SHBKF

Looks like a roll of high quality printed fabric with a quad wing blurred in the background. I would like to be put on the reservation list for a numbered signed sail if possible. Please & thanks, SHBKF

Another new Kite Forge subscriber has just sent a request, thanks!

Not on FB so I could not vote there. I like the white with sky blue. Clouds & sky colors have always been one of my preferences. Some of the sweeping indoor moves remind me of flying gliders like the Wala & the Zero G. Now I just need to work on the rest but watching the arm movements & body action are very helpful & inspiring. Looks like time for even shorter lines then the 18's I've used so many times. Keep the kite completely assembled in the vehicle with the lines rolled round it like a yoyo then no excuse for a quick session almost anywhere. Hmmm, SHBKF

Finally got a chance to fly the Jammin for an extended period of time today. Conditions were less than ideal with temperature in the thirties under partly cloudy skies. Grabbed several kites & headed to a nearby site. Wind was just starting to pick up. Measured at 3 mph when I was setting up so I flew a Nirvana WW for a little warm up. Wind started picking up so I tried the Jammin but needed a little more consistent air. Went back to the truck & assembled another kite, SKD Seven standard. Now the wind was blowing six or more with gusting. Flew the Seven to sort of establish a base line feel. The Seven does well in gusting air with it's tough stiff frame & excellent sail. Wind picked up a bit more & got very bumpy. Time to switch to the Jammin. Conditions were variable but a few impressions were possible. Kite seems to be set up correctly bridle wise. Bridle is a simple three point with no obvious adjusting points. No problem as it responded well to turns & had plenty of forward drive. Flew figures & found them easily controlled. At the same time the kite seemed to respond well to some different inputs with just enough instability to be encouraging. Laying the kite into a turtle or putting it into a fade came easily but the wind was so erratic that I could not really sustain those positions. I did roll the kite up & fly it around but could not unroll it for some reason. I am blaming the funny wind until I can fly in more consistent air. Landed it & unwound it on the ground doing an unroll launch. Played around with the Jammin for about an hour before winding up the lines & heading home to make a pizza. I believe the kite has great potential. I would recommend it to anyone seeking a dualie at that price point. I had a Prism Quantum for awhile before trading it off. I was planning on getting another one but now the Jammin has filled that niche & beyond. Maybe a few bucks more than the Q but definitely has more features & is a kite made for tricks. Yoyo stoppers are installed & it has long leaders without the funky clips that the Q has. Much more could be said but I suggest you just get one for yourself. SHBKF approved (for what that's worth)

I have always thought the same, kite flying has numerous advantages over many other hobbies. Just a few come to mind. No batteries (unless decorative night flight lighting), no meeting up with the team (unless you're so inclined), low maintenance (well maybe a bit at first), can fly most anywhere (within a few parameters) & is much less expensive than horses or hot rods. The wind is always a bit different each time & continued efforts bring further rewards. The smiles per gallon are incredible. SHBKF

Great to hear from you. Welcome to KiteLife. Most of your questions can be answered quite thoughtfully by expert masters like RobB among others. When I first got going on the kite forums I was somewhat inhibited by it all. Then a bit later amazed that top kite fliers were really willing to help someone like me. KiteLife is a friendly helpful place. We want to hear all about your thoughts & experiences. Many times new fliers have provided me with new insights. Welcome, SHBKF

Wow! Amazing! Almost blushing here. My thanks to all KiteLife members who make this possible. A few years back I was just a shy introvert who decided to start flying kites once more. An old guy pursuing a wonderful memory from earlier times. The joy & pleasure now seem endless, especially on a day like this. I am humbled by the honor of this gift. Lovin' KiteLife, SHBKF

Early on I played with the various settings on the bridles of numerous kites. Sometimes when I had an unexpected landing I would walk to the kite & fiddle with the settings a bit making it seem possible that I had planned to land. I was also reading the forums like mad during that time looking for hints. Eventually one of my mentors said he rarely adjusted the bridles once he hit on the setting that worked best for his flying. I found I did the best with a medium setting. Light wind settings did not have the forward drive I seemed to enjoy. High wind settings did not really seem to do much either. They certainly did not improve my flying anyway. With my medium setting I concentrated on learning to feel the sail pressure which really helped me slow down a bit. I bought some kites from my mentor & left them exactly the way they were tuned. That was a great thing also. It is all part of the path of my KiteLife. Just some thoughts from out here in the sticks, SHBKF

Don't know how many PB 4-8's are loose in the wild but I suspect not too many. A few years ago I was concerned that they might stop making them. I made it a priority to try to acquire a new one. My chance came when I was offered a gift of my own choosing by the company I was working for as a reward for many years service. They were somewhat startled when I requested a kite. Here's a picture of mine one day when I leaned it against the Cruze & the wind pinned it to the car. Kind of makes the scale of a four meter sail more imaginable. Years before my second Revolution kite chosen was this PB 2-4. I had some kind of illusion that it would possibly be a suitable light wind kite... not hardly. The big one has a 12' leading edge. This smaller one is a mere 10' long. Both are huge kites & not for the timid flyer. The PB 2-4 flies somewhat like it's conventional cousin, the Rev 1. But I would humbly say the Big One, the PB 4-8, is in a class of it's own. You will be using larger control movements & the "Archer's Stance" quite a bit. You might be unknowingly gritting your teeth when the power locks in & you lean back with your arms stretched out in front of you, your knees bent, feet scrambling to manage the massive power in even light winds, great fun. I am keeping mine. SHBKF

Sorry to see you did not receive a quick answer to your kite inquiry. I don't have any experience with that particular kite although I have wanted to try some kites from the famous TOTL brand. I would guess that kite would have been traditionally flown on a longer line set, perhaps even 150', back in the day. I would try it on 85' x 150 LB lines in at least 8 mph winds or better. Regular Hawaiian kites have a reputation as loud strong pulling kites. Don't know about the Spin Off but it looks fast. Just get out there & give it a flail. We would love to hear your impression of this classic kite. Welcome to KiteLife. Best wishes to you. Know Eye Deer, SHBKF

Dang! I'd been all over this if I did not already have two Z's. Even though my "collection", ah hoard, includes some really desirable high end dualies I still fly my Z's. Just returned from a long vacation & one of my trusty Zephyrs rode along with me just in case the wind was somewhat light. Turned out I had stronger winds & flew a slightly stronger Prism E2 instead. But ever since I got my first Zephyr five years ago, I have not gotten to the point where I am tired of it. Still smilin' when flyin' the Z, SHBKF my first good dualie, a keeper for sure

Down in the Kite Dungeon I simply place finish nails into the plywood kite work table. I layout the dimensions with ruler & pencil then tap the nails into the wood just enough to hold firm. Later, when I am finished, I simply pull the nail out until needed again. I may leave small penciled notes for future reference or erase the marks if I decide they did not produce desired results. Mostly I work in inches but keep metric rulers handy if I am working in centimeters. It is also a good idea to check kite bridles for symmetry when you have them on the kite table. SHBKF here's the kite table with a kite awaiting bridle repair

Here's my wind powered Nexus 5 X, SHBKF

Back in my early teens I became an avid Short Wave Listener. I was using a World War II era Signal Corps aircraft receiver. It was made by Hallicrafters, a R45 ARR7. I used to wait for my parents to go to bed, quietly close my door, then put a towel on the floor to block noise & light. I would fire up the old tube type radio, put my aviator head phones & tour the world. Years later I would operate other radios including CB's back in their hay day. I built elaborate antennas & talked skip using 16 watts on 11 meter side band. Later I got a Heathkit HW-101. But still no license. Even though things shifted to other hobbies I still longed to be a real ham radio operator some day. That some day has become now & I am well on my way to passing an entry level exam. Life is good, live your dreams, SHBKF ... .... -... -.- ..-. Hallicrafters Heathkit

We are actually quite fortunate that our love of kites, even at the boutique level, is quite inexpensive compared to many hobbies these days. Getting into a new field can easily run thousands of dollars & sometimes that is just for the latest clothing "needed". I am currently researching & studying to seriously enter a hobby that has been a dream of mine for most of my life. The current basic entry level equipment is going to run over five thousand easily. Pick any adult hobby & be ready to spend ten thousand if you want street cred among your peers. But even that is minor compared to what I spent on horses. The horse was the cheap item. Fencing, stable, tack, trailer & truck all added up quickly. But I still struggled mightily when I was finally started buying kites a few years back. The initial stumbling block seemed to occur at about eighty bucks for me. That's about all the cash I ever have on me it seems. Shoot, that's what a decent line set costs when you finally go for it. Anyhow, no regerts, just have a Snickers, SHBKF a good morning camp breakfast on the trail

Love the shadows of the kite that are shown but I know it is very difficult to fly looking into the sun to get the images. I also like that the lines are visibly bowing at times. Great video of an excellent session. Thanks, SHBKF

I have gone through several stages in my KiteLife regarding lines. Started with "Dang kite string is costly!". Advanced to next stage got lines, go fly. Line length? Line strength? Line material? Equalization? Know Eye Deer, just fly. Next stage, read forums & wonder what all the lingo means. Enlightenment commences with line strength & lengths. One day I decide to add brake lines to my newly acquired Snap Shot 2.5. Still at "Dang kite string is costly!" stage. Launch kite with new brake lines for my first quad experience. Brake lines too long hanging down in big droops. Not enough adjustment on the brake bridles to compensate. Hmm, how do I deal with this? Back to the forum to read about shortening lines. Intuitively I make all four lines the same length because it just seems logical. Important? Know Eye Deer. Revs seemed way too expensive. My wife gives me one RTF as a gift. Got lucky with a line set of LPG, lines were already correct. Start flying that one. Found out I flew "right handed". Top right line gets a bit longer than the rest but I am oblivious to the issue. Joined KiteLife & began to learn from the Pros or Masters I called them. Learned about equalization. Learned about importance of checking & maintaining lines for optimum flight characteristics. Developed Obsessive Kite Disorder regarding lines, became very opinionated. Made line sets like mad. Stuck at the mall waiting for the boss, worked on line sets in the parking lot. Made rig for measuring line lengths. Installed hardware on the hitching post to stress lines using pulleys & weights on the far end under the apple tree. Was developing a bad case of Obsessive Kite Disorder but did not know it at that time. Then one day I decided to just fly lines with dualies to give them a set. If need a quad set just do it twice. Now I use knots on the leaders to make large equalizations. Small adjustments are made by tying extra knots in the line loops. Have plenty of Rev handles now so I can leave sets already tuned attached to dedicated handles. Have acquired many many sets of lines & plenty of straps to go with them. Most of the time now I just test for equalization by launching with paired straps or handles in a neutral position & see if the kite goes mostly straight up. Tuning done as needed in the field. Dang kite string is still expensive! SHBKF

My first favorite SUL was the infamous Prism 4D. I flew it so much I had to repair it a couple times in several places. Vulnerable areas are the center tee, which bends, the nose, which wears & the spine pokes through & the leading edge fabric, which is quite light & thin. I even bought a spare one eventually. Still flying this one. But then I splurged & bought a new Sky Burner Pro Dancer Super Ultra Light. After my mentor, RobB, told me about it & I watched his amazing videos, I had to have it. It is an "old school kite". This is still my go to kite for amazing flying in very light winds. I prefer flying this full size kite on 90# x 100'. When you are gliding out to regain ground you can run quickly, well quickly for me, and the kite will keep going effortlessly until you stop to turn & begin the next up flight. I call this kite "My Beloved". You know you're a kite nut when you begin naming some of them. It remains my favorite for the type of flying I am able to achieve with it at my current level. But then, in March of 2016, I finally reached Nirvana. Another true SUL & this one is legendary. Dang! This one is stealing my heart. It is helping me fly super light air & allowing me to learn some slack line tricks at the same time. It will also handle a little higher wind as it has a deeper sail than the PD SUL. It is a good example of a bit of mass making the kite have a bit of inertia that you need for getting completely through a maneuver. Not everyone likes a "Frenchie". It's working for me. Now I find myself leaving the first two at home. So that is my 3-2-1 list, SHBKF See ya in the sky....

If your fifty pound lines begin to sing or some say whine, it is a sign. Now personally I love to hear that magic sound. But if you hear it while flying fifties you better fly to the side & land. Time to switch set ups. Heavier lines, which may still sing, or different kite/line set up may be in order. Plan on breaking fifties, it will happen. Then you just make shorter sets out of the broken lines. Be careful not to get even a half knot accidentally somewhere in your lines. It will be a weak point. One good pop or gust will snap it if the pressure is on. If you get your line snagged on a weed or even Velcro try to smooth it out if it is frayed at all. Ninety pound lines are quite a bit more resistant to issues & I fly them much more often. Some have given up on light lines in frustration. Anyway, I have broken fifty pound lines with tiny kites like this one. I actually am kind of proud of that. Gives me braggin' rights. SHBKF

Here is a picture showing vinyl end caps on some modified Rev handles, white on top black on bottom. The inner diameter & perhaps length would be different for use with a dualie. They cover the tips of the leading edges to protect them & hold the tensioning line more firmly. They also help provide a more snagless tip. They are available in many sizes. I bought mine bulk from an industrial supply house. I have probably a dozen different sizes for various applications. They can come off during landings & tip stabs. Many don't use them. The Inferno Z is not for sale. It was the first good dualie I bought when I had my kite reawakening five years ago. First time I flew it I could not believe how good it felt. I almost always carry this kite with me when I travel the country. Wish I could spend a day flying with you & letting you try a bunch of my kites. SHBKF

The weight of two Zephyrs now in the Kite Dungeon Completely stock kite with Inferno color scheme Both kites have vinyl end caps on the leading edge tips, 2 1/2 grams for the pair of them Kite without tail weight 298 grams or 10 1/2 ounces Second kite is also completely stock and in the Eggplant color scheme With stock Prism tail weight 315 grams, 11 1/8 ounces tail weight weighs 17 grams If you remove the upper spreader you save 12 grams Kite without upper spreader, end caps & tail weight would be about 284 grams or 10 ounces It amazed me that both kites weighed the same. Something to be said for quality control. As is frequently noted, "your mileage may vary". SHBKF

A black light would make it look positively psychedelic. Love it! I do actually have a black light down in the Kite Dungeon. Some kites really light up. SHBKF

For a few months you're older than me big brother. Best wishes my friend, Ralph