RobB

I did this to all my competition kites back in the day... Still do whenever the T wants to pull apart... For outer fittings, I use black tape or a thin layer of shoe goo (dried) on the spar tips to tighten things up. John, you may have been the person who taught me this trick, way back when I was new to your forum, the old forum, that is... The New Tech kites that I was flying at the time had this problem really bad...

Hey Dave, the good news is that New York could be a convenient stop-over on your trip to Israel...

What I've done is to cut some heavy-duty rubber bands from a bicycle inner-tube, and lark's head knot one of the bands to the right & left lower spreader. When you put them into the center T, the band crosses the center T, effectively holding either side towards the center. I hope that's clear, I'm having trouble finding a picture... That is the most extreme solution, but I've had kites that needed that. Angling the standoffs towards the center T works on most kites, and tempering the inputs...

Oh, my bad... I misunderstood... the Tekken that I had had that issue, as well. I used the same tape fix as Dave described for that.

I would throw my hat 'in', but feel like I've won too many times in recent history. I figure I'd let someone else have a chance. Everyone should be able to use more line laundry, another kite stake, and who doesn't need another kite shirt ?

You can try to angle the standoffs towards the center T to keep the spreaders together. That works with most kites, but some require more drastic measures like mentioned above, or a bungee 'keeper' that crosses the center T and attaches to both spreaders. Sometimes, and exaggerated input can pop the spreaders loose, like giving too big of a pop to an axel input.

Nick, I'm sorry to hear about you trouble with the Quantum. I am truly surprised, as I performed a high speed death dive straight into a parking lot with my Prism Mirage (Hypnotist) and it barely got a skuff on it's nose. I thought the kite was going to be absolutely destroyed, and couldn't believe nothing broke. The Quantum and Hypnotist share the same 'kinetic dissipator' in the spine, and I'm sure that's what saved my kite. If you can find a good shop like the one John suggested, the replacement will be cheap, quick & easy. It's just bad luck, don't lose heart...

The entry for a 540 is vertical flying down, flare, pop a spin. The Taz & Slot are horizontal flying to the side, flare & pop a spin. They seem very similar to me, but so different. To me, it's a frustrating mental block when the lines are in my hand !

Yes, the Solus will be one of the kites I try this on. I really only fly the Solus and Widow Maker these days (as far as standards) and I can do all the tricks that I 'know' how to do on either. The Solus is the sloppier trick machine, though. The Widow Maker is more forgiving to sloppy input, but you have to give it more input to get certain tricks to work, like the backspin, yoyo, and that flic-flac to 540 move. That being said, the Solus is the only standard duallie that I've flown, it's always first out of the bag when the wind's right. The Solus is a tricky kite, but it's not quite radical like the Gemini or the Seven. Sunday was going to be the day for getting out and trying some tricks, but NOAA just changed the wind prediction from 6-9mph onshore to 6-9 offshore, so it might not even be worth going out in the sun for another week. Can't wait for Fall !

Good SLK day ? A few weeks ago, on Father's Day, my family took me to the beach and 'made' me fly some kites. I got a few up in the air... The Double DC with long tails was a hit with everyone at the normally quiet beach... My kids got me a nice spinsock for Father's Day to hang off of the line of Nick's Ultrafoil... The KL Ghost Delta was playing up by the moon... Another shot of the Double DC as the clouds rolled in... I was a great day, I got to sit in my beach chair next to the cooler with ice cold beers, watch the kids play on the beach, while watching the kites play in the wind above the beach !

It's killing me, I've been wanting to get out and try this trick since this post popped up, but I keep missing opportunities to fly. Stupid work. All the good wind is during the week, and the wind's been cr@p on the weekends ! Looking forward to seeing some video... that was the breakthrough for me on the 540 after months of trying the trick, I saw someone's video that just seemed to finally make sense to me. I got the trick the next time out. Funny thing is, once I got the 540, I was able to teach a friend the trick in less than 1/2 hour. It is invaluable to have someone show you a trick in person. Another example... the only trick that I learned in person from someone else was the flic-flac. I watched him doing flic-flacs for 5 minutes, and I was able to do them right away. I know, that's a frustrating fact for those of us trying to learn from videos and online information, but if you've got the chance to get out & fly with others, it's so worth it !

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait until the day I can do a Taz or a Slot machine on purpose. For me, they come out by accident... in a split second, I recognize that I've somehow gotten into the setup for a trick, and with a lucky tug, something cool comes out. If I think about the setup... boom ! Probably ends up looking pretty ugly. Tricks that I've really learned I can pull off at any time, either direction. I think my major challenge is dyslexia, for example, I can point which way to go, but if you ask me to say it, 9 times out of 10, I'll tell you the opposite (wrong answer). This causes a lot of wasted time over-thinking things, and when you're flying, that usually means the answer is too late. I'm going to study up & give this a try the next time out, thank you for taking the time to spell it out, and I am truly happy for you & your success !

I have to agree with JD... I've spent months trying to crack particular tricks (axel, 540). Months of frustration and not really having too much fun flying. Strange thing, the more I focus on doing a move, the less likely I am to get it. Sure, it's a great feeling when you finally do get it, and that's probably what makes dual line flying so addictive in the long run. I'm happy for you guys, I know that feeling, and I'm sure you're flying high right now !

This is a great deal for anyone looking to add one of the best kites out there to their bag !

Looking forward to the pictures ! And yeah, the summer stinks at the beach if you like to fly kites. Well, kites with more than 1 line, that is...

Yes, if you cross the line of a SLK, it will slice your sport kite lines like a knife. I've only done it once... once was enough ! Learned my lesson...

Sounds like a good kite to stack ! When they first came out, I saw a guy flying 2 of them at the same time with long tails... they looked great !

Wow, nice flying... my hat's off to you. Were you an avid kite flier before the accident ?

Wow, they answer emails now ? It used to be that if you wanted to interact with Prism folks, you had to call them. Really pleasant people to deal with, like most of the people in the kiting world.

OMG, travelling bicycle while doing shapes ?!? Talk about a 'mindbender' ! Thanks for that, I don't know how I missed that tutorial. Like I said, I can get two rotations on a horizontal pass before my brain melts & my wrists spaz out. I'll be working on that stairstep move next time out ! I've watched the axel tutorial many times, and other videos with the axel, and I just don't get it. As with dual-line kites, something gets lost in my mind between watching the video & getting out into the field. It took me like a year to learn how to axel a dual line kite, probably for the same reason. I'll get it someday...

Mark, thank you, I may take you up on that offer... I was just wondering, would insignia tape be an all-in-one solution, or would that be a short lasting fix ? I know that teldar tape has issues with sand sticking to the edges, and wonder if insignia tape would have the same issues. My big concern is that if I try an 'easy fix' that it won't last that long & I'll end up ruining the sail in the long run. If I understand correctly, the fancy 3m tape & some dacron tape strips would be the best solution ? Right now, the tears in the LE mesh on my mid-vent are only about 1" long, right at the fold points. I think my full-vent is past the point of a simple repair, as the tears in the mesh probably total over 8".

My son really enjoys the Snapshot 1.2... It's a good size for him, and he loves to do the high speed Death Dive trick into the ground... a glorious 'whump' sound, and he flies away... This was his most recent outing with it at Wildwood this year...

Hey Paul... I have a couple of those older Lam kites that have the shiny leading edges, I know exactly the material you're talking about. Unfortunately, I don't think the material is made anymore. I'm pretty sure he couldn't get any more, that's why the newer kites don't have it. I can attest to the fact that it's very durable. If I come across any, I'll let you know... 9460 VHB 3m tape, huh ? That sounds like an excellent option for me, since I don't have a sewing machine (if I did, I would probably be dangerous). Rev flying for me isn't about low weight and light winds, so any additional weight is of no consequence to me. Thank you very much for that suggestion, now all I have to do is find an iron... I will take credit for tearing the LE mesh on my full-vent, that kite's been out in the most abusive conditions, been dunked in salt water countless times, and survived a few hard landings. And yes, I too have put it away wet, and I'm sure it's never been cleaned ! More than 5 years on the full vent. The Mid vent is disappointing, though, it might be 3 years old, never sees a gust higher than 20mph, and rarely gets dunked. The LE mesh is failing only from folding the kite to put it back in the bag, and I take care not to fold & roll it too tightly. Oh, well, I'll look for the special 3m tape and see how it goes... ~Rob.

I figured this might be one of the improvements on a Pro sail, but the prize kite is listed as a standard B series. Neither my mid-vent or full-vent B series have these patches, I think if they did, I wouldn't have issues with my mesh. Joanna, I also pull my LE sticks apart at least 2 inches so there isn't as much stress at the fold point. It didn't help... I was pretty upset to see that the mesh on my mid-vent is starting to tear because I tried to be extra careful with that kite after what happened to my full-vent.

Question... I was looking at the awesome looking Rev that's up for raffle, and noticed that it has a reinforcement patch on the leading edge mesh. Is that new standard equipment on Revs ? Has anyone retrofitted a Rev in this way ? It looks like a good solution to the problem that I have with my mid-vent, where the screen is starting to tear away in this spot. It looks like it might be pretty simple to sew a small rectangle or ripstop over the affected area...