Quad Handles and the right REV

[makatakam]

Hi, Michael. Mark from the dark side of Illinois here. My first Rev was a 1.5 SLE standard sail with 80-foot lines and 13" handles. I have been trying to beat it to death for close to five years now without success. The damn thing just won't die. Buy what you can afford and is appealing to you and fly it. Have fun, and don't forget to breathe.

Just do it!

[rexracer]

The 1.5 full sail that I got has a Poly sail. It is a custom that was made for the Berkeley Kite Festival, and Tom had them specifically made with the better sail. I would've bought it anyway, it was just an added bonus. One thing that made a huge difference in my flying was to dump the 120' lines for 75' lines. I know 120s are the standard, but I never fly with anyone and really don't have the room for long lines where I fly. The 120s seemed to delay my inputs and be more difficult to keep the kite going in lighter conditions. It's hard for me to really tell, though, as I haven't flown on the 120s since I got the shorter lines. I wouldn't recommend 120s as a first lineset, though. I think they slowed my learning in the beginning.

I would say I have to agree with this. I have terrible winds here, light, gusty and from every direction. I fly on 50' lines most days because they allow me to react to changing wind directions and the wind cutting out much quicker that even the 85" lines that came with my SLE. That being said, in good wind the big window you get with the 120"s is great, That's why if you can spend the time to make lines, I say get the spool and do it. I made a jig and make them while sitting in front of the TV in my livingroom, Takes me about 10 minutes per line.

[Reef Runner]

Hi, Michael. Mark from the dark side of Illinois here. My first Rev was a 1.5 SLE standard sail with 80-foot lines and 13" handles. I have been trying to beat it to death for close to five years now without success. The damn thing just won't die. Buy what you can afford and is appealing to you and fly it. Have fun, and don't forget to breathe.

Just do it!

Michael, again, just as Mark has clearly said, and just as I said earlier, pick a kite that you can afford, and one that looks good to you, and go for it (it appears that the B-series is only about $20 more than the SLE). You are making this selection process, way, way, too complicated. I likewise have a SLE. It is a "second hand", 1.5 SLE full sail with 3-wrap frame, which I have had for nearly 5 years, myself (standard, stock, ain't got a clue what it's made out of, and don't care). It's a tank ! You can't hardly hurt it. I learned to fly quad-lines (self taught with "zero" instructions) on that kite, and I crashed it a million times, hard, as did the guy that owned, and learned on it, before me. It is still in nearly perfect shape, and continues to fly great. I did eventually replace the larger (7/16") leading edge, with a 3-wrap 1/4" LE, so as to fly in lighter winds, but I still have the larger SLE leading edge, for newbies, should they want to learn, and crash.

But still, to this day, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the sail on that kite, whatever it is made out of (?). My point earlier was that, Revolution Kites, (barring a custom kite) is normally going to determine what material is used for the sail, in the different kites, so unless you are going to speak with Lolly at Rev, and spec out a custom made kite, take Mark's advice, take Wayne's advice, take my advice, just do it ! Pick one and you will be happy with whatever you get, and you will never question, what the sail if made of. That's just not something that you need to concern yourself with. If for some reason, you don't feel that the rip-stop nylon sail, on the standard SLE is sufficient, for whatever reason, then kick it up a notch, and go for the B-series. Either way, you are going to get 13" handles, with or without knots (that's easily fixable), and then you can pick the length of line that you want (probably 80' - 85' would be best for learning).

As Wayne mentioned, there are lots of good on-line vendors out there. Just to start, look up AWOC (A Wind of Change), and call them, and ask to speak with Kent Kingston. He will be glad to help you, and he can answer any questions and address any concerns that you have, concerning Revs. Kent is a good guy and he knows his stuff ! Also, call Midwest Kites, and speak with Lyn. I bought my first "New" rev from Lynn. She and Rich spent an hour and a half on the phone with me one day, answering all my questions about Revs. They helped me immensely, just to clear up some of the inner demons, which were creating immense anxiety, over my upcoming purchase. Really, you just need to call some of these people, with a list of questions in hand, and talk to them. They are all great people, and ready to help...... There is no wrong choice !

Good Luck..........hope we all haven't confused you, too much ! Go Play !

[John Barresi]

I'm fairly sure all EXP and SLE are now made with nylon... Poly starts with the B-Series, best quality poly (PC-31) comes in the PROs.

You'll definitely want to verify that, and older stock may be different, but I seem to recall hearing that recently.

[timmyz]

call kent at a wind of change (702 736-1476) always very helpful and very knowledgeable. tim