliers on the planet. Got 2 of his kites and I'll get another.Without those humble beginnings wonder if I would have ever heard of him. I can see myself buying a kite from a master builder in India. Some of the kites being pictured here are absolutely stunning. Hope I get to see someone from India gain global recognition soon. May he/she be building 2 line stunt kites 😁.

My Tekken sul is rated 2 to 12, Zephyr 1 to 18. The Tekken handles gusty winds a lot better. I've flown it in 15 with no shake. Z I usually don't go over 12 anymore. Z feels very methodical to me. Almost plodding at times.The Tekken is more snappy and I can control the speed better. I broke the Zs LE trying a comete not realizing I had the line wrapped tight around the kite.Yanked trying to get out of the spin like on a insane and snap.Did that to 2 other kites till I figured it out. The LEs were broke trying tip drag to cartwheel. Did that to 3 other kites.Should have stuck to learning that trick on the Addiction and Black Dog. They have carbon rods.I'm at the point now where I don't try the trick intentionally. Doing a low pass if the setup appears I'll try it.Sure is a cool trick. Not breaking things as often now. As I get better I'll be able to do it more on purpose. Both kites came from the GWTW forum. Tekken well flown and taken care of.Z from a guy telling me about a sale and I got the kite new. They fly very different so it's easy for me to justify having both. I don't know about the quad thing in the higher winds. My thoughts always turn to a Vicki or thonged quad. I do know I have a blast between 20 and 25 on my Mind Trick vented.HONEST it will trick in those winds.Last week in 20 plus just left of center doing flic flacs nose dived so hard US and both LS popped out. The soft connectors on that kite can be a pain at times. When doing poor moves like that though they save the day. Got that kite 2nd hand here. Without the forums doubt I'd have any of the 3 yet. They're not cheap and rightly so. After my next Sky Burner I'll get a Benson. Benson Super Fly ul for sale at GWTW as of yesterday. I'm kite poor right now and my trade offer wasn't what the seller was looking for or I'd have it.

Those are vented quad line winds. But, for the stated wind range, QPro & Zephyr. The Quantum & Hypnotist will not fly very well under 5mph.

I have Premier, Intothewind, newtech at this time. Looking to add Prism to collection. Looking for wind range of 2-12 mph. Winds in my area are usually: 12-25 mph. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

We just moved to Coos Bay from Colorado and love having steady wind. The Silver Fox I would say tracks better. If your ever in the area I’ve got several kites you can try out. Have fun in Seaside we love it there. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

+1 on the silver fox. I have a UL. Outstanding value Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Think slower instead of delay. Semantics I know but it makes a difference in how I relate to the kite. Back issues myself. Some days better than others. On high wind days at times the next day is a no go. Getting better though cause the kites make me use a bunch of muscles. Above 12 mph I always tilted the nose back. Never had a problem with the tail weight or spreader popping out. Except on hard crashes with all my kites. Last couple times on the Tekken SUL I adjusted at the out hauls. Can fly and trick a little lower. Not by much but in 0 to 3 it's noticeable. Can hop the kite in 0 to 1 doing tip stands and flips now. Things I could only do on my 3/4 kites. Got this yesterday . It's in A+ shape. Guys moving to the S. Carolina coast and I couldn't talk him out of his Trixster. Tried but I'm still pretty stoked to get this old bird. Rained when I got it home. Today was a SUL day. Maybe it'll fly tomorrow for the 3rd time in it's life.

Exults description of the Hydra is spot on for me too. When trying new things it and the Prism Zephyr are what I usually turn too. From a practical sense I probably got to many kites. In reality though I don't have enough. A hard thing for me is not buying something similar to one I already got. Been successful so far and all are pretty different from each other. It's the reason I haven't got a Soul std and ul. My Black Dog and Nighthawk are my 3/4 kites. Both are very capable tricksters but very different in flight and construction. The simplistic design of the Black Dog is pretty amazing. All 6 mm carbon frame. Heavy on the lines in a good way, tough and will fly in a wide wind range.Nighthawk is framed in P300 and P200 Sky Shark. Lighter on the lines and not quite as tough of a frame. Main difference for me is the Black Dog tip wraps easier and has a bit more precision. Tip wraps are not a good thing when learning. Last couple times out those are the kites I've been flying. Mainly trying to discern the differences and why. Sold both to get my Widow Maker but replaced them recently.Both kites are a blast. Most of my ground work and 1 to 2 feet acrobatics I've learned on the 3/4 size kites. Once you get it the 3/4 is funner but the bigger kites are more rewarding. The excitement of not crashing LOL. Have to agree that the bigger sails would be best for a newbie. The smaller kites are quicker and you can over steer real easy. Last time I went to ITW on a weekday I was stunned at the crowd. Really like those people. If you want we could meet up there, get some advice and go fly where they do. I'll pull the trigger and get their quad handle and line set. Wayne seems pretty happy with that OSK line.Do some research on the Blue Moon Mamba. That's Brandons 1st kite 😮. The guy who built that kite shows up here now and again. A MASTER!!! I believe he's the one sewing the Fulcrum. Look at his past builds and you'll be blown away. You'll learn something too.