badinfluence

Havent chimed in in a while..Sorta got into the power kiting thing and the winter weather has been bad but I finally got to fly my new Zen for a few minutes. I was standing in the middle of a terrible swirly low wind field and simply struggled to get anything to fly for more than a few minutes but had to fly. Was getting muddy and frustrated, but having a great time. So I pulled out the new Zen and was amazed that this kite basically launches itself in the most horrible wind conditions and just wanted to fly itself. Absolutly the best purchase any Rev flyer can make if the are in rough wind or light to no wind situations. The launch is incredible with the flex of the rods and the construction is the absoulute best. Why didnt someone tell me about this earlier????????

john, do you ever fly on the east coast near PA? Rumor has it you have flown at lake erie..I would love to watch you fly someday in person.

thanks for clearing that up for me. Either way, i cant really go wrong.

is this quad head forum dying off??? It seems the post are rather far and few between... or did i just get here late and this is normal?

It is my new understanding with each of the the Zens they are all individually handmade by bazzer. That in itself make it a very special and limited edition kite. I am excited to soon be part of the family.

kwmf, I have read some of your other forum posts and even in these replies. Have you got the hand of light wind flying 0-4mph and or street kiting yet? you seem to be in the same struggle as me. Have you learned any tricks about keeping it in the air? I am still doing the launch and crash thing no matter how much i run around like a fool. I am using 1.5 with race rod frame and 30' 50#line set.

thanks again for all the great responses and a special thanks to J.B. for answering my post and for making all the great tutorial videos. I am buying a Zen as soon as I find any dealer with the best price or better yet if i can find a custom made limited editiion Zen floating around on the forums.

Thanks for the incredible responses!!

I know the following post was from over a year ago when the Zen was just coming out. . Can anyone share thoughts on the Zen model now a year later? Is it still the best kite for light wind flying outdoors? 0 to 8 mph winds?? Not really concerned with how many tricks it can or cannot do. I am more interested on the ease and the aid of light wind flying and how this kite helps with that. Thanks??

Thanks for all the amazing advice!! From what i gather and sum this lesson up, skill and practice are the most importaint thing rather than going out and buying a few ultralight Revs and instantly being able to fly lite or zero winds. Yes there are factors that can help you make it easier but practice and skill cannot be bought. I find it quite a challenge to light wind fly and it easily frustrates me. Maybe thats what excites me about it so much. The first easy thing to do is blame it on the kite because you may have the wrong sail, bridle, rods, line set, too heavy, etc. as an update... weighed each spar of my 2 wrap frame...15,18,18,19,19=89grams3 wrap gold frame16,16,17,17,26=92 grams1.5 kite w/bridle with no spars=126 gramsEXP kite w/bridle with no spars=129 gramsB series w/bridel and no spars=124 grams:sign_kitelife:

AWESOME POST KWMF!!!!!! AND THANK YOU FOR THE POST!!! By comparing your post with the others and mine, clearly the race frame is a for sure winner for getting the weight off and keeping the strength. What is interesting to learn is it seems the b series with a race frame in it verses a SUL with a race frame in it is 25 grams lighter. And the other interesting thing is the ZEN coming in at a whopping 249 grams is way heavier than all of them!!!! How can the ZEN be so heavy and be optimal for light wind flying over these others?Also, interesting info when you weighted your 2 wrap came in at 16g and mine came in at 19g!! Just goes to show rods are close in weight and size but not exactly the same. Race rod came in at 13g over a basic 3 wrap at 20g!!!What a difference!!! Looks like you could bet to shave off a good 30g just by using a race rod set.. What is also interesting is most retailers advertise a 2 wrap spars weight at 13.5g. I weighed in mine at 19g each and you weighed yours in at 16g each!! That is a far cry from 13.5g!!!Cool info!!!

very impressive video!!!!! if that is the total weight with the race rod set in your kite then i am amazed that the race rods can lighten it up that much from what REV states on the website at total weight for the stock 1.5 SUL.....

Decided to weigh my older 1.5 SLE with the old gold 3 wrap rod set in it and it came in at a total of 218 grams. Looks like the 1.5 SUL kite total weighs in at 213 grams. As per Rev website, that kite is rated for 0 to 4 mph winds" no wind needed" . Im only running 5 grams heavier. So i see no need to hurry up and get a SUL. I cannot beleive that if i shave 5 grams off my kite that i will be able to magically fly 0 to light winds. So it must be mostly technique, but as you said, you need to be concerned with weight both heavy and light which only makes sense. Do you think 35 ft lines are too long for learning 0 to 4 mph outdoor flying? Thank you for the welcome...... found all my answers on this post http://www.revkites.com/forum/topic/1315-15-sul-verses-the-15-b-series/ ive read so many of these forums now that it gets difficult to ask anything because most of the time it usually turns out it has already been asked a few years ago!!!

I am working on light wind flying and have come across something that i was hoping to get straight. I have a few rod sets now and i decided to weigh them.... Silver 3 wrap EXP rod 20 grams Silver 3 wrap B series rod 20 grams Silver 2 wrap B series rod 19 grams Gold 3 wrap 1.5 series rod 17 grams I would have to guess that when light wind flying 0-4mph you want to get things as light as possible to help you. My question is did Rev make the older gold rods lighter? I was going to use my 2 wrap rods in my B but it seems the gold 3 wrap would be better? Does anyone know the weight of a zen rod or a race rod? Is technique more importaint than all of this? JB's videos make it look all too easy.......... also, i am using 35ft 50# lines. Should i be using shorter lines?