Jump to content
KiteLife Forum

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/16/2018 in all areas

  1. 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.
    2 points
  2. Folks say low wind flying skills are the hardest to acquire. For me 0 to 4 and 25 to 30 mph have been the hardest. Both take finesse but the higher wind demands an extremely capable kite, fast reactions and very precise timing.The only 20+ trick kites I know that are consistently being made with most models are Lam Hoac kites. My Mind Trick vented would be THE kite if I could only keep 1. The wind range is extraordinary. I can fly it in 4 to 5. Starts tricking in 6 and will fly over 30. Got it 2nd hand. Person said they'd only flown it once and I believe it. Heckuva deal. Very pricy new but Lams kite are worth more than the money spent IMHO. When researching you'll find 2 general trains of thought on low wind kites.Some believe a sul should fly in o winds(Pro Dancer). Others will say that's not sul trick kite territory that's the 0 wind kite realm(Kaiju). Neither differing opinion has given me bad info. Just different. When looking at kites I try to see the builders goal at why their producing that kite for that wind range. Gets most confusing when looking at low wind kites. For low wind I have a Zephyr ul(production), Pro Dancer sul(custom) and a Tekken sul(used custom). All 3 fly very different. While the PD will fly very well from 1 mph up to 10 it has been the most difficult kite for me to learn out of all that I've flown. Well except getting my butt kicked by my Delta Hawk in 20+ and giving up on a Elliot Jet Stream Speed(WILL REVISIT). Recently 2 people flew my PD for a short while. Nice axles and 1/2 axles right off the bat. Burned their inputs into my brain and by golly it stuck. Couple posts about low wind at GWTW got me to thinking about mass and light inputs resulting in revisiting some past reads. Yesterday winds were 0 to 4 but mostly 0 to 2.Spent the day on the PD with a 50' line set. Best day ever with that kite by far. Connected with it when I 1st got it but lost it for a good while. Been coming back and yesterday it arrived. Kites a ballet precision kite and very hard to trick. In low winds inputs need to be very light and spot on or kite floats away on me. Builder said in light winds 60' or 65' lines would probably be best. For now the 50' are fine because I can get under the kite or tension the lines easier. When I get some 50# Shanti to replace the dyneema lines it'll even get even better.Have a 50# by 120' Laser pro set and as you get better you'll find out the quality of lines really does make a difference.Today winds will be a little higher and I'll probably fly my Z. See how what I learned yesterday translates. It's a pretty methodical kite that responds real well to smooth fairly slow inputs in light winds. An advanced flier could probably do 95% of the known tricks on it. Not as fast, responsive or exciting as the Tekken but the kite I've learned the most on. I've flown it in 1 to 2. Not very well but getting better. Took lots of hours to be able to do it. Tricks start coming at 3 to4. Handles nicely up to 15 mph. Rated to 18 but I've not found it very pleasant in the higher range.Very rewarding kite to fly. Wow I guess after this long winded rant I'm saying a Z would be a excellent next kite for you.The low wind knowledge is tough to gain but well worth the effort. Lot of walks of contemplation which is not a bad thing .Even the screaming in frustration is kinda fun .
    1 point
  3. @Breezin, I love this post. Your enthusiasm is infectious. As it happens, I am a yoga person and I think I breath with my movements when flying without really intending to. I know what you mean about the silly grin; it's a ridiculously satisfying way to spend some time, just noodling about in the sky. An SUL you say. Interesting...
    1 point
  4. I have a Widow NG, and a Prism E2. I really like my E2 using a skybond 85' x 100# lineset, but i have read alot of negative feedback about the E3 for some reason. I think the E3 went to a heavier frame to make it stronger and that changed the feel. The Prism Hypnotist has a Quantum pro sail, with a regular Quantum frame. So the frame is stronger and heavier for beginner crashes. There seems to be some negative opinions about the Hypnotist for some reason, which is wierd since the Quantum, and Quantum pro generally get positive feedback other than the weight of the quantum. I read where someone put a quantum pro frame in a hypnotist sail and was ok with it. Seems like i read that the quantum pro is more of a precise tracking team type of kite. Which sounds like fun.
    1 point
  5. I really don't need any encouragement on this score. As for frustrating, I've watched some of the videos. It looks dead easy. 😉
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...