Breezin

Addict Kite Magazine has a cool interview(11/18/2019) with JB about the Djinn. My Flexifoil Psycho was made in Poland. To bad they're out of production. Kites a blast.

Mamba is another kite that deserves some research. I'd have gotten one over the Superfly but already have the Mongoose. Read on the old GWTW that Tapp made 5 white Solus and 5 white WMP. Got one of the white WMP 2nd hand but it had never been flown. Pretty cool deal. Lines cut into the LLE connectors due to my heavy handed style and tricking in the upper wind range. On all my kites it's worse on the WMP with the Nighthawk a pretty close second. Remember though the high end kites aren't the end all. Yesterday winds were around 10 mph. Spent the day on my Nighthawk and Addiction. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Not a worry in my brain about breaking something. Pushed really hard and lucky me nothing broke. That's rare on a day like that.

Speaking of Widows Dropped my straps next to this hole in August. After resetting kite came back and reached for them. Few inches away saw some movement in the hole. She'd popped out to protect her egg sack. SOB moment for sure. No rattlesnakes in the flying field this year but 2 of those rotten girls. Probably be some Jack rabbit sneak attack that doesn't like kites that'll do me in though. If you get bit by a Widow Maker Pro it won't hurt.Doubt you'll even feel a little sick. I'm on my 2nd set of lower APA connectors. Lines keep cutting them (it's me) and this set is about done. Cheap easy fix but it is a pain. Even though I had a Widow Maker and 2 Lam kites for along time the Hydra/Zephyr was my most flown combo. Having the Echo/Zephyr combo I think you can become a good low wind flyer a lot faster than me. The only kite I've found like the Echo that could take the bumps around here is the VIP II Gravity Performance.

Well see if this makes sense. If in the Aleutian Islands it'd be the Mind Trick vented. Canary Islands the Tekken sul. Gili Motang some kite I could weaponize. There be dragons on that island. Even though I choose the Lams over the Widow Maker Pro the WMP is the funner kite. Biggest issue I have with it is staying level headed in the 15 to 20 mph range. Kite gets a verve in it and I start doing higher risk stuff like on a 3/4 kite. Kite gets these whee moments that is fun, fun, fun. Sadly the last sailmaker(Steve Tapp) that Skyburner used for the WMP died way to young in Nov. 2017. Hopefully they'll find another but Steve and Heads Up set the bar really high for those kites. My Lam suls have eyes. Look at them to long and they get very judgemental. On a off day they seem to have a look of disdain about them. When I'm on no atta boys from them. Just a resounding next please. When timing is on trick after trick keeps coming. The WMP has a elegance in flight that I really enjoy. Mongoose has a silky feel. It's glides and slides are really different. Very enjoyable for more studious type flying. Fun kite to just watch and feel fly. Lams are always on the hunt for the next move. They demand I get better. Since I fly to trick the Lams get a 10. WMP and Mongoose 9. Hydra gets a 8. It'd get a 9 if it were more durable. Took this advice from many people from around the world. Don't get kites that have the same characteristics. Variety is the spice. Figure out how you fly and what you want to accomplish. Then get as many kites as ya can LOL. Do have a lot on my mind. Worrying about when my Superfly will get here. Trying to NOT buy that Stranger Level 7. What the winds will be like from day to day. Will snotty Jubilee (alpaca) spit on me AGAIN today. Sigh. Life is good!!

HA wifes been saying that for several decades. Started to grow up a bit but then I found kites so why bother. Grown ups suck. They get all bossy and opinionated. OOPS maybe I'm grown up after all. DANG IT MAN!!!!

Welcome. 2 years this month for me. Late to the party but I made it.

My assumptions on Tapps WMP tip mod is just that. Total assumption. From reading reviews I'd thought the WMP would be a upgrade from my Widow ng. Instead I found a very different kite and it's way, way better. Quite a bit more forgiving than my Lams. Pretty fast in 15 to 20 yet easy to stall. Lots of whooping, hollering and dang it worked in those winds. It's another I got way early in the learning curve. Not one I want to flog so it took awhile to get comfortable in it's upper range. Don't regret my Widow ng as my 1st kite. Got me to the WMP. Knowing what I know now I'd have gotten a Sky Dog Crossfire. Think I would have had less broken parts. Still a guess though but then that's half the fun of researching. Long, long wait on the newest. Man I'm hoping I like it cause as usual it's a guess.

I do enjoy Devins videos and the knowledge he shares. I've developed a pretty different style than his and need to see a variety of fliers opinions on the Tica too. Your experience with the Solus sucks Anthony. I've read similar issues with the Widow Maker Pro std and ul . A lot of disappointment on the ul. People seemed bummed that they felt so different. Due to that and the WMPs(Mongoose too) ability to trick in 3 or 4 mph wider range suls make more sense for me. Then again some builders don't discern a difference between sul or ul. Maybe the tip tweaks in a Tapp era WMP made a difference in the ul but I don't know. My guess is that Tapps idea has been transferred to the Tica as well as the newest Mambas in some fashion.Unlike reviews I'd read my Tapp WMP isn't much like what I remember of the Widow ng. New Superfly is still a couple weeks out but doubt I'll ever need/want the ul. The Deep Space ul on the other hand makes more sense for me than the standard. Go figure . More I think about it the more a pair of std Ticas makes sense when I have someone to learn team flying with. Maybe 🤔. Maybe not. Hmm Supernova vs Tica head to head. Could be I'm on a Benson kick but what other kites would be apples to apples. Slash Aero? A polyvalent kite that has a guarantee that 5 kites in a order will be MATCHED with no additional tuning. That seems to be the standard for what the Tica is designed to do. Hoping you get your Xmas wish Lon. Before I got my 1st kite read a post by Rob encouraging newbies to get the best kite they can and grow into it. Even if used. Saves money in the long run. Well maybe not. Money saved went to the "just one more fund" but I got good kites. Took that advice and have never regretted it. From watching that video you can deduce why. Don't think I've grown into any of them yet LOL. AC sul for sure NOT!! Yup but it's still easier to fake it on a 3/4 LOL.

Ya got a 50/50 on the Gemini. Sorry not a chance in hades on the Deep Space LOL Moonies are so COOL. Watched the ticker every day for that run of kites. Sadly I refrained. My bad but to me Rob it's very obvious. You NEED both Ticas 😋.

Man I shoulda known better. 99% of you probably scratched your head (as I would) thinking so what. Ya like it get it. After all they'd be different colors 😈. That my friends is thinking like a kite addict. I do not believe there is a cure. Should there be? EGADS NO !!! I'd been waiting on Tica info since it's announcement last spring. Really like to have a Solus and Devon says the Tica is what the Solus should have been. That makes the want very bad indeed.Limited resources and a wife that needs (my bad) to reign in my OCD kite affliction makes me have to choose wisely. Brakes have been engaged on the Tica. After a LONG wait and many false starts a Benson Superfly was finally ordered today. YAY!!! Now I got the Tica to fret about for the foreseeable future. Well that and a Deep Space UL. Oh and a Nirvana. Maybe a Lam light vented. Wow a Air One Arrow and Cosmic should really be in the bag.Man it just goes on and on and on . Anybody want to sell any beat up L'Atelier for $20.00? Maybe I can fix it LOL.

Read Devons description of the Tica and went for a fly on my Mongoose. Thinking they're to similar to justify a Tica. Thoughts?

Since you will have 3 very capable yet different standard wind kites the Tica UL might be the better get for you. From what Devon says the slowness and strength of the kite makes it easier to understand for newbies than most kites. Another kite that I probably shouldn't have passed on so fast is the Benson Deep Space UL. 1 to 15 mph range but never found in depth info on how it would handle inland bumpies. My newbie curve was late fall to early spring.Not that many low wind days during those months. Yanking, cranking and guessing on 3/4 kites in higher winds is a blast buuttt. The conventional wisdom is the bigger slower kites for a newbie take someone further faster. Widow ng fits that bill for standard winds. Never flown in Fairy winds before. Must have been magical LOL.

Dang I'm excited for you. You got 3 way different kites and with hours of practice they'll all fly in 3 mph. IMO wear out your stock dyneema lines. Widow with the 150# and Wolf with 90# is enough at the start. Had Laser Pro pretty early on but it was months before I could really feel a big difference. Quads is a different deal. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think I try to destroy my Nighthawk so I can get a Wolf. Remember that it won't be as stable as the Hydra or Widow. It's more twitchy and if you use the same type of inputs the oversteer will be quite dramatic. It doesn't take long to figure out. At the start it's one you should hold onto the straps instead of looping them around the wrist for sure. When the crash is coming let go.Yeah it's been said before but it is extremely important for confidence. The first breaks rattled the heck out of me. For now that should be the way for all your kites. As I developed I ended up wrapping around my wrist and doing a lot of inputs with my index finger. In higher winds I add the middle. As you get better no way is right except what you like. Dodd Gross in his videos just grips the straps and I think he might be a pro. I have a tendency to be a little kite snobby but that's not my intent at all.I've got 5 high end kites that are the bomb. Been at this 2 years next month and doubt anyone would outgrow a Hydra, Widow ng or Wolf. Yeah the feel of the high end ones is better. Tricks seem smoother and can be more rewarding. No they're not as well rounded as a Tekken(favorite). My boutiques have a more airy feel to them. The dance is more elegant. Can't really see it but you can feel it.If you get a Tica it won't take long to get the drift of what I can't really describe. Here's the thing though the high end ones have never exceeded the FUN factor of my other kites. Having fun is the most important point of all this kite stuff anyways. PLUS ya got quads too!! WOW did you jump into the deep end of the ocean. Hey that's cool I didn't drown and neither will you LOL.

Well thank ya. Bit of a narcissist here so flattery will get you all of the little I know LOL.You know what they say. If ya can't be or say anything intelligent at least try to be entertaining.I'm 35 miles east of Colorado Springs CO on the high plains. Got a 150 x 200 yard flying field in my backyard so I get to fly a lot. Into The Wind kite shop in Boulder says on their website we have the worst winds anywhere. I don't know about that cause I've never flown anywhere else. Has to be a humorous exaggeration cause I usually have a pretty good time.The west winds off the lake should give you some winds a lot of us inland fliers only dream about. When I replaced the Nighthawk and Addiction Nighthawk was first. IMO get the Wolf or something similar. You Tube the kites and you can see why. Jorge Gouverneur gives the Wolf and Nighthawk a good go.

Well I'm on a blather this morning. Late spring Devon announced the Tica. Been extremely interested since. Nator has gotten me really interested in big kites and for a trick kite 102" seems pretty big. Had a12' and 19' single liners but I got back issues and couldn't safely handle them myself. I've been wanting a Benson Superfly for along time to replace my Hydra. Think it would be more durable for the way I fly and very similar. Been really wishy washy on it cause I still gotta Hydra. Beat to hell but far from destroyed with some TLC. It's on the ragged edge of destruction though. Really like the kite so for money spent it's making more and more sense to get another.Restore the one I have for grandkids and newbies. Beef up the new one for me .Wife is not very sympathetic to this kite addiction thing so treading carefully is a must. She's got a point cause I've acquired a few and saying I NEED another is kinda pathetic.Biggest kite I have is a Condor from the 90's. Not a trick in it but dang good at precision. Doesn't fly much because tricking is my thing.Had a Hawaiian Team but I can handle the Condor a lot better. I'd really like to get a Level One Badass and 0ne Eleven but can't justify a spot in the bag. Looking at the differences in the keel and wingtips of the Hydra, Jinx(Esingers photo) and Tica I get a sense the center mass of the Tica would make it more predictable/stable. In 15 mph the narrow wing tips make me think dumping the wind would be pretty easy. That'd make tricks fairly fast so very doable in moderate winds. My guess is above 12 mph quite a bit easier then the one eleven. Thinking it'd be very different than my other standards and one I really want to justify having. The red just looks freaking cool.By the way since you're talking to Jon T get a Addiction. Tricky, tough and FUN, FUN,FUN. Trust me I'll keep bringing it up. Kite is just a absolute blast to fly. If you're not into fast, twitchy, adrenalin fueled flying nevermind. You should be though. OOPS that's a bit snobby but hey what the hey we all got differing opinions around here.At the start I learned the most on a Addiction. Kite still makes me laugh till my eyes water at times.Sold my first one to get the WMP. Got a Psycho to replace it. It didn't but the Psycho in 20 to 25 mph is just stunning at what it can do. Quicker tricks but has a slower straight line speed than the Addiction.Very similar wingtips to the Tica.C'mon, c'mon some of you folks get a Tica and let us know all about it. Got a AWFUL itch. I KNOW Rob B and Esinger NEED another kite LOL.

Watch some Dodd Gross videos. Get the kite on it's back and let it float to the ground thinking about different inputs.Took me along time to see the lines. The patience my ass I'm gonna trick is a blast BUT I'd be further along if I'd learn to see the lines first. Have fewer broken parts too.Wouldn't have been near as much fun though. Hydra does flip tricks really well. Keep doing turtles and you will be surprised how fast the kite will roll up. If you panic in a roll up just let the kite go to ground. When first researching kites I had a Wolf NG in the cart and got a PM on a great deal for a Widow NG. Got the Widow instead. Within the month I got a Nighthawk which is the kite the Wolf evolved from. If I lost my Nighthawk I'd have a Wolf asap. 3/4 kites get a rep as twitchy but IMO adjust inputs.Love the 3/4 kites and have 4 that are quite different from each other. Never flown a Quantum but from what I've read it's nothing like the Nighthawk/Wolf. The Nighthawk complements my Hydra and WidowMaker Pro really well. Flies more similar to the Widow but tricks more like the Hydra. In my not so humble opinion if one is more into the tricking side of things a Wolf/Nighthawk in the bag is a must have. Well for me anyways.My Nighthawk gets more airtime than my WMP or Mongoose. Mainly cause I'm not that good yet and I'd rather repair it than those other 2. P90's are cheap compared to Nitros. Lots of days it's my warmup kite. If getting to excited or struggling for a trick on another I go back to it. For some reason kite calms me down and I refocus.Last month I broke 3 ULE on it.This is my second Nighthawk and I'd never broken the ULE before. Same trick. Roll up the kite, land on a wing tip, unroll spinning the kite then launch. Learned that a year ago but went thru a spell where timing was off and it's not the only kite I broke.

WOW took a bit but I've snapped out of my coma. Thank goodness it was a kite coma. Tica looks to be something pretty cool. Like my Widow Maker Pro a lot. I've owned 2 Sky Burners and got to fly 2 others. No doubt in my mind the Tica would rate as a A+ kite. It's a guess but it's probably similar to a Solus which is one I've wanted for sometime.Waiting for reviews and videos. My 2 lightwind kites are pricey Lams. Worth the money to me but not everyone's cup of tea. The Level One Bad Ass UL because of it's framing should be pretty durable. DeBakker(Hydra designer) says it can be flown in 1 mph. Yeah, yeah he's a pro but so.If he can do it so can we. I've got a very tattered Hydra and a Widow maker Pro which are way different kites. Your Widow ng and Hydra should complement each other really well.

Spent the big bucks on a Lam AC SUL because of wind range and Lams just a phone call away. Living inland the rollercoaster winds are a issue in choosing a SUL. Yesterday winds were 0 to 3 for a couple hours with bumps getting close to 10. Was on 50# x 75' lines. Got 50' and 32' sets but I suck on the shorter lines with full size kites. Lam said to get a 20# x 75' set for the 0 to 3. Even on the AC I can feel the spongy that Dragonfish describes with 50# until about 2. Issue for me is the bumps I usually get would break 20# lines. The last 2 gusts were getting pretty high. Headed for the edge, put the kite down and measured 13 mph. Kite was done for the day. Only other SUL kites I found that can consistently handle hits like that are from Air One in France. Most SUL's top out at 6 or 7 mph. That's why I spent the money.Never flown one but for the cost to a beginner the Prism 4D is one to consider. Really thought about getting a GPS II that does similar things like the Level One Amazing and Kaiju. It comes in 2 sizes and outdoors it's a 30' line kite. It'll handle 10 mph hits but pricey. For a good hour yesterday flying with 10' lines on the leeward side of my barn I would have had more fun on a Kaiju. Today is the first cold day of the season and winds gusting well over 30 mph. Not in the mood sigh. Thinking about a I flite again LOL.

Widow NG was my first kite and how I developed from there makes me kinda partial to Jon T/ Wayne B designs. Liked the NG so much I got a Widow Maker Pro. Had a Pro Dancer but apparently some here eat more beans and broccoli than I do. Shortly after getting the NG I got a Premier Addiction. That is the kite that allowed me to really take off trying things that were way over my head. Most of my groundwork and low flying basics come from it. It's fast, tough, tricky and does things that make ya wonder what just happened. Sold my 1st one to get the Widow Maker but had to get another. I've broken a standoff and the upper spreader didn't go thru but put a very small tear in the sail. Not bad considering the kite is for flogging around. It's a hoot and holler kinda thing. Got to where I could put up the NG in 3 or 4 mph but tricking wasn't solid until 5. Better flyer now but probably couldn't do any better. The 3/4 sized standard kites I have are light and robust enough to pop up and down in 2 or 3 mph. Good for practicing different launches and starting turtle/fade based work. Can get frustrating but those low wind workouts made me more confident as winds increase.Since you've been flying the Spider adjusting to the smaller inputs needed on a kite like the Addiction should be pretty easy. Got 5 high end duals but I still fly my Premier Nighthawk A LOT. It evolved into the Wolf NG. Get a Wolf and have a howling good time 🐺.If the winds howling back well we'll have to discuss vents and speed kites. Icky TV has a wide variety of kites on display. Excellent place to get ideas on how kites differ.

Got a couple factory 2nd blemished kites for 1/2 price. Spent the big bucks on Sky Sport Design for the low winds.1 new the other used. After having a Prism Zephyr and Skyburner Pro Dancer the cost was worth it for me. The AC SUL has a 2 point frame that I can get up in .5 mph on 75' x 50# lines and will do some stuff in 1. Not very good yet and still leary of doing alot on the kite below 3 on short lines. From 2 to 10 the kite is sweet on 120' x 50#. The Tekken SUL is a 2 to 15 that handles my inland gusty winds extremely well. Kite I always want to fly the most. Pricier than a Quantum Pro but after researching a lot of kites went the Lam route. BMK Mamba UL is the only U.S. made kite I know of right now. R Sky at some Canadian shops are nicely priced. At my current skill a Level One Badass UL would probably have been the wiser purchase. They weren't being sold in the U.S. at the time. Don't regret my AC it's just going to take a lot more practice to justify the cost. Good thing is as I get better on it the skills are translating to all my other kites surprisingly well. I've renamed the kite Patience. Yeah,yeah naming kites is kinda silly but I can't help it. My 2nd choice was Air One in France. Being able to call Lam was the deciding factor.

I've used DHgate , Aliexpress and Alibaba. Had 1 issue. DHgate gave the vendor a week to make right. They didn't. Got a refund and the seller was banned.Read the reviews for sure. Unless buying in bulk it seems pretty hard to get in direct contact with a builder. 2500 pounds is a whew chunk of cash. Contact Emma or Frielien. They may help you connect to a builder for a one off at that price point. I have /had Chinese made Prism, Skydog, ITW and Premier kites. Premier has been the best but none were bad. Weifang is the city where most kite production is located. Like a lot of things 1 factory may produce 4 or 5 different spec kites for different vendors. Quality will depend on what materials were specified for the most part. In recent ads one of the sell points is the leading edge now extends to the nocks reducing tip wraps. REALLY. Flexifoil Stranger and Psycho were doing that in 1998. My Skydog Black Dog needed some minor mods due to tip wraps. Wasn't the designer or builder. Problem came from who negotiated the build. Apparently 10 cm less LE fabric increased profits enough to justify my irritation.

Doug Stout and friends were at the start of leach lines. Since GWTW is gone his thread on the how and why is lost. He makes some really cool gliders and is still active. Contact him and you'll learn all there is to know. Noise can also help in learning the timing of tricks as the sail loads and unloads in the higher winds. Don't think that's intentional just a plus.

The dreaded dead launch. Nope except ttttttry to enjoy the walk 😡.