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General belief in my early years of flying was that carbon spars can become brittle in extreme cold conditions and while it's a given that carbon can become brittle if it's cold enough, I was wondering if any of you folks might have some personal kite experience on the subject? I have only flown in below freezing conditions a couple of times, -10c on a B-Series full vent with a 3 wrap frame and around 28f on a B-Series STD with Black Race frame... I didn't have any issues, but older Rev rods are notoriously tough. Whaddya know?

Mars 2018, ITW Kymera 25m lines One, lately a bit rare , pre-work session on a piece wise slippery field. This morning offered a sun dog scenery along with a faint halo. My current DLK main focus is to get the flic flac going/start/getting a tiny bit reliable. Considering that the FAs are not 100% it is actually more than one thing that is being practiced in parallel. Sometimes even one rung of a JL just happens to come out of it (typically if the light pop when flared was uneven and you happen to end up in a turtle). It is kind of a continuation of last springs "tricking en masse" (~keep the kite unstable and let it tumble around without the lines getting tangled) project, but perhaps/hopefully some more intent shows though. This focus (and also the, to date, three quarter of year of QLKing) means that other tricks get less attention, so I guess that (if the above would get successful), the next project could be to make earlier tricks (now more neglected) to co-exist - all available simultaneously. First image: Notice the sun dog and a faint halo around the sun. Second and third image: I like the mood of the greenish toned winter. In addition the green themed Kymera goes well along with it. However I can't say if the reddish or the blueish image from the same session is the truest one. Beginner flic flac problems: Feet stopping when they should be running downwind typically during the flare after the first fade. Sometimes the kite just gets towed instead of exiting the fade (to flare) - it is getting rarer now though. Sometimes the short tug that ends the flare is un-even and "un-planned tumbling" is initiated. Not really knowing the details to look for or feel that should trigger the movements when doing the trick (but I just recollected the hint about looking for the spine in http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/8554-zephyr/?do=findComment&comment=69059 , so that is something to try). Sad news: my Infinity starts to get worn. Good thing: In the often light winter winds the green (for some reason I currently seem to fancy green) ITW Kymera is a good option for the flic-flac training. Even though the Infinity was the kite that first allowed me to do a few flic-flacs, the Kymera allows me to get the same training in somewhat lighter winds. These finger straps are OK once when they are on, but it is tricky with gloved hands to get fingers in since the straps have a tendency to go flat. The now not so cold weather allows the easiest approach to get the finger straps on and off - just take the gloves on/off when before/after the walk of shame/contemplation.

Sat Feb 17 18:00:00 CET 2018 Golf course, forecasted 1m/s, in reality possibly no wind Vapor on 15m 20kg lines One February afternoon my wife turned hopeful - there was a thin layer of snow - perhaps it would be possible to do some cross country skiing again. Towards the end of the day me and my wife left for the wintry golf course. I wasn't so sure, so I left the skies at home and "only" brought my Prism Vapor. We went by two cars because my wife feared that I for some reason could get stuck while doing kiting (toootally unfair...). When arriving at the parking there were unusually few other cars there - I guess that few had made the same optimistic assumption about the possibility for skiing. She is very enthusiastic about this type of skiing and her whole being kind of shines up during and after skiing. It turned out that the snow layer was just sufficient and I would have gotten more time for the kiting if I would have put the Vapor in a back pack and had gone to the (largest) field by skies - instead I walked, carefully avoiding going near or on the tracks not to annoy the skiers. I have not gotten to know the Vapor properly yet (which is another way of saying that it has been somewhat neglected), so I really handle it with silk gloves. I realized that I should have rehearsed the assembly instructions before the session (especially about the trick line), but I had to hurry up anyhow since it was towards the end of the day. When doing the 360ies I could hardly feel any differences in how much backwards you needed to move for any part of the circle, so this was very close to a no wind situation. Finding the way home - the traditional way. I realize that this blog entry is not so much a report about the kiting, but more in what context the kiting session took place. Most memorable for me is the mood of the nature and session. And frankly it wasn't very much of a session. I felt that I needed to work quite hard for the 360ies. The up and overs had a similar problem. For them it seemed like 15m lines were too long. When pulling downwards when the kite is on its way to the top the hands get too close to the ground. Next time I really should try shorter lines. When the few enthusiastic skiers circulating the field were almost all gone I realized that it really was time to head for home. I guess that this was a situation that I could have gotten acquainted with the map-app of my not yet familiar phone, but I instead opted for moving before it got dark. My wife had already left (she accepts my kiting but is not an enthusiast herself) for her car, while I had continued with the kiting. I was a little concerned because it was getting dark and she is the one that knows the area best. I was quite glad that I had my footprints to follow - the ski tracks went in "all directions" so they were not much of a help. I watched the footprints carefully and didn't let go of them more or less until I saw the silhouette of the car.