Breezin

Dark with neon pink at LE and center instead of grey.

Oh my those are fun. Until they're not .Bet ya had a tip wrap and didn't see it. Most of my LE breaks have come from bad tip landings. Most LS breaks from line wraps.

I got to the point on my Zephyr where I left the weight in. Couldn't really trick below 3 mph anyways. Sky Dog Black Dog and BMK Mongoose can fly pretty well in 3 to 4 w/o weights. Flip tricks are easier on the BD w/o weight. At 5 + w/o weight I can feel a bounce in both kites. Not dramatic but as the kites load/unload I can feel it. Not unpleasant at all nor does it effect timing much. Just kind of a odd sensation. Hydra has 4 weights that I play with a lot. Don't know how to fly it with no weights very well. 2 weights at the bottom with the spacer in between the other 2 makes multi roll ups a snap. Spacer at the bottom with weights on top makes it easy to belly flop in light wind takeoffs. In higher winds it's the easiest kite I have to do forward roll ups. Most often it's 2 for under 10 and 4 for 10+. Nice to have in my rollercoaster winds.Like Sparkie I have kites for the conditions and it's usually AOA adjustments for me.Weights in my other kites are always in. Got weights in my AC SUL wingtips. I THINK the weighted tips makes the kite super easy to Slot and Taz.The kite is very stable in 1.5 mph plus and SWEET. Got a spare LE with the kite but until one gives up the ghost I won't know how to positively make my own replacement.Having spares shipped from Canada every time the kite screams crack would just be stupid. It'll be a simple glue job. At this point in time I don't really care cause it ain't broke. FOR NOW !!

WEEELLLL lucky you .Hour in yesterday and dang CRACK Winds were running 15 having a blast but going higher. Was really in the zone and didn't want to stop flying the Hydra.Getting ready to go vented but obviously waited to long. 4th Hydra spreader I've broken and all on the same side go figure. Kites going to be down awhile for some much needed restoration. The shopping list steadily grows as the days FLY by.Get it? FLY by. Man I CRACK myself up.Get it? CRACK goes the tube. Okay I'll stop being stupid for now. Except today I'll probably do the same stoopid mistakes practicing the Comet'e that have lead to the last 3 broken tubes on 3 different kites sigh.I WILL nail that trick eventually. Comete has been the costliest trick for me to learn by far.Lam Hoac told me it took him a year to learn it so I still have hope.Little over a year now at the miserable thing but the sometimes getting it right is worth it. That's what I keep telling myself anyways LOL.

Thur. morning I had sweet winds at least for here. 5 to 10 smooth cycles and I was excited. Flew my Premier Nighthawk and was on right from the start.Bought it new but blemished on the cheap. 2nd one and I have a blast on Nighthawks.When it's worn out I'll get a Wolf NG immediately.Most days I try to push the envelope. Get excited and start slamming my standard full size kites around.Nighthawk is always with me for times like that. Put it up in the air and it calms me down. It's speed and agility helps me regain focus. Some days like Thurs. it's the only kite I want to fly. Little over a hour in tip landing broke ULE at the ferrule. Like to do sharks, cartwheels and tip landings on that kite a lot. Tube had weakened over time and broke on a fairly light landing. Point is depending on what you like to do frames weaken.Even the pros break things albeit probably not as much as me. My last spare P90 has been used. 3 spares are now on the list for my next order. GRRR. Crossing my fingers that I won't break another P90 in the meantime.It's times like these that I have to remind myself I'd spend more in gas and repairs on my CR 250 MX bike in a weekend than I have spent in a year of kite repairs. Haven't broken any bones flying a kite yet either LOL. Hoping you're not to bummed and your kite is back in the air.Let us know how it's going. Hydra is VERY kite cool IMO. For a good while it was my most flown even though I had Sky Sport Design, Skyburner and Blue Moon Kites. Fixing to go fly it now.Fly it, break it, fix it, repeat as needed.

Man there's a few kites on that list I'd love to fly. Thought a lot about getting a Krystal and Amazing. Mini Gems just look so cool. Krijn and Kareloh in Holland have made some over the top 6th sense builds.Icky TV has some nice videos and contact info.They can sew some mighty nice sails for you to frame out. Even though I had bigger kites when starting everything came easier on my 3/4 kites.Fun, fun,fun. Well except for the seeing and understanding part LOL.Looking at your list we may have a similar learning curve. Due to a lot of lightning this summer I haven't done much higher wind flying. Winds smoothed out some and flew the Mongoose for a couple more hours Monday. 12 to 18 mph that kite IS NOT slow.Grounded yesterday and the winds were pretty sweet.SUCKED!!! I couldn't move very well LOL.

I own 2 revs that I don't know how to fly very well yet. A 1.5 full vent and a 1.5 B series standard. Since May I haven't been able to make the 2 hour trip to learn from the club. Broke a ton of dual tubes learning on my own and don't want to do that on quads. Since I do own quads I'm going to put in my 2 cents. If out of line please be kind. I have a very fragile ego. Number of years ago I was doing a shakedown on a new bobber build. Think HD 48 before they made them but hot rodded to the edge. Merging onto a 4 lane this daft pigeon wobbled up off the side of the road. Ducked and the dang thing bounced off my head cracking the windshield of the car behind me. Wouldn't ya know it was the police. 30 seconds later I was pulled over. Cop asked if I knew why I'd been pulled over. No I says still slightly dazed from the impact.For flipping me the bird he says. WELL I NEVER!!

Could be something more like the Skyburner Solus is what you're after. From reading only I think it's inputs would still not be what you're after.Tell us more about the kites you have.Since GWTW has left us the library here needs to grow 😊.Flew a couple hours this morning. Winds were bumpy as all get out hitting the low 20s at times.Those bumbies wear me out pretty quick. I've flown all my standards in that stuff but the only one that does well is the Mind Trick vented. The nitro framed kites will squirt away. The buffeting winds make the others twist and turn making control difficult at best. All get blown out of the sky nearing the edge. The pull on the Nitros can come on sudden giving quite the yank if not braced for it.Took me along time to learn to anticipate. The MT is probably a 1/3 slower in 15. It's smoother power gives the impression of 1/2 the pull. The smaller needed inputs would make ya think it's harder to control in higher winds. Not the case for me at all. It's a huge plus when going over 25. I've had the kite for over a year. Tough as all get out. It'll fly in 4 and I can trick it from 5 to 25. It's been in 40 but over 30 is kinda stupid. That's Delta Hawk stuff for now.Although it's been a difficult kite for me to learn out of my quiver it would be the very last to go without a doubt. Never flown a Mamba.My guess is the inputs are long and smooth guiding ones like my Mongoose. My Lam kites are very different with lots of moves being done with my fingers or the snap of a wrist. AC and Tekken will axle and 1/2 axle with a flick of the wrist when the timing is right. I've not had the AC long and because of winds it doesn't get out much. The more I fly it the more my technique is changing on all my kites. Don't have my finger completely on it yet but I'm becoming more patient and seeing things better. With your past I think you'd learn a Lam kite a lot faster than me. Ain't been doing this as long as you but I do have some Old School Condors and Skynasauers that have helped shape my opinions LOL.Ask Lam about a light vented.Drink the Kool Aid dude. It ain't half bad.

I fly my 3/4 kites a lot. Love the speed and fast recoveries when failing. Plus my Psycho will trick in 25 mph winds. At least I think it does. Kite moves so fast at times I'm not sure what it's doing 😲.Lam kites could probably be compared to a Ferrari. Most will never use the full potential but man it's nice knowing it's there. When I'm on nothing I've flown or have is in the same league. I was a bit bummed when I 1st got my Mind Trick vented and AC SUL. Nothing magical happened and as a novice at best are somewhat difficult to learn.Knew it was me and my 3 Lams have upped my game big time.Pricey but worth it to me. I'll be getting another.The ones I have are similar in feel/inputs but fly and trick quite differently. Lam has very strong opinions on kite design. When talking about other kites keep in mind he's trying to educate about what he has learned. If you have a kite you love and bring it up you might get offended. Good luck in proving him wrong LOL. Lam is always tweaking something and he'll share for the most part if you ask.Although I consider him a master flier/builder I've gotten the impression he still learns from newbies.Talk to him and he'll probably try to decode you.My ITW Hydra I think is close to what you're describing. Really dig it especially for the ITW sale price. Mines beat to hell but still flies well. If getting one beef up the outer battens. Kite loves roll ups but they'll push the battens thru the bottom of the pocket. I fly in a rough pasture and the TE has worn thru in a couple places. Kite would benefit a lot from installing a trick line. Just remember to not make it to tight changing the angle on the wingtips.Yoyo stops are sharp and with a lot of use will cut the bridles leaders. Easy to change out or remove. Mods would take a 1/2 hour and cheap to do.I think the Benson Superfly is similar to the Hydra but that's a guess.I'll let ya know shortly 😊.

That's probably the real reason I don't. Kites I don't fly much are broken down. The ones I fly the most I only break down the spreaders. After the 1st few weeks of flying I figured there is more stress pulling the sail taunt to get the line seated back into the nock than just leaving it. 3 hours in 15 mph winds stretches a sail more than a year of leaving it tensioned IMO.Wind/material dependent but the tensioners themselves are the weak point.Inexpensive Nighthawk(bungee) and Psycho(rubber) have given up and been redone.High end Mind Tricks (bridle line)are on the fringe.Gave up on end caps for most of my kites and use electrical tape.BMK and Skyburner have never come off. Sky Sport Design doesn't use them and are the best nocks I have.I did the US/LS thing for a bit too. Pretty high winds one day and came real close to a sail puncture. Don't do that anymore because I'm clumsier than most. Most time I leave the bags in the shed. Figure having to walk back to the field looking for a dropped spreader is the better route for me. Few folks I've flown with leave them attached like Sparkie.They've left a few spreaders on a field miles from home. That's their reasoning as to why they do it.

Killed by a kite? Coming into this sport I had no idea except for the jumpers, wind surfers etc. Didn't take me long to understand. Couple line burns and a serious thump in the face changed the way I fly in 20 mph +. At the start it took some effort to wrangle my younger grandkids in. Like young ones do the excitement overrides any thought of self preservation. Few weeks back 10 year old and two 8 year olds were visiting. Winds started hitting 20 and everyone was having quite a time on the 1.4 foil. Still had to keep a firm grip on them but they're getting it. Winds went a bit higher and I put the 10 year old on the Delta Hawk. Gave them all another lecture on how extreme the conditions had become. Didn't tell the boy anything about the Hawk except it was faster. He's the one that's been the hardest to get the dangers pounded into his head.Boy loves high risk fun more than any of the others. He's had some line burns, thumped couple times and has launched kites when he wasn't supposed to. He did a lot better than expected. After his 1st crash with huge eyes he said to me Oh sh** Ponca that would really hurt. The others howling with glee at his foul mouth and me chuckling inside while scolding him I knew he'd finally got it. After more than a year!! Imagine looking after adults that don't understand at a large gathering. Nevermind their nutjob kids running around having a blast. Be a full time job.

The E2 is a well thought of kite. E3 has some pretty mixed reviews with most being more negative. May very well be Daniel has pointed out a very valid reason as to why.As tricking has changed E3 may have gotten a unwarranted bad rap. From research ONLY I thought it would be somewhat similar to a R Sky Nirvana which wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Those of you that have flown both please chime in. I need the education.

Kites and Fun Things have given me A+ service. For me Skyshark tubes have been the easiest to grasp the differences. The upper LE would probably change the kites response the least. Paul DeBaker designed the Focus Hydra. He did some changes with ITW for Chinese production. Think he still works at Goodwinds but if not contact him at Level One USA. Might as well talk to the master 😊. Seems somewhat silly but the way a kite flexes is important to it's design. Takes some time on the lines but you will begin to notice. Love the way my Hydra flies. Where and how I fly has really tattered the kite. Rarely fly it anymore unless grandkids are visiting. The kite that I THINK will be similar with more durability is the Benson Superfly. Been wanting one for well over a year. I've had the money saved for awhile now but have yet to pull the trigger. Guess I've thought about it for so long I don't want the fantasy to end.

Excellent questions.Never been to a festival yet so this info is much needed. Now here's some fluffi.Last year at the Huntington Beach CA. USA Kite Party fella had a very large kite get away. Landed in some palm trees and was difficult to get down. Thanks to the organizers(Kite Connection) relationship with the city fines were averted , city workers helped and kite came away unscathed. Never been to Kite Party but you need to register. Fliers and line length are limited due to space. After seeing those pictures I can understand the need for insurance at some venues.KITE MULLARKY? I must say I am rather offended.The proper terminology fine sir is KITE BULLARKY(in Yoder anyways). Please imagine snobby sniff HERE .Signed great nephew of Adolpho Hetler the anti nazi.🤣

OOPS forgot. Disassemble before ordering. The T in DT15 stands for tapered. Doubt the upper LE is tapered. When cutting tapered tubes cut the small end.

Mixing tubes isn't a good idea. Last DT15s I got from Wind of Change. Writing might come in a different color. Undo C clips and stopper. LE will slide out of the tunnel. It could take a bit of a tug to release from the nose. Make sure the end cap doesn't come off staying lodged in the nose. If it does be easy in getting it out. When reassembling make sure tube fits into the nose correctly.Take your measurement and wrap in tape so the cut doesn't splinter the tube. Use a very fine tooth saw or as I do a Dremel with a cutoff wheel. Lightly sand the cut end. Cut out the ferrule in the broken tube to reuse. Seems more daunting then it is. 15 more times and you'll be a pro LOL.Get a couple spare tubes.Shipping cost suck so it's a good time to build a care package for your kite. I've not broken a Dynamic LE but have taken out a few LS on my Hydra and Mind Trick.It's not a big deal getting a different brand for the LS as long as the strength is comparable. Switching to Sky Shark makes things a bit stiffer. The change in flight is very small. I have a lighter LS for 5 to 15 mph on my vented kite. Heavier for 15+.

Nose adjustments are for tweaking how a kite tricks too. Nose forward in my experience makes a kite easier to roll up. Tilted back and turtle based rotational tricks become easier. Easier to hold/rise a fade or get a rising turtle. It's on the extreme end of a kites range that the adjustments are for wind. Angling whiskers in helps with lift. Out helps dumps the wind off the wing tips on most kites. 4 knots on my AC SUL but I've left the nose at the top knot for awhile now. Still got a ton to learn about that kite before confusing myself with angle of attack.Not that big a deal in low winds. At times on some of my kites I've confused the heck out of myself changing the nose in the middle of their wind range.Only 2 on my Mind Trick vented. Tilted back kite is difficult to roll up w/o having the kite tilted to one side or the other with a little power. Widow Maker has 6 but I've really only used the middle 4.Hydra has the most dramatic changes that I can kinda grasp the dynamics of. Nose forward kite just flips and flips. Hence its nickname. FLIP 😲. Think to really understand and utilize the nose adjustments for tricking flier has to be pretty advanced. I'll get there. Spent the morning in fast cycling winds going from 3 to over 15. Good time on my Widow Maker but the gusties blew it out of the sky a few times. Up went the Mind Trick vented. Handles the gusts so much better with 1/2 the pull/speed in 15 mph bumpy winds. Kite will trick from 5 to 25 and handle 35 pretty well. A light vented Lam kite might serve you a lot better than the NG. I took to my Tekken instantly but the AC and Mind Trick have been the most difficult kites to learn. Keep that in mind.Worth EVERY bit of the frustration though. They demand that I get better. Even the Tekken SUL in 15 has a lot less pull than the WMP. From what I remember the NG pulls a bit more than the WMP. What was hard for my back to adjust to on the Mongoose and WMP was the almost instant sail load in the upper range. Stiffest framed kites I have (Nitro).Kites get fast real quick and it's tons of fun. Took awhile to figure out that load point and brace or unload accordingly so I didn't get jerked around. I don't recall being able to dump the wind on the NG very well. Not a good flier then but I do remember how much quicker I was able to do it on the Hydra. The NG has a fuller sail.Not true for every kite but the fuller the sail the more pull you'll get. Watch videos of the Benson Supernova compared with the R Sky Nirvana. Which standard will pull a bit more? Bet ya with the shallower sails the Lam standards pull at least a 1/3 less and have 25% more wind range.Fun factor? Well that's pretty subjective and I doubt one is way more fun than the other. IMO it'd probably be the Benson though. Man I need a Superfly.

Real nice SUL winds for a bit over a hour this morning. Transitioning to a rising fade got about 5' off the ground. Nose plant and danged if I didn't break the ferrule loose on my AC. Should have NEVER mentioned loose ferrules. Went and jinxed myself. I used some plastic tubing for the spine on my Hydra and Nighthawk.When needed the end cap instead will sure look a lot nicer. Not a fan of c clips. Crashing will always be a issue for me it seems. If I'm not crashing it's like I'm not trying hard enough LOL.

Well assuming has made a ass out of me. If set 2nd knot from the bottom nose is tilted pretty far back. Set above the top knot is where I could get the kite up in pretty low winds. Issue is with the nose tilted so far in it's easy to pop the kite onto it's belly when launching. Arms extended with a long smooth sweeping pull, 2 steps back should get it up in 3. Takes some pumping to keep it going. 4 is where the kite will start to load up.As you know 5 is where flight stabilizes.Below the bottom knot you should feel a fairly reduced pull in 12 to 15. I remember adjusting the bridle on my NG a lot for wind as I do on my Hydra, Nighthawk and Widow Maker Pro. Other kites not so much if at all. In my inland gusty winds Zephyr adjustments would get just nuts. It did give me a 1/2 way decent grasp on tuning though. I read the measurement as being the top of the donut(do hicky, c clip). I've knocked so many off my Hydra I don't use them on the LE anymore. In flight spreaders stay in place. After a walk of shame I put the connectors back to their marks. Wouldn't recommend that though. Reglued the dang ferrule for the LS on it and the Nighthawk so many times I don't bother with it anymore. Don't recommended that either. Haven't had a issue other than looking for a misplaced ferrule now and again. Not had the issue when replacing a LS or LE on other kites. C clips and ferrules have stayed in place for the most part. Lost a few on the Addiction but that comes more from the flex. Little sanding and until the next mind bending how the hell did it not break twist stay in place.

Been awhile since I had a NG but I was really pleased with mine. Took awhile but I could fly mine in 3 to 4 on 80# x 100" with no weights. Not well but it'd go up. It might be that the framing is off. Bad run of tubes having different weights? Whiskers off?LS and LE equal lengths?Long shot but it seems odd both of you have crappy kites. Flown 3 Addictions and 2 Nighthawks that have been identical to each other as far as I can tell. On my Tekken I'd adjust above and below 2 knots about 2mm apart. Couldn't fly below 3 hardly at all and quite often it'd fall below 3 with no glide. There's just enough room for the line between the knots. Haven't moved it since. No more problem and that's a pretty small adjustment.Wish I could say I figured it out but nope had to call Lam.NG is not that finely tuned and both of you know enough that a obvious bridle issue would get noticed pretty quick. Smaller bridle issues could be difficult to find. Have you tried switching bridles with Jacks kite?

Mamba, Nirvana and a few of the L'Atelier kites are used in team flying as well as tricking. Polyvalent is a word used a lot to describe kites like that in Europe. Kites oriented towards precision seem to be what you're after. French builders seem to have the most variety of team/trick kites .My BMK Mongoose is the only trick kite I have that I really enjoy flying patterns. Mamba from what I've read would be similar. L'Atelier kites has some serious pedigree(Mayet e.g.). Issue you might have other than cost is some of their kites are designed for long lines. Up to 157'. For the cost Level One Badass UL is worth a look.If I didn't have a Mongoose I'd have a Mamba for sure.

If ya wanna see why I justified a AC SUL Lam just posted a video of the AC ULa few minutes ago. Man one of these days I'll fly like that 🤨 Probably be a few more repairs between now and then LOL.Guess I'd better go practice now or it ain't never going to happen.Man I'm so much happier in 30 degrees than this 95 crap. Heat makes my kites fly all wonky and my beer funky.

Acrobatx is getting hard to find. I've read where some that really liked the standard didn't care for the UL. Stratus would be my pick because of the wider wind range and tougher frame.You can find it for under $100.00. I haven't flown either. The Flying Wings Zero would probably be the better choice. Those are UL kites. SUL is a different beast and get pricey fast.I've had a Skyburner Pro Dancer and a Prism Zephyr which didn't stay long.Pro Dancer is a ballet/precision kite with very little tricks in it. My SULs are Lam Hoac Tekken and AC. Stupid expensive but in my bumpy winds concluded they were worth the cost. IMO they are.I wish Skyburner still made the Niknak,Ocius(flown) and Aura(flown). I'd have all 3. Do some research and you might be surprised at how low some standards will fly with practice.Traded my Pro Dancer for a BMK Mongoose standard. 100% believe I got the better end of the deal.W/o the weight it'll fly in 2 to 3 but takes 4 to 5 to start tricking well and it's framed in Nitro... My Widow Maker Pro(also Nitro) will too but it takes a bit more effort and has less glide.My Premier Addiction will do some amazing groundwork and low altitude stuff in 2 or 3. Kites light,tough and fast enough to pop 15' off the ground catching some tricky stuff in next to no wind.20 to 25 winds for me are the hardest to trick in. 1 to 3 is the most frustrating.I'm into learning as many tricks as I can. If it wasn't for that I'd probably be happier with a less then $100.00 light wind glider.Some of the things folks do in 0 to 3 on gliders is pretty cool. I don't think you live where winds cycle dramatically. At a similar price point other than the 4D the Kaiju might be something to consider for a SUL kite. Heck you could drive to the MAN to get one and might even get a lesson. Burger and a beer are pretty good bribes for a lot of us.

Drachen means both kite and dragon in German. Buy kites made in Germany you can have whatever type ya want cause they're always dragons LOL.

Wife had to come out and watch me fly my newest to see what all the fuss was about(Sky Sport Design AC SUL). After a few minutes she walked back to the house muttering. Think I heard the word idiot a couple times.