makatakam

Back in the saddle again! Welcome. Glad to have you with us.

Shouldn't wait that long. Bad for the bladder and kidneys. Seriously though, these upgrades are excellent for any kite that has a leading edge mesh and will fly in reverse, regardless of size. The second stitch in the trailing edge improves reverse flight. It increases stability and speed. Not so much noticeable to a beginner, but eventually everyone can tell the difference. When I first tried it, after many years without, I was amazed. It should be standard on all models. It is literally two minutes of additional labor to do the trailing edge. The improvements to the leading edge mesh would be more time consuming, and probably increase the price of the kite by five to ten percent. I would pay the difference gladly.

7" handles, composed of thumbs and pinkies? You had me thinking I made a wrong assumption. Confusion lies in the thoughts of the beholder, I guess. Mwahahahahaha! I'm sorry. Which way is the bathroom? I gotta go.

Go to page 1 of this topic listing. About 10 or so down the list you'll see one titled "Pigtails". Read that one and look at all the pictures of handles with leaders. Any of the "long" setups you see will be fine for you at this stage. Later you can fine tune them to your preference.

Yeah, better than good.

Brett, the handles came with zero, nada, no leaders. I think he should have some so there's something to attach the flying lines to, unless I totally misunderstood what he meant. Hey, @jsc2501, post a photo of the handles so we can understand what you mean.

HI, I'm 5'6", so shortly is the only way I can speak. Welcome to the forum. Join IKE (Illinois Kite Enthusiasts). It's free, and as long as you're in Illinois, what the heck, go for it. We also have members from all the surrounding states, as well as a few who are further away. The club members do fly together often, and we have a kite "retreat" in September at Indiana Dunes State Park. Most of the regulars are in the Northeast quadrant of Illinois. You are welcome to join in anytime and anywhere we fly. Although waiting to try some other people's kites is a good idea, there is no "one kite for all conditions", so if you have the urge to get something now . . . . . . . it probably won't be the last you will get. I recommend getting a used one. You'll save close to 50% off the price of a new one, and it won't hurt as much when you beat and/or break it. Go to any kite festivals near you, even if you must drive a couple of hours one way. Flying with experienced pilots will cut hundreds of hours off your learning curve. If you ever head up towards the Chicago area, post up on the IKE forum, and someone will usually be able to join you to fly.

Hi, Goddess, and welcome to the forum. Good to have you onboard.

Brett, I believe he's talking about leaders on the handles to attach the flying lines to. I recommend to just buy a set of JB and TK's. They sell them on this forum. Check the main page. They are exactly what you need and made by someone who knows how to make them right. Also check the pinned topic "Pigtails" in this section of the forum. Most people use the same type of line that the bridle is made of, doubled over. The actual length of the leaders can be whatever you decide, but make the top ones eight inches longer than the bottoms. You can adjust later by shortening, which is much simpler and faster than making short ones longer.

One more time -- yeehaw!

Need three more silhouettes. Get out your crayons. White lines in the 2nd one need to be thicker.

I'm using Google Sketchup. Here's another possibility. And still needs silhouettes and logo.

Here's the new version of what I'm working on. Still needs silhouettes and team name placement. Gotta figure out the colors too. Look at the kite carefully and you'll see SLK, DLK, and QLK.

Nice. Now you just need to get one for yourself.

Hi, philm63 (Phil?), and welcome to the forum. Anything you want to know about kiting can be found here. Don't be shy about asking. We've all been down the same road and are ready to help, but stay away from that Barresi guy. He'll do anything to get you addicted. Seriously though, welcome, and I look forward to crossing lines with you someday.

I'm thinking 160 and 80. It would be nice to have a HUGE window set for when you're in the mood, and leaves you with two sets that are still choppable. If you have 40's I don't see the point of having 50's, and 25's are, IMHO, just about 5 feet too short except for indoor with a super high ceiling. 40's are my go-to outdoor shorties. Close enough for catch and throw, and still gives you enough window for nice slides and traveling bicycles. I fly mostly over grass. If you're really heavy into urban, then 25's and 30's would be the way to go.

Hi, Aero, and welcome to the forum. So many choices, so little time. Jump right in; the water's fine. Seriously, just pick whatever catches your eye and run with it. The point of the exercise is to have fun. Get out to some festivals and try the kites others are flying. We don't bite, and are always happy to have someone try ours. Go for it.

I apologize in advance for stealing the silhouettes. Just a VERY rough draft. Needs a boatload of cleaning up, but you get the idea. Add colors as necessary. Everything is NOT in the optimum location, so you can recognize the individual elements: kites, lines, people, etc .

I don't get it. (I think I'm having a duh moment) What do mean by upside-down?

I believe that Rev is not looking to sell kites to the 5,000 avid quad flyers in the world who fly twice a week or more. I think when they say a lifetime of fun, it means the 13 BILLION people who don't own one, and would fly it once or twice per year, or fly it once and park it in the garage for the rest of their life. The bungees would have to be replaced several times, if they fly it occasionally, but with a little care the rest should last a lifetime.

Those who don't try gain no experience.

I got a vintage indoor Rev a couple of weeks ago and these were included. Can someone tell me if these are what originally came with the indoor? Or are these home-made?

Shopping carts are just too heavy, but the old style beach chairs work just fine.

Oops, forgot the indoor, for flying on 50# 120's outdoors in zero wind. That's 5 total. (I just got an indoor, by the way. White with red, vintage, with wooden handles and blueberry lines at 25 feet long.) I would say that 40mph+ may require a tad more venting than found on an extra-vent B-Pro. I have one, and it moved me around dramatically in 35mph wind, to the point where I found it uncomfortably difficult to fly. I weigh in at 135 pounds, and at 66 years of age I find that I can no longer physically handle what was easy 10 years ago. As my age increases I find the need to expand my quiver to keep flying quads enjoyable as opposed to only possible. One must also consider that there are others who fly quads, or would like to, who have physical limitations that are much more challenging than those that most of will experience in our lifetime. The ideal quiver for all age and ability levels, IMHO, would contain the kites and frames you suggest, as well as an SUL, an indoor, a Speed Series and/or a RevII, and something beyond extra vent like a Vicki or extra-vent RevII. In addition I would recommend an assortment of heavier and lighter line sets. Therefore, the quiver for me to cover all the bases would have a minimum of 7 kites, ideally 9, to keep me in my comfort zone in any conditions I encounter. Your mileage WILL vary. By the way, how many in your bag, now that you've whittled down the number you run with, John? (Just curious)

You only need as many kites as you have until you run into the situation where nothing you have in your bag will fly in existing conditions. So you buy the one that fits those conditions. Conditions change. You buy another. And so on . . . . until you have about ? kites. Anything after that is greed. That why professional flyers travel the world so much. To find new conditions.