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My Djinn arrived today. Earlier than I expected and a day earlier than the posted arrival day. It is gorgeous (even if I do say so myself). Thank you so much, John! I love it!,

In truth, I was afforded very little access to the development of the B2 or Zen once prototyping began - one of the reasons I fly something else these days, they had their chance and I wanted to improve things (to my taste).

Well Christmas came a little late, but it arrived yesterday. Can't wait to get out and give it a go!!

I might have a couple of the new Skyburner Widowmaker Pros (standard and UL) I'd let go, have to find them... This is the standard, UL is same colors: I'll try and take a look next week if you're interested, out of town atm.

@DTill I hope your beautiful pinstripe kite bag has gear for it. That bag was traded for a Super Blast R/W/B. That bag is now in New Hampshire, with an old competition flyer who remembers "Young John". I've built a few bags since then, will probably be bringing a standard and full vent Djinn , a homemade mesh and a set of northern lights . I should be good to go.

The B2 is not a true "down scale" of the Full size B-Series, it's a novelty piece for speed and twitch - it lacks the flexibility and sail area required for consistent smooth control. IMHO Re your question about why you feel the B is better than the EXP, all I can suggest is that you look at the details - panel arrangement, shape of leading edge, etc... All this details were stepped up massively in the Djinn, extensive details can be found on the product page. http://kiteforge.com/Djinn

FYI - I'll have a number of vented Djinn models available at SPI, most likely in B&S Kites.

Old ones exist, but it is a discontinued model. It is akin to asking about buying a new 2015 vehicle. You can hunt down lightly used ones, and a store might have an old one gathering dust rather than sold, but they are no longer produced and becoming ever less available. Read this post. For only a little more than those used to cost, get a Djinn. They're like the B Series Pro, but a bit better, with better fasteners and metal end caps, a bit more responsive, more high wind options, etc.

same kite?

30" lines . Are you KIDDING ME!! Last week after 2 years I finally had 2 good days on 50' lines with a sul. Dang it, dang it, dang it now I gotta go short line my Widowmaker.

Hey everyone. So I finally got to fly the b-series full vent that I bought online and replaced the bridal on over the weekend. So I guess my question would be. Is the b-series just a better kite than the EXP? It seems to 'float' and fly so much better. Not totally sure how to describe the difference but it did seem like a different animal. Now I know its vented vs non vented but the winds were all over the place. Normal for Houston. 6mph pretty steady and gusts to 14mph. Now I'm wondering if I should get a non vent B-series when I can find one?

I'll bring whatever I can pick up from TK before I head out; for sure. 👍🏻

Nice Work!!

You know Jim Doman, there in Colorado? He has a full custom set going out on Monday.

Both Widow Makers went home with Bob, thanks all! 🙏🏻

"PC31 said 'we caught a dirty one' " is a line from the Beatles song Maxwell's Silver Hammer. Presumably PC31 joined the force before PC36, but after PC25 and PC21, assuming, of course, that badge numbers were assigned in numerical sequence, and the size of the force in question was small. I'm certain that the weight of the constables did not correlate to their badge numbers nor order of induction, and depending on the size of the force itself they may have all been inducted simultaneously. The weight assigned to each constable by his superiors certainly varied and may as well have affected his performance in the field, but in no way hindered their ability to fly. (That's one minute of your life you'll never get back.)

Icarex is a specific brand of PC31 fabric. There are various weights and compositions from multiple vendors, and I imagine they used more than one source over the years. PC31 is a type of coated polyester, I believe 31 refers to a weight of 31 grams per square meter. PC31 is common for sport kites as a good balance of strength and weight. PC25 and PC21 are lighter but less durable. PC36 is heavier and stronger. Others exist, but aren't as popular for sport kites.

I'll check when I get home, but I seem to remember the EXP belly being different from the 1.5B as well. A longer measurement, if I recall.

Here's what I came up with in the colorizor... Should be interesting, I haven't had a red kite for a while...

Yep, it's a Rev II with a B "touch" to it. Zen is not scaled from a B-Pro either. It comes down to belly proportions (measure from LE to the "v" point in the sail), it needs belly... Bazzer increased the belly proportion and made the Zen a bit fatter for more sail in light wind, same idea applied to the Rev II in terms of LE>v point distance.

Leading edge curve is slightly different, it's more obvious between other models, also the stretch, porosity and play of the fabric play a role (B is industry poly, EXP is nylon, Djinn is Icarex PC31 poly).

OK so I laid them out. I get the panel arrangement I think (read a lot of posts on here). I can't tell anything with the leading edge. Of course I've only started this journey in October. I can see a difference in material. Also the JB/TK bridal I got from here is much thinner than the one on the exp. I would assume lighter. Just a newbie having fun with all this...but I'm sucked in....of course I asked for a anemometer for christmas, so thats in my truck bag now.

The Supersonic (and all the Speed Series) is a special critter. You put the vertical spars into the top caps and then swing them over to the back side. This puts a curved "rollover" leading edge on the kite once all four uprights are installed. It's supposed to look like that. Think airfoil shape. This also eliminates the air dam created by the leading edge spar on normal Revs while the kite is flying in reverse which reduces drag enough to make the kite nearly as fast in reverse as it is in forward. Use plenty of brake until you get used to this beast. It has moves you didn't anticipate. It also does some interesting things that regular Revs don't. Type supersonic into the search bar and read about it. If you want to learn to do circles leading with the tip, both inside and outside, this is the kite for it.

I just signed up and paid. Looking forward to a good weekend.

Now the suspenseful part, forecasts are starting to appear for the days. They're still wildly variable until we get to the days immediately before, but still interesting to see what's forecast. W: 18-37 MPH, 20% chance of thunderstorms, 25% rain Th: 18-45 MPH, 10% chance of rain F: 5-16 MPH, 25% chance of rain Sa: 17-40 MPH, 5% chance of rain Su: 13-29 MPH, 3% chance of thunderstorms, 5% chance of rain. The thunderstorm risks stink, but at least there will plenty of wind. The HV may even get some quality air time. @DTill I hope your beautiful pinstripe kite bag has gear for it. I seem to recall reading higher wind kites may still be a gap for you. When we meet upon the sand -- I'm sure we will -- if you need to borrow something speak up. While I don't have much duplicate gear in the high wind range, it's fun to see the HV and XV Djinn together midair.

@RaginCajun?

Flying Smiles is producing a Shook Mesh Rev ll. Cath was demoing at a kite festival I attended in October. I'm told they got the idea from a member of this site 😉.

I might know a guy on the forum that would part with his, but there a discontinued short run kite.

If you want to buy a new B-series this is the only place I've seen one. Last one I bought from them drop shipped from Rev. The night edition would be cool. http://www.awindofchange.com/product/Rev-B-Series-NIGHT.html

The B2 is a 72 inch leading edge kite. Much smaller than a 1.5 sized sail. It's the quad version of of a Prism Micron. Very fast, twitchy and fun. Not for beginners. John makes it look easy, it's not. Cool kite, not a second kite more like a 5th.

iirc the B2 was/is a Rev 2 sized version of the B 1.5 et al..... bt

One foot stake should be a-ok. 👍🏻

The B is light years better than the exp imho. I have a couple of sets and the exp. I LOVE my B-series. With that wind range, I'd definitely get a standard. 👍

@jsc2501 i'm going to take both for now but i'll consider you next in line if you want.

Took delivery of this bad boy suite today. SUL STD & VENT all from KITE-TEC here in the U.K. Just need some half decent weather to go play now. Can’t wait Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

SKD kites are pretty stunning but cost an arm and a Lam...hah! that cracked me up yeah, you probly have the 2nd best wind situation on this forum, 1st being someone on the pacific coast...me? i think we had winds over 4mph maybe twice in december, not much better in november...who knew? i didnt pay much attention to the winds til kiting came along...now im a slave to the wind. i try to fly 3 or 4 times a week for a few hours maybe every day if nothing else is happening and i usually have a list of things to work on (in my head). like you ive got a pretty good quiver to choose from starting with the Echo, the ATM, the Zephyr, the E3, the Hydra and back to the E3 for 18 to 25mph. sounds pretty good, right? noooo ive been mostly flying the Echo in 2 to 4mph for day after day unless i drive a couple hours to the coast ($50 well spent). funny thing is when i do get those rare 10 to 20 minute gigs on a real trick kite the tricks that are pent up in my Echo muscle memory just come boiling out...im like what the f#$%! whered that come from? i uusually have the Atm hooked up and waiting on 50x50s i like the wind range and general toughness of the 7' Superfly but also thought the Supernova would fill a gap for me being slower, more stable, replacing the Hypnotist i gave away...well enough of this rant, im going flying. thanks for sharing

@Wooljr If you join Kitelife as a paid subscriber, https://kitelife.com/forum/subscriptions/ You not only receive the discount identified here but also you will be automatically entered in the regular KiteLife drawings. You'll also gain access to tutorials and downloads.

Welcome back. unfortunately kiting has declined since the 90's. Manufacturers aren't as numerous, especially in the US. Definitely check out Lam Hoac's kites. He enjoys conversation and is very helpful. I also like my LumoKites by Antonis Loumiotis A lot of top flyers are making and flying kites based on open source plans http://www.kareloh.com/kite-plans I've been told that Krijn Hemminga can make a lot of the open source sails and you just add the hardware. Check out Virtual Freestyle for some great trick performances and to see what kites top flyers are competing with http://vf.kiteclique.com/

@kevmort PC31 is a polyester/polycarbonate fabric also trademarked as Icarex.. It's is more water resistant than Nylon and seems to be lighter.. IT's the fabric of choice for high end kites. We refer to it as PC31, Icarex or commonly Poly. http://icarexpolyester.com/ @ACrop They are all PC31 but some are scaps from older runs that may simply be different dye lots. From the front one almost looks black but turns oberjin (eggplant) when backlit. Two very similar purples, a lavender, an Eggplant and a purple wine are the pieces I have.. These all came as scrap pieces so I don't know the proper color names.. FWIW, some of these are the much older Icarex that had a rectangular grid instead of the square grid we are more familiar with.

I would borrow a machine if you can before making the leap. Anyone can see with some patience, but making sure it is your brand of patience would be wise before starting a sewing collection...cause let's face it, it is not just a machine you will end up with. Machine, cutting mats, quilting rulers, rotary cutter and special scissors that will cause you to threaten anyone who uses them for other materials, a light for seeing clearly at the machine, 4 types of tape, storage tub for the sewing stuff, another for kite bits, big paper for templates, a new table when you get kicked off the kitchen counter after a week, and we haven't even started with kite parts. If looking to buy not every machine has the three step zig-zag stich programmed in, so that is something to look for. Kite making is fun, but know that the rabbit hole is deep Alice. With that said....what am I gonna build next....Xtra vent or indoor??? Sent from my [device_name] using http://KiteLife mobile app