Leaderboard

I'll stick with my original opinion for balanced venting.. regardless of how much or how little, the balance of the venting is the key for me now..

All but 1 of the Phoenix sails has those little "tail" vents (6 total). Someone in our group nicknamed them "quarter vents". They do change the wind range for each sail slightly upward. If all your friends are on mid-vent Revs, you might still be on the std Phoenix, etc. They also make the transition from forward to reverse slightly easier. Still can't jam it on without thought, but it is easier. And they do shrink your wind window slightly. The Shook feels sluggish???!!??? Mine is just about the "lightest" feeling sail in my bag! Feels way smaller than what it is. Almost like comparing a Rev2 to the 1.5, light and fast. IMHO - much over 20-25 mph and flying stops being "fun" and becomes a sort of survival. But YMMV ......

The latest kite fly was again cold and very windy. So windy, in fact, I only put delta kites in the truck and grabbed our heavier lines. http://carolinabeachkiter.com/2020/02/08/a-little-catching-up/

Your research is probably valid as to the dates. Without getting down into the weeds, Revolution had (and still has) a large loyal following and they defended the design against all comers aggressively. Anything not having the Rev brand was label a knock-off or copy and in many many ways that is an accurate assessment. Short version is once the floodgates were opened, it took a bit of time for something of quality to overcome the "cheap copy" that had prevailed.. OSK's Freilein and Bazzer's Phoenix are the ones that really made the difference early.