--Pete

One of the best for this sort of thing was KiteBuilder.com which is not operating (as a store) anymore. The forums are still there, and might be a place to look for other sources.

Somewhere there is a thread on this. Kitemail seemed to be on its way out at that time. Here it is: http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/4315-kitemailcom-free-email-service/?hl=kitemail In the case of a grandfathered free kitemail account, if you haven't logged in for 90 days, the account is GONE with no recovery possible

Huh! The ViVi Nova is the first delivery system I have found that doesn't leak. True, I never fill them above about 2.5 ml (not quite to the top mark). One time I accidentally filled one almost to the coil and had some leakage down through the air inlet which eventually emerged at the top of the eVic. I do keep them upright most of the time, either in one of these blocks (mahogany scraps) which I keep by my reading chair and by my computer, or in my shirt pocket. For a long trip in the car I may keep them in the console cup-holder where they stay almost upright. I sometimes lay them down when I am vaping in other locations but I haven't had this cause any leakage.. As for flavor, if you don't have some kind of adjustable power supply you might want to try some lower resistance coils. With the fixed wattage it works out that I am running at a bit over 4 volts with my 2.4 ohm coils (nominal - they are actually 2.5 - 2.6). If your batteries are delivering a lower voltage, you might want to try the available 1.8 ohm coils.

Oh, and bookmark this. Good research rebutting the anti-eCig claims made by the running dogs of big tobacco. http://bit.ly/18kiQVl

It is fairly large (7" long with tank and tip, 7/8" diameter, 5 ounces with battery). I carry two of them in my shirt pocket with no difficulty, but I DO know they are there. They have the usual 5-tap protection (after they haven't been used for a few minutes, they won't turn on unless you tap the ON button 5 times quickly). They "peek" out of the top of my pocket, so they do attract attention - which gives me a chance to give a little lecture on eCigs occasionally.

If you are going to "step up" let me recommend VW (variable wattage). Once you set a wattage for any particular juice, it "tracks" the same amount of heating no matter how the resistance of the coil changes as it ages. I set mine to 6.5 Watts, and get very consistent hits until the coil quits working, or the wick gets so clogged up that it can't bring juice to the coil. There are several VW battery packs, but I like the eVic best, so far.

There is always the old "wet-finger" method of gauging wind direction and strength. There's a gadget that most of us have handy.

If it only goes sideways with a heavy wind, consider the possibility of spars that are not equally strong from one side to the other. A kite that flies well in light wind may begin to fold up in stronger wind more on one side than the other. Check if your spars bend equally under load. Or, swap them from one side of the kite to the other (or reverse the spreader). Similarly, if the fabric is not oriented exactly the same on one side of the kite vs the other, the fabric might stretch more on one side of the kite. (This would be a tough one to fix.) If the kite is asymmetrically colored, the fabrics may have slightly different stretch characteristics. (Another tough fix.) Spar pockets which are not precisely located might also be worth looking at.

As for rebuilding coils, my time is worth something (even assuming minimum wage - I could be out flying a kite). If I can buy replacements for $3-4 (ViViNova top coils with new wicks), I can't afford to rebuild them. I just buy 10 or 15 new ones every so often and swap them out when they quit working well. I have saved all the itty-bitty metal and plastic parts, so if I ever have to begin rebuilding (maybe if they quit making them) I will have a supply of the special items and can just get some wick and resistance wire.

I typically get a couple of weeks per coil with one juice (sour cherry) with the resistance getting lower and lower, and maybe 4 or 5 weeks with the other juice (sour green apple) with the resistance getting higher and higher. Very puzzling as the juices are from the same company (DFWvapor). Using a constant wattage power source lets me "set it and forget it". I get the same heat no matter what the resistance. As for mixing my own, juice isn't the main expense for me. I keep buying new equipment as I find the latest and greatest. I may be all set on that for a while with the eVic, and the Vivi Nova top-coil tanks.

To add a length of bridle line close to the end of the existing bungee (to assist in pulling the knot tight) consider a Constrictor Knot. You will probably have to cut the Constrictor to remove it after pulling the knot in the bungee up tight.

I prefer mostly PG vs VG (propylene glycol vs vegetable glycerine) because I think the glycerine tends to char on the heating coil and eventually lower the resistance to where it won't work any more. (Just my guess/opinion.) That said, my favorite mixes have quite a bit of VG in them and replacement coils are fairly cheap. (My battery system (eVic with variable voltage OR wattage) displays the current resistance of the coil, so I can keep track of how it changes over time - rising as the wire gets thinner or dropping as carbon builds up.) That "chemical" name for PG may sound disturbing compared to something friendly sounding with "vegetable" in the name, but both are very similar chemical compounds with a long history as food and cosmetic additives which are considered very safe.

Thanks, John.

Well, it's coming up on two years since I had a "real" cigarette. I can't say that it is a LOT cheaper, but I sure feel better. I found out pretty quickly that I didn't really want the flavors that claimed to mimic the taste of actual tobacco cigarettes, but preferred various other flavors of juice. I started out with batteries and cartos (cartridge/atomizers) from V4L, but found that I use eCigs heavy enough to want something a bit longer lasting. I had to recharge these smaller batteries too often, and needed to carry several spare cartos if I was going to be away from the house for very long. I now use the eVIC from Joyetech with ViVi Nova rebuildable top-coil tank and DFWvapor "juice". Quite a bit bulkier, but one recharge and one fill of the tank lasts all day. (This really means nothing if you aren't a "vaper".) I no longer have colds or sinus problems that last for months like I used to when I was smoking 3 or 4 packs of Pall Malls every day. The rooms and vehicles where I used to smoke no longer grow yellow fur on any undusted surface. My computers don't fill up with sticky dust. And I no longer smell like a morning-after ashtray. (Rant-mode ON) When you hear your government trying to outlaw vaping, consider who has more money: big-tobacco or all the little vaping companies. (Rant-mode OFF) I'll be happy to help anyone interested via PM or email.

Well, someone other than the individual member can also make such changes. Mine has changed several times over the years, but never by me (at least, not until I tested this ability).

Who knows? Maybe the RNG picks a number by "polling" the entire WWW and counting how many times some particular number appears. (NOT)

That's just sick (and not the good sick), just sick ! Looks like you need a BUTT pad to fly that thing........ I've always liked flying kites that ultimately were frightening. This may be why most of my line sets are rated at 2 to 5 times my body weight.

I'm in.

Done! (Snake-eyes raffle)

I know my 10' Flexi seemed fast. Even on 200' lines it went across the window very quickly. I flew it in some fairly high winds, but never in a hurricane (we don't have many hurricanes in Michigan). On 500# braided Kevlar ™ and a 6' flying bar, which was dangerous enough without the extra wind.

47 mph. Seems reasonable for a fast two-line delta in a brisk wind. I know that Flexifoils have been measured (with a radar-gun) at about 100 mph while diving through the power band.

Congrats Kevin! As always: PICTURES!!!

Interesting. The kite was rarely going less than one spine-length per frame, and occasionally as much as two spine-lengths per frame. If you could tell us what speed (fps) you were filming at and the spine-length of the kite, we could calculate the speed range fairly easily. (It looked to me to be less than the usual 30 fps, but that could be just a persistence-of-vision artifact.)

Well, my Windtronic has held up well, thrown (in its Cordura case) into my kite bag with stakes, mallets, ground stakes and other impedimenta for quite a while and it has survived. It is indeed light and plasticky, but the anemometer has to be light to turn easily in very light winds, which limits the kinds of impact it can withstand. If the anemometer spinner has to be protected from that kind of abuse, why make the rest of it any stronger? I certainly would not put it anywhere "lumpy" without its case. I have one of the Dwyer wind meters (It was my first), and never found it to be reliable. For me, it always seemed to have either a static charge or something sticky in the tube where the little ball rises and that made it unreliable.

Only an hour to go (here; west coast time may be different).