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What is the difference ? Is it the frame only ? Or different material? In passing a saw a few days ago that the Chinese are copying that as well.

So no backpacks for now. You all drive right up to where you play. Thinking of using my back back when going on the bike. With longe kites sticking out.

What are you guys using for a kit(e) bag ? A backpack ? A large sports bag ? Or something else ? Backpack appeals to me, as it would allow me to jump on the bike and ride out to a good spot, rather than take the car.

At a german forum, the beginner recommendations are: 1. Classic Rev shape. typen: rev 1.5 all types, rev 1.2 (Homemade), "baSic", rev I,... 2. skyknife (local german product) 3. vamp devil 4. revolution blast 5. ABS von Lam Hoac 6. rev II limited usability for beginners: 7. dropkick 2.0 8. mojo Elsewhere the Freilein Transeye is considered very good for beginners and intermediate, Will easily forgive small mistakes. Not considered the best trick quad. But there the experienced guys claim that #2-8 has no worse workmanship than the Rev. But the clones is of variable quality. Most kite shops in Germany seems to offer alternatives. Rev parts also considered too expensive, especially for beginners. Sky Shark rods are fine for lower skill levels. $9 instead of $15 for a rod means a lot if the beginner keeps breaking them. Completely unsuitable for beginners are: tarantula, hypnotic quad, shockwave, power-blast, synergy deca ... So there seems to be many alternatives. But in the US, or among the experienced, there is only one kite to rule them all. There is also some that recommends ockert Profiline as the minimum standard for lines (German brand), cheap lines gives more problems. 38 daN recommended over 70 daN as they are ligther, and sufficient for most beginners. Nice to get attention on importance of line quality.

Here I get the impression, that most are probably very devoted, some probably semi-pros. And especially in the US Revolution has almost all the market share. I am not a pro-level. I am a hobbyist and newbiew, and might never get to the level where I feel much difference between a $100 clone and the Revolution. I am fine with Rev doing like the iPhone, 80% of the profits, the rest shared between some other names, and then a lot of low/no profit clones too bad to really buy. I am in Europe, in a small country with no Revolution resellers. Would have to get from Germany or the UK. And if I look at german language websites (I read it perfectly, but don't write it as well), I see more diversity in choice, and recommendations are not as much to one side as here. But the Revolution is clearly the way to go for competition stuff. I really would like to see more kite fliers out there. So a lower entry point, or more diversity is one way I think we can grow the hobby (and as a result probably the sport). I live in a country with ok wind most of the time, but I seldom see kites, unless I go to Rømø, which is an island with a beach that is probably 2 km wide and 5 km long, mostly packed damp sand. There are always lots of kites. Mostly flown by germans on holiday, or who just drives the 30 minutes over the border to fly. I wonder why there are sold 100 or 1000 drones for each kite ? The buyers are mostly stupid type, who knows nothing about drones. It is just a toy. We need to get the kites made cool. And not much more expensive than drones, which are OK, but difficult to fly, below $100. And the videos of the quad-lines I see will attract people if they get out to a wider audience, and the price to entry is lower. Not all toys need to be high-tech. Lego is growing like they never grew before. Revolution Kites will benefit if we can double the number of kites sold, even cheap china stuff, use twice and in the garbage, as long as they are reasonable flyable and controllable. Some people will move to something better. I get the impression that china kites are not the enemy they are painted to be. Most lower quality, some OK, few good, no customer service/support/spares. But still a way to get people interested, at least as long as they are reasonable flyable. And then they will move up. When I was skydiving (150 sq ft of kite, were also doing formation flying with open parachute), we also had some new companies trying to enter both the parachute market, but also the accessories market (ProTrack, AADs). There were room for the better of the new entrants, but I don't think the big names lost much. Much development pace increased, and we all got better cheaper products, produced in larger volumes. With the Cypres AAD (life saving device), there were many issues with the competition, probably a few deaths. When I was in the US once, it was mandatory with an AAD on Tandems. The DZ I was on had had issues with the new US made brand, and all tandem masters were told to turn it off, as that was considered the lowest risk. Yet people wanted the cheaper alternative, and they got a marketplace and got the bugs ironed out. So people are willing to risk their life to save a few dollars. Don't see the cheaper quads as a threat, see them as an opportunity to grow the hobby. There is always a market for the good products.

I see where you are coming from. I am not involved in it as a sport, but more as a hobby, and hopefully I can have some fun with my kids. As a beginner with nowhere to go and try things out I don't have any commitment to the sport, but would like to see more kites. The situation now don't attract too many new users. There are probably 10-100 times more people with a drone than kites around here.

I decided to go for one of the alternatives, just to try it. The Freilein Transeye is supposedly better for beginners, flies in a larger windrange than the unvented revs, but still >$200 RTF, so more than the Rev EXP. It is probably stupid, maybe I should go for a $100 RTF (risky, might scare people away from quads if it flies badly), or the B-Series which will have a nice resale value. Both are probably cheaper options if I decide it is not for me. Also playing with drones / multicopters, and I got 2 from DJI (the leading vendor now) which had minor issues out of the box. Then bought a chinese Walkera X350 Pro instead. Under half price, 85% as good as the DJI. Spares half price. Having used the real DJI, I can feel the difference in the field every time, but the Walkera grows on me, as it is not as dumbed down / easy as the DJI. And if I want to continue, there is no doubt that the Rev will be there somewhere down the road. And then I might be able to really appreciate the difference. I see there is also an american quad called ABS, who is trying to get into the market, looks more symmetric, and probably also better at reverse flight.

I know I can't get around the rev. I just wonder why. The design is 25 years old. Should be possible to make a leap in such a long period, and not just improvements. When looking at indoor competition I see different designs. So maybe the dominance of the rev is not only because it is the best, but because of the dealers, support, spares, backwards compatibility etc. I hear only good about the one Chinese brand. But as you mention, you are alone if you go that route. So I will probably end up buying a B-series. Still wonder why no alternatives. I like competition. Drives innovation and prices. And lover price hopefully more kite fliers.

Are there any good alternatives to the Revolution ? I see Barresi sent the welcome message, so I guess Rev Kites are the big thing here. I know that there are at least one good chinese manufacturer that made a Rev clone, which could not be imported into the US, due to at least the design patent. Not sure how long that patent will run ? Here in Demark they last 25 years, so it should have just expired. The vented models are newer and would still have a valid patent. The good clones are priced very close to the Rev EXP, so not really any benefit there. I see some european importers of the Freilein Transeye, which is an original chinese design, compatible with Revolution frames. It is priced around the same as Revolution 1.5SLE. It is supposedly of same build quality as the Rev B-series. Can't do flic-flac, but flies better backwards than the revs. Seems like germans like it. If the chinese can design something new, so can other companies. I see multiple rev-lookalikes in Europe and China that looks cheaply made, starting from $75 (they look like waste of money). Adding cheap handles, lines etc and there is not a large percentage difference to the $179 the EXP costs on Amazon. But apart from that, are there really any alternatives ? Other vendors with quality products ? Half size models at less than half price ? I am new in this, but one thing it seems is, that price goes up faster than the square of the size. I have a cheap 2 meter span $12-$30 chinese dual line parafoil, that likes at least 4 m/s aka 8 kts wind. Been skydiving a lot until I got children 7 years ago, so a parafoil was obvious. I also flies drones aka multicopters, but they are best in low wind, and needs power and is not as easy to carry around. But the rev videos on youtube really shows some fantastic control, that I would like to learn just a bit of. That is why I look for a quad line. I am willing to spend the $200, but might even go the $335 route = B-series, which is the recommended set for beginners, it seems. How solid are the frame ? Should I be afraid that it will break hitting the ground ? Should i expect to pay $100 for another fram initially or soon after I get it ? I will fly inland, turbolent air. Average wind speed is considered 4 m/s, but the other day it was 1,6 low, average around 3 m/s, gusting to 10 m/s. Normal is 3-4 m/s gusting to twice that. What line length should I use as a beginner ? I hear 30 and 50 ft (10-15 meters). Some people use 80 ft (standard 25 meter), some cuts it down to 30 + 50 ft. I know competition formation is 120 ft.