Spence Watson

That sure would cover all the bases, but yeah, cost would be the issue. I'm thinking of full sails for now. How about between these scenarios, which would you pick? I don't have the advantage of a local kite show where I could look before buying. One 3wrap frame, one 2 wrap frame, and an extra 3 or 4 wrap leading edge one 3-wrap frame, one race rod frame, and an extra 3 or 4 wrap LE one 2-wrap frame, one race rod frame, and an extra 3 or 4 wrap LE two 3-wrap frames with extra 2 wrap LE ... too many choices! Thanks, Nat One thing that I would want to note is that if you and your girlfriend get to the point where you are able to fly together, and actually share the same air space, you will want the kites to be set up the same. This way they fly near the same speed, and have similar characteristics. If I was looking to set up a pair with a low budget, I would go with two full sail kites, two sets of race rods, and two sets of 3 wrap rods. If you are really terribly tight on money, you could substitute the race rods with 2 wrap rods, but I think the wider wind range and the characteristics presented by the race rods are worth the extra cost. In my bag, the set up that gets use far more often than anything else is a full-sail with race rods. So, I would start with that, which fills the middle to bottom wind range nicely. Anything else to add would be to have a more ideal setup for more conditions. Race Rods will fly in a full sail in 10mph wind, but it sure is nice to use a mid-vent instead. Because wind conditions in most places tend to lean to the lower wind range, I would start there. And if need be, you may not be able to fly when the wind is up unusually high. Where in the US are you? There may be other rev flyers near by. Maybe check the Member Map at the Rev Forum.

Hello Nat, I am not very well educated when it comes to fabrics, but from what I understand, the main benefit to using Icarex is that it does not stretch as much. This allows for a longer life of the kite because it will be less likely that the sail stretches to become too large for it's frame. Not something that happens very often, but it is a bit of a problem with the Rev Indoor in particular. Any kite makers, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. The 1.5JB, as you mentioned uses better material, and the sail design gives a bit of an edge in performance. If you are buying the kite only, then that is pretty much the main benefit. The B-Series Package on the other hand comes with handles + pigtails, training DVD's by JB, and two frame sets. These are things that are very beneficial. To be able to cover all bases, I would suggest having a set of Race Rods, 3-wrap rods, and 4-wrap rods for both you and your girlfriend, as well as a full-sail, and full-vented kite. The Race Rods are great light wind rods, and are fairly strong, so they can handle a gust. I prefer these to 2 wrap rods because of their added strength, and because of the flight characteristics it presents with the difference in flex. 3 wrap rods would be for moderate winds, and 4 wrap rods for heavy winds. Once the wind gets above around 15mph, a full sail may be a bit much to handle, so a full vent would be very helpful. If you want to cut costs a bit, you could do without the 4 wrap rods. I never use them in my full-sail because, when it gets to that point, I might as well put up the full-vent. Also, if the wind gets high enough to warrant using 4 wrap in the full-sail you can compensate by putting the 3-wrap and Race Rods in together. Per your thoughts on the SLE, I would not recommend it. While the SLE is very strong, and can take a lot of abuse, it is extremely stiff. The problem with this is that the leading edge of a rev should bend just slightly. This allows the belly of the sail to cup more and gain more sail pressure. This leads to smoother and more precise flying characteristics. Some people like the SLE, but it is not something that is very highly regarded among rev flyers. I agree with your decision about the SUL. The fabric and bridal are lighter and more easily worn down. While this does make the kite easier to fly in light wind, I've never found it necessary. I've flown a full-sail B-series indoors, right out of the package with no modifications.

John Barresi and myself went street kiting in downtown Portland. Having recently moved to town, John showed me some of the coolest and challenging places to fly. We started out on his dock. Wind was awesome, blowing right off of the dock, and fairly consistently. We then made our way to the market area and flew in and around the fountain. Eventually, we made our way along the river, then set down and packed up. For this entire adventure, I was using a full-sail B-Series with race rods, and 30 foot, 90lb lines. John was packing a full-sail B-Series Pro with race rods, and 30 foot, 50lb lines.

My nickname, Watty, comes from my last name, Watson. All the males on my dad's side of the family have used the name Watty at one time or another, so I decided that it was my time to use it. Before I started using Watty I would play online games and things and I used a really nerdy screen name that was Morrunya. Not long after the Lord of the Rings movies, my brother bought an Elvish dictionary. Morrunya translates as "Dark Flame". My brother used the name Aradrang or something... it meant "Lone Wolf." I decided that Watty was much less dorky

Yesterday, Phil Burks, Scott Weider, and myself flew in front of the students at a local elementary school. Here's some video.

Very nice. The kite was fun to fly, and thats unusual for me to spend any time on a dualie. I read the description on YouTube, and a mix of new-school and new-school does seem like a nice mix. Would that be super new-school?

Here's a the small video that is mentioned in that Revkites thread for ease of access. http://www.vimeo.com/7746634 I don't know about the "Watty" way, but the "Stone in Shoe Bob" way works great Some say that they don't like the added length on the top of the handles, but I don't mind it. At was a little annoying at first when I had been flying on normal handles forever. But now, I am completely used to it. Besides, I'm not near proactive enough to go and saw off the end of the handle....

*cross posted from Revolution forum* Your views on the AKA, I immediately agreed with. I've been competing in the AKA for a few years now, and after this year, I do not plan on competing outdoors at all. Eventually, I could see myself as an AKA member simply for the magazine. What pushes me away is how regulated it is. There are so many rules, and punishments for breaking rules. For me, in competition, these things start to take some of the fun out of something that I do purely for pleasure. I'm paying to compete, so it must be because I enjoy it right? It seems to be a bit more laid back in indoor competition, and that is something I will continue to compete in. Your views on the Rev forum got me thinking a bit, but after pondering a bit, I grew to agree to an extent. I think the majority of the users on this forum are open minded, and are often not afraid of asking those difficult questions. The trouble seems to be that it gets censored. Now, these are just my observations. I understand that the administrators of this forum do everything that they do for a reason. There was in interesting thread not to long ago that I noticed was removed. I will not go into detail. At any rate, I think that there is a bit of that "narrow-mindedness" present through the censoring. Now, the major difference between Rev forum and Kitelife forum is that the Rev forum is owned by a kite supplier, while Kitelife is owned by John B. and his online magazine. If discussion is going on under the domain of a particular company, it would be unwise for the company to allow content that could potentially harm the company. If discussion is going on under the domain of an individual/magazine, there is not as much content that could be potentially harmful. Does that make sense? I had to sit and think for a while to come up with this, and it is hard for me to explain..... Thanks for the thought provoking post Duane ~Spencer "Watty" Watson

signed

rofl

I am going to guess that this is the picture you referred to. It's kind of difficult for me to tell what it is that you did, but it looks like you filled up a bit of the "v" under the Revolution logo between the two wings of the kite, is this correct? I'm not sure if I am looking at it right because the piece that I think might be the venting looks like just grey fabric... Would it be possible for you to add some more pictures without the stuff behind it, and maybe from some other angles so we can get a better idea of what it is?

Wow Wow! Not only is he flying on a thin side walk next to a semi-busy street, but he's doing it on a Rev II, and a soaking wet rev II at that! Thanks for the footage, very cool.

The way I thought about it was, 0= first time with a rev, and 10= John B., or Steve D. I gave myself a 9ish. I suppose a 5 could be competent... having down the basics, and maybe a basic hover.

Yes, it all comes down to the person that tied them. All of the line sets that I have I either made myself, or were made by Theresa at The Kite Shoppe.

First time I tried was one year after I started flying, but the only time I had flown before this was for a week one year earlier. I did nt yet own a rev. I could not stick with it long, as I could not control my speed. The first time I was able to stay with it was a year later, where I was doing blenders, and benefits along side iQuad. Long Beach, WA WSIKF I wouldn't say there was any thing I had to do but keep up.

Looks like I'm a bit late, but here's my thoughts... The Race Rods are the ones I use most often, simply because they are very versatile. This is the selling point for me. I have flown my full sail B-Series with race rods indoors. When the wind picks up enough to not use race rods in my full sail, I put them in my full-vent. Very rarely will you find me with 3-wrap or 4-wrap rods in my full-sail kites. As for flight characteristics of the rods, I don't care so much. If I can do something with my race rods, I seem to be able to do it just as well with 2, 3, or 4 wrap rods. Haven't tried the ZEN rods yet, but from what Rich says, I don't really care to. THey sound like they are not as versatile, and that is what is most important to me, because I am lazy. I don't want to spend my time switching rods. As for the newest coolest stuff, I don't care about it. I do not own a single mid-vent kite, and it's not a big deal to me. When I'm flying, I go straight from full sail with race rods to full vent with race rods. What do I need a mid-vent for? This is not to put down the mid-vent though; if I had one, I would fly it, I'm sure. However, there are things that are higher up on the shopping list. So, in the end, for me, it's about versatility, and being able to spend as much time flying as opposed to changing rods, and changing sails, and changing this or that. With this said, I do break my own little rules here when flying with a team. In this occasion, I use whatever the team is using, so that our kites fly the same way (i.e. not running each other over and not lagging behind)

Yea, I hear ya, but it is money well spent. Like I said earlier, I've been using the same 120' line set for three years!

The only things that I could possibly think of to add would be 120' x 50# another 120' x 90# 30'-50' x 90# None of these will be essential for team flying with what you already have, but they are the only things I can possibly think you could add. T The 50# set is something that I have seen iQuad and others use in ultra-light wind. For me, I don't care for it, because the 90# feels plenty light, and the 50# gets into knots easier. So, to me, the cons weigh out the pros. The 120'X90# set is not essential because you already have one, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a backup. I have been flying on the same 120' x 90# line set for 3 years now (only 120' set I have ever owned). The 30-50' lines are able to give you a great new experience. The short lines enable you to experiment more. When working on new tricks, I'll use my 30' set because if I mess up, I just walk out 30', pick up the kite, and toss it. No kite stake, no hassle. Plus, it is my belief that the shorter lines increase the learning curve. For the first 2 years of my flying, I flew almost exclusively on 30' lines. The smaller wind window that you get from these lines requires you to hover more and have more control over your speed as opposed to the 120' wind window where you could zoom around in a big figure-8 all day. Another bonus to shorty lines is that when the wind is real light, and everyone is grounded, I grab my 30' lines and play just fine. What can be really fun is finding another person with 30' lines, and fly pairs with him/her. All the movements are really tight in that small window and are great fun and practice. I personally do not own a 150# line set. I completely agree with Jeep. I have been skiing down the beach using 90# lines and a full-vent kite, and the bridal broke before the lines did.

Always on the Rev Indoor I have played with my B-Series, and it has some qualities that I definitely like over the Indoor, but the Indoor is far less work than the B-Series.

I had to think about it for a sec rofl. (*hint ever tried the talking through a string with cans attached on the ends?)

Yea, I only recorded the Competitions, and I even missed some of them XD

Sounds awesome Duane. I remember when I first learned the side hover. I would sit there in it all day, trying to land that bottom point on top of stuff. Fun stuff!

w00t

Haha! No, no relation. lol

Got my video finished from Camas, WA indoor kite festival! http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D8499F023136E90C