Mitch

In my limited experience, all bols can have an edge lap or have the entire shape collapse. The deeper the cross section (more hemispherical) the more likely it is. I have seen some makers put "prairie points" on their bol...that is they are tethered to long wedges the project from the rim of the sail. I think that spilling wind off the edge like that may put pressure on the outer sail to keep it from collapsing. But that's an observation and I myself have not tried it.

Since seeing this about a month ago, I have tried it in a number of ways. I've sued the hitch on a 'biner as you show, but also on a ground stake as a back-up to a figure 8, and on the top of a metal fence post. quick, secure, super easy to take off, if you can give yourself a little slack.

I'd tie off with nothing less than 300# line. I like dyneema. Agree about the Storm Force tie down, and especially with a bol, which pulls at a low angle. It's what I use myself. If you are in a windy place, I'd also get a couple of strong carabiners and a figure of 8 to make line handling safe and easy. Learn the spanish knot. Write back here if you can't find it elsewhere and I'll post some pics.

I'll try it. I often fly alone and controlling the line as it pays out and then locking it off is a challenge with big stuff. I've used the Spanish knot but when the strain is on, it is sometimes hard to set the slack you need to tie it. If nothing else, this could provide that slack!

What a perfect tableau.

I have this kite. It needs the tail, or a drogue that pulls as hard. it hunts the wind otherwise. With the tail, though, it behaves well enough and it pulls like a truck. A nice lifter. I also have Gomberg's Double Delta Coyne which is worth a try and still on sale, as far as I know. It is somewhat better behaved.

thebbqguy, that's a nice deal.

The question of what line to use is not a simple one. Obviously for strong winds or buffeting wind that applies a sudden strain, a stouter line is needed. If you are flying on dyneema line, you can do that without much weight penalty, but that's the downside of using heavier dacron. There was an interesting experiment (I can't recall if it was in FB or Kiting Mag) where Ken Conrad actually put a strain gage on peoples fly line and it showed that they pulled far less than people thought. So for the small and medium sized lifters you are considering, what you are risking is the kite breaking free and landing in a tree or in the next state. There are safety concerns with big lifters that make using the recommended line imperative.

GombergKites has a nice sale of double Delta Conyne that are great lifters, easy enough for one person to handle and still get into the air with light to moderate wind. Here it is in our crummy inland wind carrying a 24 inch spinner tail and a 25 foot snake line for laundry. It has a unique crossing sparing that lets it fly without a tail and self adjust to wind conditions.

I love mine. I have three that fly in various conditions. I put spinning drogues on this one to get it to fly at a lower angle.

I hope you got some pics in the air. It looks like a beauty.

I'm just not getting that bug. Picked up a New Tech Sky Hook 60 last week. My second lifter if you don't count big Roks. Would you fly that on 500#? and were do you get your line?

Thanks

Wow! Sweet kite. Did he zigzag over black fabric to make the outlines for his appliqué, or is it just black zig zag? Very impressive image. Mitch

I'm in. Seriously. WOW.

Per my PM, your package should be there by Friday. Have fun!

Mark- Makatakam wins it! I'll send it out as soon as you PM me your address. Congrats. It's a sweet flying kite.

I'll draw a name at 5pm tomorrow.

Only two people interested in a 4 1/2 foot back-packable duelie? I guess that makes the odds pretty good for winning.

If you want to join the pay forward l drawing, just post "I'm in" to this thread.

I have an HQ Symphony 1.4 for the drawing. It is gently used, in great shape and comes with a belt pack, line and straps, a cool spinning tail that I made (see Go Make a Kite for vid of the tail.) I've also included a little mini-stake that I use to lay out the lines. Multi-colored. This is a fun kite, fast enough for good play but not too strong a pull so you can let your larger kids use it. I'll leave it up for a week and draw a number on Sep 5th, and as soon as somebody tells me where to get the number to draw. Mitch == Some rules and guidelines: Don’t play unless you’re willing to put up a prize and ship it to whoever wins. Shipping is paid by the original poster, the winner pays nothing. Be prepared to ship your prize anywhere in the lower 48 US States. Sorry, but due to shipping costs, we really have to limit this to the lower 48 US States. RULE CHANGE (7/31/2014): Members from Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii are welcome to enter the Karma drawings provided they are willing to pay half of the Karma prize shipping cost. The method and timing of the payment will be agreed upon between the two parties after the drawing for a particular prize. You can choose the length of the giveaway, but keep it between 1 and 2 weeks. Try to ship the prize promptly. You should be able to ship it within a week, but if you can’t, PM the winner and let them know. Sometimes life gets in the way! This whole thing works on the honor system so if there are any problems shipping or receiving a prize, it needs to be worked out between the two parties. Don’t forget…Karma! This isn’t a competition, but feel free to be generous! If you can only put up a hat, or a tail for a stunt kite, great! If you have something in your kite bag that you never fly and would be willing to ship, that’s great too. Either way, the people that join to win it will appreciate it. When you receive your prize, post a thank you to the thread where you won it. The thread will be locked after that point so the new **KARMA** stays above it. Good luck, and have fun!

I live in midwest and weird wind is the rule. But even in our swirling conditions, the overall pattern is still the same. Ground wind is more erratic and upper level wind less. The upper wind is often blowing in a slightly different direction than the ground wind and that is one source of tangles. I try to get all the kites I have up into that layer so at least they are more or less in sync when the wind switches direction. Of course that means the ones that fly at low angle are on a lot more line and are slower to change so even this trick can fail. I can't figure out how to tie a tugboat (lighterman) hitch onto to a carabiner. Gammoray could you send a pic? My solution is to space them but I will try using a single anchor. It makes sense to me.

Thanks for all the congratulations. I do feel very happy about this one and generous, too. Carefully going over all the stuff I could give away that anyone might want. I have kites, of course, but also very cool Chinese plate winders, eagle kites, stakes, tons of sewing and building stuff, unique fabric weights, fighter kites galore and hoop winders for them...And I make these spinning drogues that people seem to like. What do you people think? What kind of give away would be attractive?