NWkiteluv

What a fun and playful video! I really like that song and location too. It makes me excited for next summer and getting to fly my kites on some road trips! Well done!

Maybe this will be my intro to the dark side.

I have to agree that much past 10mph gets a little fast for tricks. But I strongly disagree with when the cold one comes out! I like mine in a koozie in most wind conditions. Especially on a hot day! Unless it's chilly out in which case I'll switch to tea! Thanks for the link!

I hear ya Dayhiker! I like the high wind flying too. Lines singing and totally exhilarating! Makes me scared with such a pricey kite though! I have some less expensive ones that I'll put up (including a Delta Hawk thanks for the tip on that one, read about it here) to fly when it's crazy out! Total blast! I'm sure I'll break some parts too in time.

I haven't tinkered with the bridal yet but it looks easy enough to adjust. I got to fly in 3-6mph today and what can I say, it's a really nice kite! I love how it sounds in the air especially in the 5-10 range. Much quieter and taught sail compared to the hypnotist that I was flying which I have also enjoyed but it was a lot of work to fly in less than 5mph and really needed more. I also had a hard time getting the larks head knot to stay where I wanted it to on the hypnotist for the light wind knot. It would always slip back down. This bridal set up looks like it shouldn't do that very easily. I'm already getting more flight time with the widow because of its lower range and I'm picking up some new tricks too. Very excited about it!

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm going to look into a wind screen as I think that might help. Also thanks Paul for the knowledge about weather stations and wind speed. Definitely stuff I've been wondering about since I got into kiting. I'm really having an excellent time with it!

I'm curious about the upper wind range on my Widow Maker standard. I recently got this kite and today was one of those choppy, gusty days where winds were all over the place. One minute everything was perfect (even below perfect) and the next winds were gusting to the point that I was wondering if it was OK to still have it up in the air. When the wind was gusting I would get to the edge of the window, which was considerably larger, well behind my shoulders, Not great flying conditions I realized but I really want to fly my kite! I reviewed the weather station wind chart later and it had said that things didn't get above 15mph. I recognize that these instruments are not always accurate and may not reflect what winds are doing up higher. I guess my question is when do you pack it up or fly something else? Or am I just being paranoid?

Hi everyone! My name is Aaron. I'm new here and it had been since I was a kid that I flew kites and I'm really loving these stories and this forum. I recently got back into kites while at a flow arts festival on the Oregon coast. Flow arts is a term many use to describe a mental state achieved when getting into a movement based art (object manipulation). Where practice and muscle memory kicks in and you can truly turn off the internal dialogue and just be in the now and connect with the activity at hand. These festivals involve fire spinning and toys of all types. (staff, hoops, poi, clubs, juggling etc). Lots of workshops and some of the finest skilled circus and flow arts folks in the country. I bought a single line kite to have something to do on the beach besides play with my other props. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to put kites in the air and the magic that they add to the world. It also occurred to me that kite flying could and is very much a flow art. As a kid I had a cheap two line, two kite stack made of plastic with no standoffs that I flew on vacations with my family. I flew that till it fell apart and learned some very basic things with it. I decided that I wanted to get a dual line kite when I got back from the festival and so I got my first dual line kite in probably 30 years and have been flying as much as possible. The learning curve is still very rewarding and after watching some tutorials I'm getting the hang of basics with it. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I get into quad line. Kind of seems like the ultimate but I totally am loving flying my dual line kites (at this point I have 5). Thank you all for the inspiration and knowledge. I've already learned a lot and hope to make it to some kite festivals in the future. Hope to meet some of you and happy flying!