Paul LaMasters

100# hi-test bridle line by Laserpro,... it;s a 100# spectra core instead of a 40# dacron sheath. You can tie and untie it!!! The best knot is a figure of eight, it tightens from both directions and the center is four thicknesses. Practice so you can "flip one half of the loose 8 OVER itself" pulling all the slack out in the opposite direction. Doing this action allows you to place the knot very accurately (ike against the jaws of locked Forceps for example, the forceps are locked in place so you can see the sharpie marks from your bridle board) I use a silver sharpie on black hi-test. It comes in a thicker format 170# also if desired for a big dually or stacks

I'd say to start the other way, with the leading resting on the ground, now carefully and LIGHTLY push both thumbs at the kite,..... As you walk backwards slowly. A little hand and little foot motion combined. You want the kite to fly to shoulder-height and stop completely. Now go back to the ground (forward and gravity to assist) and repeat the exercise again, go a little higher this time, STOP and slowly come back down. If the kite will no back up this way (using both minor hand & foot motions combined,) then you don't have enough DOWN in the tuning. Adjust leaders lengths until this is possible. Eventually you should be able to back-up to the top of the window, (laser straight and with one constant speed!) but you will have confidence enough almost immediately when flying a foot above the earth. Notice you can't do this stationary? Well if the wind is blowing you can do it sitting down,just that most of us can't expect that set of conditions very often, so practice "adding feet" into the equation from the outset to more quickly master this technique. If you only push one thumb, the kite will roll over (back to upright launch position), this is called a cartwheel. once you have this technique down tight, you don't have to go back to the kite and turn it over again when improperly landing (a crash). This is the first thing to provide to new pilots, then they don't need you anymore to practice. Inverted hover is just a stall, in low wind you need to move backwards and add energy to make it seem still in the air (only from the flier's perspective is it really & truly stationary)

Pro-wren by Jeff Howard

I have good success with this firm... https://www.100candles.com/submersible_led_lights.htm I have the ones with a remote controller, LEds are rubber banded to the top of the magic sticks and backlight the kite

"smooth" is the word most associated with a Shook masterpiece weave kite, wait until you fly one of those,... naturally/unfortunately it is priced accordingly too! Flies in low wind or a howling gale, at most you'd swap out the frame. The most popular one is sure winner too, it's the 75%! It's smack dab in-between a mid-vent and full vent, flies fine (fully powered up) in 6 and can go 25 or 30 the same day. Can be slicky smooth or a flailer's dream depending on tuning choices. Someday, ride Shook mesh and see for yourself. Yes, I am completely biased, I only buy kites from Bazzer or Shook, because they can both make a kite better than me! they will do what is asked of them too,if you make it financially advantagous enough. I have Eliot Shook had "his leading edge" to Bazzer's sails,... it's that much of a difference, both visually and in flight dynamics. I owe five shook models, everything from one crafted before he was legally approved as a vendor, {100%, he had to donate it the AKA auction, but at least it was offered in my color scheme (R/W/B), what a convenience! } a 40% (kind of an SUL that can do double digit winds easily) a 75% (most commonly chosen model) and a 135%(equates to a mega-vent) PLUS the latest Shook development, it is a progressive weave (75%) of strips, "thicker in the middle" of the two sail halves and thinner strips along the parameters of each. The logic behind the progressive experiments is to add a shoulder to push against. Mine has knot covers sewn over the elastics on the bottom tip edges, extra reinforcing strips at the center and on the fold areas of the leading edge sleeve, (much more durable) it's not made with a dacron material either, so technically it's an SUL, it has wear strips behind the down-spars to prevent distortion of the sail, the usual assortment of modifications are also applied. Each kite has it's strengths and weaknesses, but imagine a vented with without the weight of the venting material. Sounds like a great solution and it is! The builder takes his craft to an extraordinary level too. You design your own color scheme, no one else will ever have a duplicate of your pattern. Used ones are seldom and only offered because the owner wanted a newer one. It's double the price but sometimes in life you get exactly what you've paid for. Shook mesh kites are one of the most significant "values" in kiting in my opinion. Meeting up with other fliers broadens your horizon of experiences so easily, doesn't it? Sharing the joys of OPKs is a great way to make friends. The quad-head family is full of great folks, get some often!

Most of the Speed series wings are all double the forward motion and backwards is significantly faster as well, when compared to a 1.5 sized platform. Supersonic should do 50-70 mph in forward and half that speed backwards. WAY quicker "power-ups also, just a flick of the wrist from dead stop to supercharger kick-in with the throttle stuck on the floor I replaced the down spars on my SS with tapered sky shark so it;s lighter in weight. You can run a "trick-line" around the parameter of the sail so you don't snag a flying line when flick-flak tricks are desired. This kite does them as fast as you CAN so you don't want a snagged flying line caught on the back of the sail.

Add 16 inch magic sticks, so it will roll-up (clam-shell) too. The "catch" is done with the bottom lines (honest!) I have that exact patriotic kite pictured above and don't use it, preferring the discontinued Zen(s),.... so if anyone is interested I could make you an extraordinary deal!

Classic, best of the old, slapped together with the new stuff too. Standard frames, b series panel layout for the sail,..... plus the reflex mechanism. It is not a hindrance, just different than what you are use too. More edge power, bigger window, killer glides too, who knows you may enjoy the differences. this model I've flown and enjoyed best, the big original I owe, it is not in the A bag though. (It should be noted the Zens don't fit either) honestly you can get almost the same effect as the reflex mechanism thru tuning the knots of elastic, washers etc on a stock b-series, such that a pronounced curvature is added up at the top by the leading edge, between the down spars and the sail. The end caps on the top of the down spars have to be locked down with the knots and crap secured behind. You should be able to insert your hand in the gap! want to test tuning the difference,.....? You don't even need line or handles, just "throw" the kite, it will suddenly glide away magically, like a spun frizzbee, acres of distance from just a hint of decent technique. the classic gives you this out of the box, only if you want it. Otherwise? It is just another rev 1.5 patterned after the series we all know.

green-race equipped mid-vent is good to about 18 or 20 mph, after that you'd need a beefier frame and fully vented sail to slow down the savage beast. most of us start with a full sail and full vent, maybe a couple of extra frames also, to increase the "cross-over" abilities, for example a flexible frame in the full vent or a stiff in the full sail. maybe even a blending of the two, for a hybrid frame?,... (even easier if they are "travel frame sized" to mix and match based upon conditions and your preferences). We all have at least three kites eventually: a full sail, a mid and a vented, that is about a thousand bucks new. Or you could just buy two kites (but still spend the same amount of money, getting a an SUL full sail and Shook mesh 75%.) Then you have a vehicle choice between about 2 mph and 30. The Shook is double the price but also doubled up on the wind range,... you get what you pay for more often than not! Used or entry level is okay if that's all you can afford. I'm in a local kite club (WoW), we'd prefer you join, use our stuff and saving your lunch money for two summers, then finally by an EXPERT kite, made just for you,.... your fabric choice & colors, your design pattern, crafted for your preferred wind-range, heck even your own preferred builder to take the concept to execution. If you are with our club long enough and you will be expected to provide lessons and loaner kites too. The weakest flyer on the line gets to fly everyone's kite for a few moments and compare, then choose that one as theirs for the day based upon preferences. That kite's lucky owner gets to go set-up another kite for themselves. Someday soon, when they look down the line realizing "I'm not the weakest flier & have to have my own stuff". That might take 4 hours or fourteen months. With all this experience, drafting a wish list is easy, then consult us for guidance and pull the trigger. You know we will be forming a line to try-out your new customized ride, right?

standing next to someone doing it correctly (and easily!) will certainly simplify your transition to excellence much faster.

No or low wind is the best time to practice an axel, in bigger wind you need to be on the edges or lunge at the kite to MAKE it go flat. How to axel for me? it's one thumb flicked forward (snapping on the brakes, you may also need to punch that handle forward) while the other hand yanks the opposite handle towards my hip. How much of each hand & how fast dictates whether it changes positions or rotates all from one spot. in either regard though, it's not an axel if it's not flat. If you are doing the "changing position" axel it means you are steering the kite around instead of all yank and spank (it's slower, like you dialed it around a turntable with your thumb). That one leads easily enough to the" half axel into a clamshell roll-up", if done close to the ground. There's a "launch 1/4 axel" too. You start out balanced on a tip vertically, leading edge facing the center of the window. launch and just slightly rise vertically, then quickly punch the leading edge out (away from you) with the lower wing, as you lunge forward significantly to allow the kite to fall and then rotate it around until the LE is facing away from you, holding back that upper wing rotational yank until the last possible moment, halfway is to an inverted hover, (just a flick and it's over) all the way around is back to upright leading edge = 1-1/4 axel. Feeling bolder?, well you could wind up in a vertical tip stand from a flat spin, but you'd better have some extra tubes to practice as sticks will be sacrificed learning and mastering this bold technique. Powerful ending to a great routine?

That surge in power during transitions between forward & reverse is directly related to tuning. Add more "down" and tame that wild beast! make it so the kite will JUST BARELY take off in forward flight. You have to physically make it move, like driving with both feet on the brake pedal looking over the hood for the cliff-face's edge beyond the guard rail. practice inverted flight (close to the ground) and gain confidence with your tuning too.

FLAILING, that's the only alternative in zip wind!

Practice clockwork, axels, catch and throw. Learn all that and you will be Master Class. or just a hacking flailer who's enjoying themselves immensely like me! A dear departed friend once shared,.... "you move up in classification only AFTER kicking & screaming fails!"

you can rebuild beginner projects, but nobody does. Make 'em modification testing and experimental stations since they will be replaced anyway. The whole "what happens if" becomes easier if you have sacrificial sails to play with during your design phase. Moving the the down-spars entirely, or only adjusting their angles? If you are making baby-sized Revs you should contract Harold Ames. Maybe not, if you don't want to be overwhelmed with information! Train lines that pass thru the whole stack, instead of connect each sail independently to the ones in front. Affixing the train lines to the bridle instead of end-caps, when/where to use a taped assembly method instead of sewing. Use of a one piece leading edge tube and reinforcing for higher wind (or more kites in the stack) by insertion of pultruded carbon tubes inside that LE. enjoy and keep sharing

mine shown above were custom fishing pole handle grips made by Glenn Haynes, they are way longer than standard and I have a small hand, skinny fingers so they aren't too wide of a diameter either. Again choices, indoor handles have a softer foam and thinner diameter. My buddy Dugard has these bearclaw-sized fists, so his handles are uncomfortably large for me, he likes a hard foam. I pretty much don't use the foam flying anyway, I fly on my index finger and thumb unless it's mid-vent or higher wind speed. My grips are flown down low by my pants pockets too, some hold them up much higher on the flyer's torso, like they were auditioning for the NFL as referee "touch-down" signaling all the time. Reality is you have to control your speed and location, just like driving a cr on the superhighway in heavy congestion. What veichle you use, even the size of your steering wheel doesn't matter, just be comfortable in your choices.

you fly better than half of the people on the line Franck, relax you got this now try the precision figures for a competition, they will push you further with control and an easy to compare perfection against the moving diagrams offered. here's a new one & totally brutal!.... http://reeddesign.co.uk/kites/new/quad13.html first piece of advice? Start the figure from a downward decent, not moving upwards, so you are totally powered up when you call "in". It's a square superimposed upon a circle, blending the two seamlessly together is why there are different categories, from novice to masters. Owning this figure would be a great start to building a killer routine for freestyle or ballet comps! What music matches such a maneuver?

wow, it's totally up to your preference,... I've seen handles with 2 bends and a straight section between, I've made my own too, they were bent in a pipe bender, with the curvature up high and then gradually to a straight line away from there. Mine were made for long throwing in-land no wind conditions, so they are made from titanium grade 5 tubes 3/8th's in diameter. 19 inch tube lengths before bending! The point of doing it yourself is to get something you couldn't have otherwise, not necessarily to save money. Enjoy your experimenting!

Added a Gibian Patriotic Eagle masterpiece and six more baby Revs by Harold Ames, his personal stack, sold the gibian to Dugard a month later. net increase = 6

You might also consider a tighter bridle configuration too (another 45 bucks, same place as the "sticks"). Grab the center attachment point on the stock bridle, at the leading edge point,... does it wiggle left and right? What would happen if all of the wiggles are removed, would the kite be more responsive or more twitchy? That is a deeply personal impression, that can only be "felt". The French bridle has 6 legs that go to the center attachment point, it's arc welded, not just holding on! What if you grabbed the kite from further outside (beyond the frame),... well the kite would feel bigger, you'd need larger motions to make dramatic effects on the kite end, so you don't get "free oversteer movements" anymore. If you only steer the axel 3/4 of the way around, that's all you get! The french bridle take over fifty feet of bridle line and take about 3.5 or 4 hours to accurately tie it. What if the bridle had the "Whump" built in? You never need to significantly spank or pre-load the bridle. All of the reverse is still in there, but forward drive also comes with a supercharger. It leaps forward like a cheetah (only if you so command) What about building in a glide (like a frisbee not a paper plate!)? If you rotate the elastic knots on the leading edge, the extra bridle legs will lock it down and you can add a pronounced curvature OVER the leading edge. That curved surface creates all kinds of violator styled glide, like 300%. Imagine a catch (that the kite comes to you) across an arch instead of from straight overhead. What if you could walk along side of the kite instead of catching it? No wiggles & sharper response rate, curvature OVER the leading edge greatly increases the glide, no slack lined tricks are off limits either and the kite rolls up into the string anytime you desire,... by just letting it go/fall backwards from an upright stance on the ground (clam-shell). Leaving the kite on the ground leading edge down means the lines are safely slack, no stake is needed. The Zen is a completely different kite with sticks and french bridle. If you don't also agree I could probably be convinced to take it off of your hands. I owe 3 of these kites already and in the mid-atlantic states we are known as the land of no-wind. The zen was created just for me, damn near perfect after a couple of commercially available options are added on. I like it a whole bunch on 50#/100 foot lengths with long throw handles. 13 inchers are like a go-cart steering wheel on a school bus! There's a better solution Handy with a sewing machine? Know a guy? ADD another line of straight stitches to capture the leading edge tightly, so only one stick fits in there afterwards. A tighter sail is more efficient when capturing slight breezes. Add some reinforcing patches to the leading edge sleeve so the mesh can tear away (eventually this WILL happen!) and the shape doesn't distort regardless. Add some covers over the elastic knots on the bottom of the sail, so you don't catch a flying line when flick-flaking across the sky.

Thanks for the video share, I did see lam's famous diamond shaped slide in there, still comfortable for him although not like his rev flights in visual crispness

Add magic sticks to your existing frame(40 bucks) and have an entirely new kite. The design is too flimsy, needs more support, like a biplane's struts and guywires add. i owe three Zens

I haven't really seen ANY footage of a slide, assuming that was sacrificed to create the 3D shape,.... am I incorrect?

Mark has clearly state my position on competition above. Enjoy yourself and don't worry about anything else! Some folks are burned-out in only a couple of years, doing their absolute best every time and then taking on new challenges. I do competitions to hang with my friends and keep the activity alive thru continued support (financial and sweat equity) so other can have that same experience I enjoy so much. All the coolest tricks and latest technology will be on display and you can confront the competitors about their craft, keeping the best knowledge and dumping the rest. I am still a soul flyer (since 1999), with no preplanned routines or even selected music before the event. That is half of the fun, making it up as you go along. Heck you might not win (in fact it is highly unlikely!) but nobody is having more fun that you either! A carefully planned routine set to killer music will come out winning, unless the flight conditions are just deplorable. In that case, the individual with the most experience in those same crappy conditions will come out on top. I only "win" when the wind is below 2 mph or above 28. The sport kite activity rules state that competitions shall take place between about 5 and 18 mph. Sometimes you get to the event and the wind is missing entirely or just booking' across the landscape so hard the port-potties are about to be blown over! Folks came from all over to attend, are we going to hold the competition regardless of these conditions? Most of the time the answer is YES. Borrow equipment of you have to,.. or withdraw. Again you are being exposed to the best fliers dueling in the worse of all possible conditions. How do the people handle it, what did they do differently, how is their equipment modified??? Take their best, dump the rest! I highly recommend everyone give competition a shot. Meet some new folks, broaden your horizons, compete against others in the same rank as you. I foolishly flew one-handed in 2004 and was forced to move up to Masters. I won the Eastern League jacket in 2015 and 2016 in three events ( OIOU, MMP, MMB). That means for eleven years in a row I lost!!! My buddy Dennis Smith is my most significant nemesis, but the soul flyer has come out on top 2 years in a row. Den is a superb musician, tactical flier with carefully planned routine. He doesn't listen to music or play, he authors it! Being published musician is no easy task in this day and age. Make some new friends and smile, it's only kites, not nuclear weapons. ENJOY