RobB

Something to check on the lower spreaders... are the standoff connectors the same distance from the center T ? The standoffs should be almost 90 degrees to the lower spreaders, just slightly pushing towards the center T. Maybe that will even out your standoffs.

You will probably find that under tension that the knot will always return to the same spot. I don't think that's an adjustment. It's hard to tell from the picture (too close), and I am not familiar with that exact kite.

Hi Edijs, I think your standoffs may be a slightly different length. Measure them to verify that... You want to have the tension on the sail, and it's OK for the standoffs to be bent a little bit. So, you don't want to fly with the tension released, on the first knot. The bulge you see in the sail isn't good for flying. The screws on the backside of the sail connectors are to remove them if you need to. I don't know what the length of the standoffs are supposed to be, but one of the two looks to be a few millemeters too long... Good luck ! ~Rob.

Ok, what's up with that 'dogstake' ? I thought that a dogstake was just a metal ring that was screwed into the ground. I have never seen anything like that contraption. Looks like a lot of fun to fly like that... I also wonder if you have to fly backwards or you just switch the right and left handles... I loose track of which way the kite is pointed when I'm flying normal, it must be real fun to keep track of the kite's orientation when you're flying with a dog stake.

Hey there... yeah... tornadoes in MA. Not much history of that... this weather pattern over the last week has been pretty strange. Just like showing up at the kite field and finding not enough wind to fly, sometimes you show up and there's too much wind to fly. You just have to find something else to do, no matter how bad you want to go kiting. I've broken more kites than I can count flying in too much wind. Those fields you were flying in are where I used to play ultimate frisbee... just a short walk from where I used to live in the south west dorms/towers. Good times... wish I did more kite flying back then. ~Rob.

Hey Duane... I hate to say it, but Revs aren't the best looking kites in the sky. Except for the Masterpiece series and other customs, I can understand why there weren't many pictured in the past. They're amazing kites in what they can do, but I would think in 20+ years of production, they could figure out how to make them more visually interesting... ~Rob.

Learn where the good wind in your area is... your backyard probably isn't one of those places, unless you live out in the farm fields. The sports fields at UMass should be OK, and the Oxbow Marina area looks promising for flying up by you. Waiting for good wind is a cruel joke when you live inland... Pack your bags & head for the shore when you get a chance. ~Rob.

Hey Nat... I went to school at UMass, and knowing the winds around there... look towards the lighter wind setup. I only have one Rev kite, a vented B series, and only get it out when the winds are 15+mph. The rest of the time I fly duals. I've found that the vented B series can fly easily in 10mph with the 3 wraps, but it gets tough in less wind, especially because my only lines are 120'. Good luck ! ~Rob.

Hey John, Best of luck with the teeth thing in Mexico, and hoping you bring us back some nice pictures (videos) of your ride back up the coast. I can only imagine how many beautiful places there are to fly a kite ! ~Rob.

Dental work aside... sounds like an awesome trip ! It's been over 20 years since I've driven on the coast highway. What a beautiful ride that is ! Wish you the best on the dental work, and hope you guys find some great places to fly along the way... ~Rob.

hey Wayne... glad you like 'old school' tricks, because that's all I dare to try with that kite... it's so fragile, I'm afraid of breaking it the whole time I'm flying it. The sail isn't much more than saran wrap... I've got several old Prisms, 3-D, Ozone, Alien, and love them all!! Now I'm flying Revs mostly, got some vented to cut down on the pull!! Enjoy flying whatever stays up!!! Never could afford a Vapor!! I also have a bunch of Prism kites, the Ozone being one of my favorites. I had to trade one of my most prized kites, an Exile UL Moonie to get the Vapor, but I had to see what it was like to fly a Vapor... not too much different than the Ozone, just a little bigger.

Hey Duane... It's all where you spend your flying time, I think. I chose to fly with 2 lines years ago... My four line flying is pretty weak. I enjoy both, but just have limitted time. As far as the rocky beach.... the Island I live on is actually a glacial deposit, made up from all the garbage the glacier pushed down from New England, at least that's what we've got on the north shore. The south shore has nice beaches with sand like you are used to. I fly at this beach because it's close to my house, but it takes a toll on the nocks of the kites, and I can never go barefoot. ~Rob.

hey Wayne... glad you like 'old school' tricks, because that's all I dare to try with that kite... it's so fragile, I'm afraid of breaking it the whole time I'm flying it. The sail isn't much more than saran wrap...

Hey John... Glad you enjoyed. If you're ever in NYC, I'm only an hour away... I'll show you some good spots to fly. This was the Cedar beach on the north shore...

Yes, I've been in a Clapton mood this week, I used his music in the other video I put together, too.

Hey there... After a rough winter, we've been having a chilly, windy spring so far. Windy with the rare exception of last Sunday... The lack of wind was nice & very welcome for a change, I'm getting tired of flying vents and having my arms lengthened. I had the video camera to attempt to capture some footage for the upcoming VF contest, but I wasn't able to come up with many tricks on tape, the main trick was having a kite in the air at all... Enjoy... ~Rob.

Keep it up ! 99F & 100%R/H is on the way ! Then we'll see who is flying ! I'll be flying, but hating it, and wishing for this time of year ! Once it goes over 60 degrees, it's too hot for me ! That's the kind of weather that I'm packing up to go home at 9-10am...

Good stuff, Mike. I hadn't thought about doing that yet, as I've been leaving the handles attached. Come to think of it, the tops do seem to be a little longer than the brake lines. Next time out, I'll flop them...

Rob, Are you pairing the lines, like John shows in the video. Once paired, you should be able to wind up, just like a set of your dual lines......... I remember back, on one of my very first rev adventures, I likewise experienced one of those "knot's of death" - severely tangled. I bet it took my wife and I, a good 45 minutes to get everything untangled and laid out straight. Very frustrating, to say the least. I was almost to the point of (dare I mention the word), "cutting", but was finally able to avoid that !! However, that was also about the time, that the tutorials on "Line Management" and "Assembly/Disassembly" came out, so I watched them that very evening. Then I watched them again, and in particular, the one on "Line Management". I watched that several times. I can just about dub the audio in that one now !! But the point is, I finally got the concept in my head, and now, as John said, it's 3 minutes up - 3 minutes down. Ok, ok, maybe not quite 3 minutes (I'm not a professional). So maybe it's 3 minutes & 22 seconds. Well, it's a lot faster than it used to be, anyway. Not much more than handling a set of dual lines, just a couple more lark's head knots to deal with, and the whole process has now become, more or less, second nature, just as handling dual lines is to you now. As John showed in the video, the kite stake is very important, so you can put a little tension on the lines, when you wind up. Also, make sure you stake the top of the handles, with the kite inverted, and then always wind the lines from the kite, back to the staked handles (opposite on the unwind). I just always try to remember, when I go to the kite, in prep to wind up, always lark's head the upper line's loop, to the lower line's loop, and slide the lark's head, right down to the knot, on the lower loop. Then when you get to the other end, things should just about equalize out, since you should be staked, at the tops of the handles. I hope that makes sense......... NOTE:............since you only have one rev, and one set of quad lines and handles, right now, you may be leaving the lines attached to the handles, as John does in the video. No problem with this, for sure, other than packing. Personally, I don't have a dedicated set of handles, for every set of lines, so I remove my handles, once I am through flying, unless I plan on being right back out the next day. Removing the handles, can be a point of introducing some unwanted twist, or entwining, that you might want to pay close attention to. It's very easy to let the ends get away, and if you put them back wrong - big trouble will arise, next time out. To avoid this, sometimes I will remove my handles prior to even beginning to wind up. First I stake the handles on the ground, with the lines all pulled out straight, with no tangles or twist. I have the kite inverted to avoid and unplanned take off. Then I remove one handle at a time, from the stake, disconnect the lines from the handle, and I lark's head the bottom line to the top. Then I place the kite stake through that top line's sleeved loop, and proceed to disconnect the other handle, in the same manner, and then stake it, along with the first pair. Once this is done, I pick up the two pairs of lines, using the top line loops to give them a little tug, just enough to make sure that they are straight. Then I re-stake them, through the top loops. Then I go to the kite end and disconnect those lines from the kite, being sure to connect the appropriate pairs, just the opposite, as to what I just did, down at the handle end. Again, on the kite end, you want to lark's head the top line to the bottom, and as just mentioned, this is opposite to what you just did, at the handle end. Now, your lines (upper & lower) should be equally offset, and should equalize perfectly, assuming that upper and lower lines are the same length, and your sleeved loops and knots, are all the same, on top and bottom lines, as well as left and right. Now winding up should be a breeze, just like a dualie............... again, hope that makes sense........ No, this all makes total sense. The first super-knot that I had... well, let's just say the lineset was lucky I forgot my knife in the car... I was so frustrated to have lost an hour of flying. I follow the tutorial videos as best as I can from memory, I watched that line management video before I even owned a Rev. I kept the lines for my Spirit Quad on two separate winders in the past. Same with my quad line foils... The biggest departure of technique for me is to not wind the lines figure 8 style. I am having issues with smooth payout when setting up, it becomes a 2 handed affair. I'm not paying attention to wraps when I set up, because I know that I wrapped the set up straight. Once I fly around a little, I land, and see what I have... just like in the video. I think my main problem is the 120' lines. I'm used 65'-75' lines mostly when flying duals, only on special occasion do I get out the 100' lines. That's perfect wind, low tide, and when I'm flying Blue Moon kites. Everything else I have likes shorter lines. I think I need to get some 75'-85' lines to start to click with the Rev. So, out of 5 hours of fly-time this week, I spent only 1/5 of that on the Rev, even though the wind was good for it 4 out of the 5 hours. I guess I'm still a dual-head.

Yup, watched all the tutorial videos, it's just a matter of getting more practice. The 120' lines don't help, I need to get a shorter set. I should check out what I have for my Spirit kite, maybe those will work...

Yeah, Dual Heads ! I'm all about that ! I've been called a Prism Head before (wait until yous see my new kites...) but I'm not going to be a Quad Head anytime soon. The Quad's been a cool diversion when the winds are too high to fly duals, but once it's under 10mph, the dual lines will be the only kites out on my field ! One thing I don't get... how do you quad line guys (& gals) deal with the extra time to set up/break down ? I can't stand it... especially the 2 knots of death that I've experienced so far. Never have that problem with only 2 lines...

Yes, I do love Lam's kites... my VF18 entry features one of my favorites... the Sea Devil light...

Well, glad you're with us & still flying ! I got my internet name a long time ago, in a different life when I was into racing cars. So, Must86 was my name on the Mustang forums, eBay, and my email with my group, CarCraft Racing. So, I just kept it going...

The Alien is what it is... a weird kite... I have 2, and they both have that same crazy bend to the LE. But, the light pull in 20mph winds is what I was looking for, my arms were tired after flying the Rev for an hour. Here's the same field, one day later... much better wind, though ! ~Rob.

There are two reasons that I choose to fly inland... to escape the beach crowd in the summer, and to escape 20mph+ winds whenever they come up. I head to a spot on the Island that is actually the geographic high point (all ~300 something feet !). There is a nice grass field that could support a number of fliers at the same time... too bad there aren't enough people on Long Island that fly to fill it. So, what did I fly today ? It was a high wind day, so I had my high wind kites out. The new vented Rev (I have to get shorter lines, 120s are too long...) a Prism Alien (double axel machine) and the Fearless vented light (wind range of 3-30mph, works great when the wind lulls...) Notice the lack of snow ! No worries... just got a fresh batch tonite !