Khal

If nobody joins before the 15th, no harm, no foul.

I love flying in the OBX, but in this heat you can have it! Remember if you go up on the Ridge, take quarts of water with you. Have fun!

HQ markets the Symphony line with their sport kites rather than their power kites, so I think you're in the right place, or close enough. There are no stupid questions, but this might qualify as a stupid answer. You don't specify the weight of any of the line sets you're using, so I'm guessing that maybe your lines are too light rather than too short. The Symphony Beach 2.1 ships with 100' lines, so I would expect that you can get away with 80' lines, BUT... The Beach 2.1 ships with 220# (100kp) lines, which is probably a bit heavier than your Premier stunt kite lines. I'm not sure about all the line sets that HQ sells, but I know that they sell the smaller Symphonies with 150# or even 55# lines for the smallest. You can get heavier lines in 80' length. Your kite store should be able to help you. Lines can break due to wear and tear, especially if you're hard on them (like flying on sand), but since you broke a relatively new set, I'm guessing they were too light to start with. Sorry if I made an unwarranted assumption about your experience level. You did say you were new to kiting. Hope that helps.

I guess this is a function of where I fly and shop for kites, but I had never even seen a dual line kite with handles until earlier this summer. For years I didn't know they came with anything but straps.

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. Looks like I'll need to break down and buy some 50# lines. Been meaning to do that anyway.

Hi Jim, I already answered your PM, but I wanted to chime in here and be counted by anyone else who's looking. I'm on the Peninsula side of the water, but always looking for new folks to fly with and new fields. Can't wait to try your field at Fort Story. I know you're not a beach fan, but have you ever tried Fort Monroe? I've read good things about Dog Beach there. The closest regular flys I know about are at Dorey Park near Richmond on the first Sunday of every month (Richmond Air Force Club, not Rev-specific) and at the Whalehead Club in Corolla every Tuesday during the summer season (Flying Smiles Kites, mostly Rev I think). I'm game for starting something up closer to home. I stick my handles in the hands of anyone who'll take 'em in the hopes of making more local flyers. One convert so far. --Brian

Thanks for the welcome. I totally agree about the B2, lots of fun and well behaved. What would you regard as the proper lines for a B2? Mine came with 80' x 90#, but it's so quick that I'd think long lines would work well too. As for my luck rubbing off, well, I figure mine is pretty well depleted for now. Let's see, one drawing about every 5 weeks, so ~10/year. With 300+ active subscribers I should be due again in just 30 years. Hopefully longer if Kitelife grows. But who knows? I for one believe the RNG is just what it says on the tin, so anything is possible.

Yep. No complaints about the shipping. The timing couldn't have been better. Thanks, Baloo. I'd hate to make anyone here grumpy, especially a bear. Glad you liked them. I was afraid it was a bit much.... I'd love to see your purple Zen.

Thanks, John. This kite solved a dilemma for me too. Now I can save up for my Zen without wondering if I should be buying a full vent first. --Brian

I forgot to mention, the wind was about 12 mph with dips to 8 or so and gusts to 30! The kite handled beautifully right out of the bag, zipping around the window with sharper stops than I expected. It was a little difficult for me at the low end of that range, but it rode out the gusts with scarcely a bump. A real joy to fly. --Brian

The stars just aligned for me this week. First, out of the blue I won a purple/black B2 vented Rev in a Kitelife drawing. I didn't have a B2 or a full vent before, and my B Std is purple. I got it in the mail today. Then, after weeks of being 95 degrees, sticky, and calm, today the temperature dropped 10 degrees and the wind picked up 10 knots. I figured I was just meant to go out for a lunchtime fly. Here she is all set up for the first time: Now, I've got a kite, I've got wind, but how to share the moment? Necessity is the mother of....well invention normally, but motivation too. I really wanted a pic in the air, but no one else was handy. So for the very first time (successfully) I flew a Rev in one hand so I could snap this with my phone in the other hand: This is my first attempt to start a topic (the drawing topic was closed) and my first attempt at including photos, so hopefully this will all work. Here's a link to the album in case I messed something up: http://kitelife.com/...e-first-flight/ You just don't get many days like this one. I'm so grateful to John, Kitelife, Revolution, and all the wonderful people who sucked me into this insanity (and continue to encourage me). --Brian

Hi Nick, That sounds great. I learned to fly on Jockey's Ridge and It's still one of my favorite spots. Alas, that week covers both my daughter's fourth birthday and my wedding anniversary, so trekking down to the OBX is out I'm afraid. My wife's not a kite addict yet.... I was down there just last month with a buddy for the Rogallo Kite Festival up on the ridge. The wind was crazy on Sunday, but I got to fly a beautiful hand-made Tirips weave and waste too much of Elliot's time up at Flying Smiles Kites in Corolla. Hope to see you down there some other time. --Brian

Wow! This is so cool I had to de-lurk on the forum just to say a great big thank you to John, Kitelife, and the nice folks at Revolution. And thank you also to those who offered congratulations and good flying wishes. What a great excuse for a first post! I don't have a full vent or a Rev 2, plus my full sail B is purple, so this is perfect for me. I promise to give it a good home. If anybody is down in Kitty Hawk for OBSKC this fall (as I hopefully will be) I'll share. --Brian