Zuul

Looks awesome. Good job!

Premier Kites Power Sleds fly great, have tons of lift, and are reasonably priced. Lots of reputable dealers sell Premier.

We may be traveling to the Big Island and staying on the North West coast near Hapuna Beach. Is it worth packing my dual-liners? I honestly don’t know if there are places to fly, or what to expect in terms of wind. I read a VERY old thread somewhere else that mentioned that kites aren’t allowed on beaches there. I don’t know if that’s still the case?

I’d be happy to share what I know about Bols. They’re pretty. Not very helpful, right? 😉 Staying tuned in, though. Maybe I’ll make one some day.

The “normal” leading edge construction uses a 2” strip of material folded in half. On plans like the Escape, the sail material goes all the way into the fold, so the rod is following the inside edge of the material. The leading edge does not make the wing larger than shown by the plan. Maybe you are using the term “fiberglass rod” generically, but in case you aren’t... the spars called for in the plans are tubular carbon fiber. That makes them very light and stiff. If you substitute a basic, solid fiberglass rod, the kite will require a lot more wind to fly, and it’s it’s characteristics will be very, very different. (Probably not for the better, but hey, who knows?)

No shortage of Nirvana variants.

Nearly everything is made to order. The website hasn’t been updated in a long time, but they’re still filling orders.

Any difference you felt is due to how they were braided and coated (or not coated). LPG are my softest lines because they are not coated. Skybond are very stiff because of the waxing yellow coating. Both are Spectra. Matrix lines are somewhere in between (but closer to Skybond) and are not Spectra trademarked material.

Matrix is also a Spectra/Dyneema line set. (or other UHMWPE knock-off)

Same material, yes. They are braided differently and have a variety of different coatings, though. Most cars are made of steel, but that doesn’t mean they are all the same.

It’s nice enough for a while, but mine wore quickly and got pretty gritty feeling. I prefer both Laser Pro Gold and SkyBond. Matrix is better than most cheap spectra line sets, though.

Nobody builds a nicer kite than Tim, IMO. Lam’s are still excellent, though.

Many of the plans are “tiled” which means you print out a bunch of letter sized sheets with crop marks. Line up the marks, tape together, and you have a full size plan. Otherwise, your local office center (ie Kinkos) will print you full size plans for a few dollars.

All things ebb and flow. That’s just how things go. If you’d be willing to learn German, Drachenforum is still pretty active. So is the French one. (Au fil du vent)

Lam could Taz a chaise lounge. What he can do offers very little insight into what a kite is good at. Most SUL’s are difficult to Taz. I’m sure the Dream Machine is better than many, but I would expect it to be much easier to learn on a Std or even a UL.