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Since I live in Europe where the Rev stuff is too expensive, I use (like many Europeans) the Skyshark P-90, P-200 and P-400. Ferules goes in with a little CyanoAcrylate. Some of my rods are with camo pattern in one end, as that was cheaper. I also see people use tapered verticals for even more flexibility. They are a bit too long, so wrap tape around them, and cut with the dremel er whatever tool you have. The cut might have slightly sharper edges, so I always have the cut ends in the end-caps, to lessen wear on the sail. You can always make a DIY travel kit. Just get some ferules, and start cutting a frame. The standard cutting dish for the Dremel has a small diameter, so it will not cut all the way through without turning the tube. Fine for the ends where I cut off the excess in 2 steps, but larger dishes would be preferred for a center cut

I am one of those who bought substantial more expensive China clones. $200+ with handles/lines. And one frame only. They are good, and considered good workmanship, good materials (icarex). I like them. Also have their own design quad which I bought, and it is not nearly as good as the rev-style. Their vented rev-clone has more evenly distributed vents, and I really like it. So I feel I got good products for the money. If I was in the US, it would probably not be worth it, but here in Europe, equivalent Revs are around $350 - So it was worth a gamble. There are multiple rev-like kites in Europe. But reviews in German thought this brand was better workmanship than original revs. Even German rev resellers agreed. I know from an english guy, that most n00bs in UK buys cheap chinese, there was even a good team or two with one of the mid-priced chinese brands. But I think they have now all migrated to the Rev. A colleague bought one of the german quads. The DropKick, and he has trouble getting it to fly. My chinse where flying on first attempt, and are all OK given correct wind. So the conclusion is, that there are some chinese kites that are OK, others are not worth buying. You need to find somebody trustworthy that has the kite to get an idea. If the buyer keeps flying, he will end up buying the real thing. Due to the resale value of an original, it migh be cheaper to own and fly an original than to buy and dump the $100 clone.

Always good lottery here, and good odds. Would love an extra. Now the fall is coming, and it is time for windy sports, like kites. Also got an RC car for fun, and got a Bix3 RC plane this summer. So I have plenty of things do play with depending on weather. But one more toy is always welcome.

The Peter Lynn Uniq Play was just introduced to the market. I have a 1.5 meter on order, might be too big, as it supposedly generates 40-50% more pull than equivalent foils. But it is a single skin kite that you can fly into the ground without worry of damage or blown cells. Will compare it the the Symphony 1.3 / 2.2 when it arrives at my dealer.

I have 4 x 10m tail + 1 x 30m. Uses on symphony 1.3 + 2.2. My 10 ft delta. My Itw triton. Tails are great and fun.

That is why I use Dyneema for my SLKs as well. Not as smooth and slippery as the rev lines, but great strength for the size. And no big issues if I cross the lines (happened once or twice on some of the first sessions out). 250 lb braided. Feels more like cotton than Kevlar. And larger diameter than even my powerkite lines. But at least I have almost no tangling issues with it. Safe to walk the kite down, just dropping line in grass. My 100 lbs lines tangles pretty easy. Had tangles after sloppy line handling in long grass a couple weeks ago. Took 20 minutes to untangle home in garden.

My next kite is whatever I win in the lottery here. No, not really. I ordered the Peter Lynn Uniq Play 1.0 meter span, and the Uniq Quad 1.5m2. Both new single skin kites, so waiting for the minions in China to finish them, and send them to PL -> dealers.

Don't pull out the LE when packing. I guess the wear happens mostly when putting the spars in. You could probably sand the sharp edge a bit on the outermost 1mm or so. Reason I did not use P90 in center, but stuck to the T2 2-wrap was that I have not yet glued ferules into my extra spars. I have them as spares, but hasn't glued them in yet. Would it be better to use shorter ferules in the P90 to get more flexibility ? Or is that too risky ? And in reference to sanding the edge on the tubes, wouldn't it be good for tear and wear of the pocket to sand off the corner of the ferule ? Should minimize pocket wear in the center ?

Was out in low wind yesterday. < 6 kts when strongest. And I could actually fly my full sail. I used the P90 frame (apart from center LE which stayed 2-wrap). I could see the extra flexibility and fly most of the time. Pumping it at times. At times the wind was so weak, that pulling a handle just made the kite want to go flat and float to the ground. Difficult to save even when moving backwards. But another interesting session. And I tried the lighter frame.

Congratulations.

Since I have yet to change frames from the included T2 (2-wrap equiv) that came with my clones, what are the major effect you will see from changing LE ? Or keep center LE and change sides only ? How about verticals ? I see some use tapered here. I have a full set of P90 and P400 to play with.

My vented stays with the T2 ak 2-wrap up to gusts of 25 mph

Hi, cacelled my 6 month subscription to sign up for a 12 mo. But, Paypal says the price is: $16,00 USD for the first day Then $32,95 USD for each year Effective Date: fri. 19. jun. 2015 So not sure if I will end up paying $16 (too little) for a years subscription), or $48.95 (too much). So something wrong in this process. Will wait until fully expired in a day or to, and re-subscribe.

Flying my vented clone most of the time. 6 mph to 25 mph on the included 2-wraps. Haven't changed frame yet.

Only 5 days left. It wants to come to me. After doing a superman with my 3m2 Hornet, I need something that will leave me on my feet :-)

I got my 1 y.o. used Hornet III 3.0m2 in mint condition for €100. Apart from the sand it was like new. So it is a cheaper route. But power kites are different. I am looking for a better power performer as well. So I am waiting for the HQ Toxic II to arrive in Europe. Different moods calls for different activities.

Better places is Holland or Denmark at the sea. Inland you always gets gusty winds. I would say my rev experience better translates to use on my Hornet 3.0m2 than the other way around. For inland make sure to get semi-vent or vented. I use full vented and light frame 80% of the time.

In Germany consider getting a basic from feine-drachen.de - this is close to a 100% clone and good quality. The owner/importer is active at drachenforum.net

There are many quads out there most more difficult to fly. I got a transeye a colleague got the dropkick. None of us had much luck with the alternatives. I got a real rev clone, the most expensive after some research. It was easier to launch and fly. Found out I needed a vented for inland winds and got the same brand for $200 kite only. Next investment was $50 custom made handles. Since they were Revolution handle clones they made it even easier to fly. The Chinese where much worse. I hear UK people buying cheap Chinese albatross brand, and use soldering iron to make holes to make it vented as they cloned only the EXP. but with low quality frame. In the U.S. get the Rev. In Germany there are clones and the best Chinese clones are fine but not much cheaper.

Personally, I fly something, practice it a bit. If I keep feeling like no success, I start flying something else. There is more than one thing you can practice, and if things goes wrong, pick something you master to feel in control again. One thing I like to practice is flying a box. LE front. Right, stop, turn, down, stop, turn, ..... Or do it the other way around. It has more variation in it, and you can hover shorter or longer. And you will hover in the 4 major directions. And if I feel like it, I will sideslide one of the sides of the box. My box is far from perfect, and often I crash when doing the lower leg. Trying to make it low and slow. Of course I could fly it higher, but it should not be too easy. To me this is a good excercise to return to, after some more specific practice. Is not so boring. And reversing the direction still requires additional effort.

here is from my video yesterday, changing kites. Takes less than 2 minutes to transferline, but this is the first time with my small pigtails on the sleeves, so just had to figure that aout as well. I do not break down the replaced kite before going home. Keep it with my other stuff, ready to replace again if needed.

I have done it different ways. Always land inverted. From here on my methods changes a bit depending on weather and mood. Most often, I slide the replacement in between the lines, shifted a bit to the side, such that both will stand. Then I move the top (brake) lines over, and the old kite will drop to the ground behind the new one. Then the lower / front lines. Then move the kite back to get tension on the lines again. Also been putting the 2 kites up next to each other, but it is slower as you have to go back and forth. Since I have multiple line sets (and only one good set of handles + one acceptable pair), I also consider setting up 2 linesets, and switching handles. But maybe it takes longer to handle 2 linesets (setup and take down). Yesterday I had the bad weather, 5 kts to 22 kts. When I couldn't keep the vented flying (it is on 2-wrap frame), I put on the full sail, and it was blowing too much and howling in the lines. Switched kite, and wind dropped again. Longest I got was 10 minutes on the vented before going home. Also had to adjust the leaders, as the additional brake I added at high wind last time was too much in this wind, at time limiting the kite to no more than 45 degrees above ground. When the wind blew, it was nice though.

According to the webpage, the Symphony Beach III 1.3 comes with 2x25m 100lbs blend line. I fly it on those below listed wind range, but it is not too great. Have some thinner ligther dynema lines, which are better, and increases wind range down a bit. I can see that Peter Lynn seems to favour 18 meters these days. Just checked their new Uniq Play 1.0 (single skin) The line weight introduce drag. But longer lines gives a larger wind window. You can fly further before having to turn. Shorter lines, and you get a smaller playing field. You could consider 2 sets of lines depending on conditions. A thin 15m set,like 50 lbs, and a 100 lbs 25m set.

If you have Dyneema lines, it makes sense. Also makes it easier to equalize line lengths. If you have cheaper lines, probalby does not make any difference at all. For standard Dyneema / Spectra lines, I use this kit: http://www.emmakites.com/freilein-line-sleeving-tool-8pcs_p483.html It is $3 including shipping (slow). Fits the 100 lbs lines fine. Comes with the tool (bent wire). I see you are in the UK, so just get the other one from eBay. Been buying more stuff from Go kites. Way faster than the 4 weeks on slowboat from China. And never any issues with them. Just had a line on the HQ Symphony Pro 2.2 tearing itself apart, do to some strange sleeving method that put a half knot around the sleeving closer to the line. It slipped off the sleeving, and a knot on a line is bad. So it snapped just half an inch away from the knot. It was manageable to open the sleeved loop on the other line, and adjust/resleeve. I believe in sleeving if you are pushing the weight rating of the Dyneema line. If you do not push the line, then no need.

There are many Rev models, sharing the basic shape. Me and a friend can only support the "start with an original". We both started with non-clones, and I got a clone as my next - never got to become friends with it before replacing handles. My Transeye (non-clone) is better in some ways, worse in others, and has a narrower wind-range. The real thing is the best, and I suggest, based on my experience, a semi-vent or vented as the first, depending on wind. I have variable and gusty winds here. You can get Indoor, SUL (Super Ultra Light), std, semi-vented, full vent, xtra vented variants of the Revolution to match you wind conditions. Polo Kites makes better looking and with different vent layouts. The Shook Weaves are supposedly the best design with the widest wind range. If you go for the alternatives, the range is limited, and the clone manufacturers usually has only 1 or 2 models. I fly my full vent clone (of good quality and different vent layout) vented from 6 mph to 25-30 mph. But as a complete beginner, a full vent should have more wind. Some clones are bad, some OK, some good. But be carefull. Getting a clone might end up being more expensive when you need to replace some/all of the parts. Some uses cheap PC-40, others uses Icarex. And different quality rods.