Breezin

Thanks for taking care of mess.

I just about bought a fazer last week cause the price was so good . Backed off because of the pull. Read some where people are tricking them. Same conclusion as yours that it's not a true speed kite but close. Live on the rolling prairie in Colorado. 14000 ft Pikes Peak is 40 miles to the west. Always makes me smile looking that way. I pasture Alpacas on 80 acres. They don't bother the kites and the kites don't bother them.Once in awhile they stop and watch for awhile. I think they snicker at my abilities and then get bored. Silly monkey birds do it all the time.The cows run away lol. At the edge I'm getting close to a lazy susan. Got some half axels by accident. Getting a grasp on slide stall landings.

Dang I didn't mean to do all that. Can all those accidents be removed?

6 weeks ago I started this new obsession not having a clue to the depth and scope of kiting. Got a Widow ng to start. Flew it a few times and started to believe I needed something more durable due to constant contact with mother earth. Went stupid and got a Black Dog [ neat kite] Premiers Vision , Jewel , 2 Addictions , Nighthawk and a 1.4 foil [good decision] Moved the Dog ,Vision and 1 Addiction on. Got lucky and got my money back. Broke my Widows lower spreader last Sunday. I understand breaking and repairing is part of this sport but that just sucked. Not the kites fault at all. Between then and now no winds to fly in except foil until yesterday afternoon. Took my snapshot 1.4, micron and nighthawk out for their 1st flights. The nighthawk is the warm color. Not expecting it to be so pretty in flight. Here is my thoughts on the widow and the nighthawk. This is not a review due to knowledge deficiency. Putting the widow up for the 1st time was just awesome. Graceful and deliberate . Didn't realize how intimidated I was by it until I flew the Nighthawk. After flying both I have really gained insight to input control.Widow deliberate and calculating not much forgiveness in a panic. When remembering to breath that will happen less . The nighthawk seems more reactionary. With developing skills that too shall pass. The widow does everything I tell it to do even when I don't know what I'm saying. Hence broken sigh. The nighthawk is faster to respond and I seem to correct my mistakes without knowing how I did it. Really had a blast with this kite. On inputs the widow is like okay next ,next, crash. Really dude there is so much more to do and this is just wasting time. Yes it can talk I'm just not fluent in it's language yet. For the nighthawk it's input, whee ,input ,whee crash whee. I was expecting them to be very similar. Not so much. If I had to choose I'd take the widow over the nighthawk but I don't and that is excellent. Most valuable lesson so far slack those lines when crashing!! I had so much fun forgot to fly the other 2 kites. Nighthawk came with really good lines. After comparing the 2 the widow needs a better set. One of the new found joys of this kiting thing, learning to make my own sets. Jewel and addiction will be moving on. Want to keep them but no need. Tried to justify that they're for the wife but that's stupid cause the widow and nighthawk are hers too. Just ask her lol. Jumping from kite to kite I think will hinder progress anyways. After flying the nighthawk I don't believe I need a ul. I see why people love them. Think it's going to take a trip to Plymouth to meet daddy .Now I can truly say in the quiver prism snapshot 1.4 ,prism micron,Premier nighthawk and widow ng. Want more but I do need a sul. Just about bought a 4d cause of the price. Although the price was good I'm going to follow the advice that got me the widow. Got a piggy bank that has Jon, Lam ,Tim , Krijn with ? Oh my the anticipation and agonizing to come !! So glad I took the advice of so many to start with a great kite. Don't know if I would be as enthused otherwise. Each to their own but I WANT TO FLY LIKE THOSE GUYS !!! In the words of the beloved Captain Piccard MAKE IT SO.

I really want to be a trickster. A speed kite will let me fly in as much wind as I can handle. Still haven't flown my snapshot yet but at around 20 plus my other foil is to much for now. While sitting in my pasture a needle , thread and an idea will keep me occupied waiting for fair winds.

Oops maybe I don't understand what coupe is. 7 bft !! I'll be right here snooping around.

The Speedwing X1 is the closest to what I'm thinking .

I've looked at the spider kites, Balor and hqs online. The more billow the more pull and for now I couldn't handle the pull of a Ninja or 200. Bought a micron instead of the Stormy Pete to start for the better line set. The Balor 160 ul really has my interest. They all have the coupe. The micron not being a speed kite has no inspiration for what I'm envisioning . Will be quick though. Whats a sewing machine ? I got a needle and thread.

Been thinking on how to build my 1st kite and a speed kite seems to be the easiest to accomplish. I'm planing on 3 pt bridle with the frame in the back of the sail. Smoother and less billow more speed I think. How to adjust for balance and wind speed. Aha metal ferrule Inside my repaired tube for the spine. Seems like I always get more aha moments from the dorks of the world .

Keep it coming Exult Your ability to simplify step by step processes is worth the price of admission!! I'm thinking if I use aluminium I could still drag my kite around, show off the pretty colors. complain about the low winds and not have to show anybody how bad I fly.

Ha that's funny. Went to the Doc for real this morning and told them about my new about my new affliction. The nurse and P.A. were pretty concerned. There experience with kites is watching traction kiters in the snow and on the beach. Explained the different aspects of kiting and they concluded this will be a good thing. Told me my med intake better not go up and I said to much Tequila makes me stupid and fall down. Don't worry about it !! Got my snapshot 1.4 and Micron today . The Micron is the ugly orange one that I'll be able to see 100 feet away. Winds were blowing to fifty today. Blew some of the siding off the post office Glad I didn't get a Fazer. Would have tried it and then you know. More Tequila than advisable.

Ha get her hooked, have her buy the sul and then beg to borrow it. As long as I can get her to breath she might go for it. 35 years with her she probably knows I'm going try a trick [pardon the pun] like that already. One of the reasons I like her so much.

I'm no expert in these matters Edmond but that is my fear. The only thing that has worked for me on different repairs is JB weld. That doesn't seem to be conducive to any kite repair. Think I'm going to replace both sides. At least I'll have a top spare spreader and one for the bottom. I have other kites to fly so this setback doesn't ground me . Winds though augh !!! Give me a year and I promise I'll know what I'm doing. Ok maybe 2 if I can stay away from those nasty revs .

Wow Exult that's like master degree stuff in kiteology and I'm still in preschool lol. Got a friend who runs a rc club and builds his own planes and helis. This will be right up his alley. After 1st time seems like a pretty easy fix. Pj on step 5 it is. Don't know if I'll be brave enough to risk my sail at first but at least I'll learn something. Got some rip stop nylon coming to attempt a speed kite build during the nasty winter days. Fix and use the tube for that maybe.

Wife doesn't know but she has a Premier Jewel same color as my Widow waiting in the barn . My gfk foil sucks on the window edge. Flew it yesterday in blustery winds. Kept collapsing and she just was not into it. Should have a snapshot 1.4 and micron tomorrow. Then she'll fly. Well I hope she'll fly and stop chasing me around the yard with a hatchet every time I give some poor needy little kite a home.

Hey Fluke I've read about that while researching how to cut the tube. Not confident enough to do that yet. Seems that using the dipping in epoxy then sanding method would be stronger. Got 2 tubes and a ferrule coming. Thinking the left side might have weakened and to just do the whole lower spreader. Got a spare upper for sure though as long as the cuts right .

Hello Justin, new here myself. Ton of stuff to read here. Been doing more reading than flying last couple days due to the roller coaster winds sigh. Jumped into this kite thing with both feet and kinda irked the wife by getting a Widow ng to start. Just showed her your intro posts and the cost ratio to other hobbies. She thawed a bit . Not to the point of getting another kite but progress has been made .Yay so thanks for that, welcome and have fun.

I've been to the Skyburner site and did some coloring.Kinda like going to the Bentley site but more attainable for me. Broke lower spreader on my Widow this morning. I'll be calling them in the am. From what I've read and seen on video Pro Dancer is in my top 5. To soothe my bruised ego from the mornings tragedy I got a micron. I'll start saving tomorrow. Hit me up if you go to the Denver area kite meets. I'd like to see one in person. NO MORE KITES TILL SUL!!! Repeat as needed.

Winds were about 5 to 10 I think. Flying around getting more adventures. Took a fairly hard crash and kite turned into launch position . Got lazy and didn't check kite. Relaunched and on next crash found my inside right lower spreader cracked at the end. Lesson learned relaunch after a nice landing not a crash. Happy I didn't do more damage. Now I get to fly my nighthawk waiting for parts. If I break it then the addiction is up for torture. If that gets broke I got my gfk trainer foil and snapshot on the way. Gfk pulled itself onto the roof of my chicken coop in about a 25 mph gust last week. Got a little band aid and still flies. Don't know why it did that,its like it had a mind of it's own. I don't let it near the coop anymore. Must like eggs lol.

Bought some rip stop nylon. Blazing speed up to 40 mph I hope. It's never going to end is it.

Thank you all for the warm welcome. Sitting here looking out at 0 to 3 mph . Would be a great morning for sul I think. Glad I didn't buy the Fazer. That will be better served in the future. Don't think I need that kind of pull for now. Besides I still have to learn to breath then get my dance on lol. Going to save for higher end sul. From all I've read the niknak seems to be the best starting point ? Looking at my lines Ripstop was right. Thanks would have repeated next time flying and maybe more than that !!!

Hey shbkf read a lot of your posts. This morning I evened my lines before flying . About a hour into it right hand knot came loose . Quite the snarl. Insight tie a better knot

Might take me 3 years to learn to fly it but I'm in.

Hello all. New to this kite stuff but so far really digging it. Live on the Colorado plains and it's a rare day when the wind isn't moving. Over the last 15 yrs or so grand kids have come to stay with cheap kites . None lasted more than a day with much wailing and whining begging for another one. Didn't catch on until about 5 weeks ago. Three grand kids and two great grand kids came to stay with 3 hq eco line kites. Needless to say I didn't know a thing but did have the sense to read the instructions. Still they didn't make it thru the day. Once again the wailing , whining and gnashing of teeth commenced. The great grand daughter sounded just like her mom years earlier go figure. So I started doing some research to see if it was worth buying a better kite. Boy howdy I guess. Didn't have a clue about this sport. Hope I don't come across as a cry baby but here it goes. In 2012 I got t-boned by a 18 wheeler running a red light. It really hurt lol. Very happy to still be here. I still have spasms that knock me to the ground at times. Used to be constant but I am slowly improving. About 3 months ago Docs wanted to start physical therapy again. Doesn't work very well because the isolation of different muscle groups starts the spasms. So I walk till I'm tired. As I was researching kites I saw a post of a guy flying in a wheelchair. Light bulbs went off and I realized I could do this too !! What an inspiration. Many thanks to him. The kite makes me use all my muscles in unison and doesn't hurt so bad. Plus I'm thinking about the kite not me. If I ever see that guy I'm going to hug him. So after reading many posts of folks advising grow into the kite I got a Widow ng. Rob b is mostly to blame lol. The bug has bit though and I added an addiction and nighthawk. Haven't flown them yet. Yesterday I got a prism snapshot 1.4 sigh. Now I'm thinking about a hq fazer. I'd ask somebody to talk me out of the Fazer but this is probably the wrong place for that.