Leaderboard

For the karma drawing I'm putting up my prism micron. This is a fun little kite and fast. I've flown it pretty much every time I've gone to the beach. Is in great condition and is ready to be taken out. Hopefully someone will enjoy it as much as I have. His teeth are bright in a silly grin. His head swivels endlessly, chasing his darting eyeballs. He’s the pilot of our world-famous Micron, the smallest, fastest little sport kite this side of the Milky Way. He’s got a lot of hours in his logbook before he masters this little rocketship- it’s definitely NOT for beginners! “Like a bumblebee on amphetamines!” one pilot wrote. The Micron comes with Dyneema lines and flight straps all ready to go in a snap-top sleeve. There’s also a long matching tail. Use it. It’ll help you keep track of that little speedster in the sky. Some rules and guidelines: Don’t play unless you’re willing to put up a prize and ship it to whoever wins. Shipping is paid by the original poster, the winner pays nothing. Be prepared to ship your prize anywhere in the lower 48 US States. Sorry, but due to shipping costs, we really have to limit this to the lower 48 US States. RULE CHANGE (7/31/2014): Members from Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii are welcome to enter the Karma drawings provided they are willing to pay half of the Karma prize shipping cost. The method and timing of the payment will be agreed upon between the two parties after the drawing for a particular prize. You can choose the length of the giveaway, but keep it between 1 and 2 weeks. Try to ship the prize promptly. You should be able to ship it within a week, but if you can’t, PM the winner and let them know. Sometimes life gets in the way! This whole thing works on the honor system so if there are any problems shipping or receiving a prize, it needs to be worked out between the two parties. Don’t forget…Karma! This isn’t a competition, but feel free to be generous! If you can only put up a hat, or a tail for a stunt kite, great! If you have something in your kite bag that you never fly and would be willing to ship, that’s great too. Either way, the people that join to win it will appreciate it. When you receive your prize, post a thank you to the thread where you won it. The thread will be locked after that point so the new **KARMA** stays above it. Good luck, and have fun! Sent from my SM-N960U using KiteLife mobile app

@DTill Hold off purchasing new. There are other options out there. The Djinn and The Freilein are both good options if you are considering the new market.. Personally, I know of a few kites you mentioned probably coming available on the used market very soon.. The New Revs all have springs which some folk (including me) don't particularly care for. They've also committed to a different size frame and connection points to discourage interchangeability.

Full vent has interchangeable 1/4" diameter tubes which fit with your existing kite,... that would be the major advantage in my book. Make certain you acquire 2 wraps or something light PLUS 3 or 4 wraps as something heavy/stiff. The CLX-150's from Skyshark are popular on the East coast as a light weight tube with good response when returning from flexed. "Hybrid travel framing" tubes option will also allow a greater level of customization w/o undue\excessive costs. P-90s or P-100s with some 300s at the junctions. A light weight frame in a full vent is fun to flail around alone as it instantly powers back up with a steady double digit wind speed available. By like token, you could "frame stiff" and fly that same frame in the full sail for better tracking or flying in a group setting. The best frames are likely unavailable..... the original Diamond tubes from Revolution & the Green Race w/o the green stripe/tipped label. The Spider uses a different/larger diameter tube (5/16th's) so that choice would eventually necessitate carrying two different diameters as you can vary stiffness for the local conditions that day. Fear not, we all started with one kite, it was perfect regardless of the conditions too! Eventually we go more and more kites until the layers of conditions for which they were appropriate overlapped each other. I must have six or seven kites just for a dead calm outside. We get those about 5 months out of the year, indoor conditions but with an unlimited ceiling we call it! There are lots of choices for 1/4 inch diameter tubes that fit the 1.5 sized platform.

The Pro Dancer fits your description to a tee. Hope I haven't given the impression that I disliked the kite. Far from it. PD showed me the mechanics and feel of loading and unloading the sail more than any other kite I've had. Precision practice became more fun and rewarding instead of a chore to improve tricks. It changed my attitude and made me appreciate the more delicate and beautiful moves a kite can do. Without it I don't know if I could fly my Zephyr and Tekken at the bottom of their range yet.I now wrap my handles around my wrist with my forefinger extended(with middle at times). Hold the kite with my other 3 fingers and rarely let the weight rest wholly on my wrist anymore. Started by holding the lines by the loop so I could throw them to minimize damage when crashing. When winds are mostly 20 plus I'm on padded. Haven't figured out what I like best on them yet.Transition without much thought came mostly from the PD. Wrist movements improved greatly also.The kites not a trick kite but I could set up moves. Even though the kite wouldn't complete them I started being able to envision the complete follow thru in my mind. Even when coming to the ground I could keep that in my head and land softly instead of crashing.That transitioned to my other kites really well. Under 3 the kite flew very well with little need to move around. Frustration came when trying to do set ups for tricks. Under 3 here would come the float. Like you I got back issues and am just not quick enough to keep up.I had come to terms to learn more from the PD.Was going to get a ITW Echo to complement it. Unexpected deal came up and I was at a crossroads. AGAIN!! Do I want a Mongoose that bad? Yes because tricks is why I fly and it was on my dream list.100% satisfied with Sky Burner and the PD.Before Jon T accepted my order he made it very clear what the PD was made for. I got it 2 1/2 months into this kiting thing. Most other 0 wind kites would have come thru their time with me at least a little battered. My guess is it's a lot more forgiving than what I'm looking at now. When 1st learning 50' lines a side gust blew it to the ground. Put a small hole by left whisker just above trailing edge. I was crushed. What was I thinking getting a kite like that so early in? Took a long time to get over being tentative when flying it. Pro Dancers are stunningly beautiful in their seemingly simplistic design.The one kite I've had that I really couldn't stand the thought of scarring up. Saw the video of Lams new Gravity 2 zero wind kite tricking in a park today. Okay watched it more then once. Now there's a kite I could fly on 20' or 120'.

I've posted the new karma drawing, not sure if I've done it right or not, if not let me know and I'll try to fix it. Sent from my SM-N960U using KiteLife mobile app

Got the PD knowing it wasn't a trick kite. Watching Devin, JB and others fly one I figured I could learn how to do what they do. Nope. Can't move fast enough to stay with the kite under 3. I could get a fade, pancake or turtle but the kite would float away on me. Kite was the easiest kite to slide stall for me. Over 10 mph puts the kite at risk. Towards the end started getting some good fun on 50" lines.If tricks aren't a top priority PD is probably a hard kite to surpass.For me wading thru the differing opinions on wind range and what is a true sul gets confusing. I'm at the point now I don't care what a builder calls their kite. It's they're knowledge and skills that built the kite so call it what they will. My only experience is with the Pro Dancer sul, Zephyr ul, Tekken sul and 10 astounding minutes on a Aura sul. People say the PD is a true sul, the Z not a true ul and the Tekken more a ul. I can fly my Z with weight out on 2nd nose in setting in 1 to 2 mph with whiskers angled in. Took a long time to be able to that. I can get some axles and rotations but not much else until winds hit 3. Tekken at 2 mph I'm just trying to keep it in the air. At 3mph it powers up real smooth and much tricking begins . From 4 to 12 kites personality stays the same. From 3 to 10 it's a absolute blast to fly. Inputs need to be clear and concise because it's not very forgiving like the Z. Above 10 I get nervous because of it's lighter framing and my skills. Had the kite in 15 mph with very little if any shudder. 37 years from now when I'm as good as Lam probably be able to trick the heck out of it in 2. Probably have a different kite by then though. Looking to replace the PD the zero wind kites is where I'm heading. Here's my list from top down so far. Air One Grid extra sul and Black Arrow sul. Grid has a slight edge because it's framed in G force skinny. More flex than the Black Arrow Sky Shark frame. I THINK! Don't know though. The next is Level one Amazing outdoor and ITW Echo. DeBakker designs. Videos of the Echo and Skate glider are really cool. I've come to believe 3 kites for 0 plus are needed to cover everything. My main goal for the next year is to build a nice 6th sense sul. Gonna take more than a few tries though. I'm leaning towards the ITW Echo due to price and ITW support. Plus they're fairly close. If my Widow Maker sul doesn't get made I'll be calling BMK. Don't think those are 0 wind trick kites though. That's fine cause I want another low wind kite to fit in with my other 2. Something very different.The Atelier Cesium Continental is last because of all the mylar. Hard to repair mylar and I think I need some better skills for a kite built like that. Kite Shoppe has it for less than 300.00 shipped. Atelier should probably be #1 BUTTT. Couple SKD kites for sale in Israel a few days ago. If not kite poor would have gotten one.After I get a Benson think SKD will be at the top for my next standard.Benson will make you a Phantom. Atelier will make any of their kites from the past too.To make a long rant short I DON'T KNOW AAHHHH!! Yet 😋.