Light Wind Newbie

[Donski]

I have flown higher wind kites, but I am finding that in my new home and country I need a 1 to 10 mph kite. I am kinda lost. I have been researching the best kites to buy since my higher wind kite is in another continent. I have read the earlier post about what to get, but still am lost.

I want this kite to learn tricks in very light wind. With a little wind outside should I go for the Prism 3D since it is a little faster (but much more work to keep afloat) and I could eventually learn new tricks, or should I go with the Wren that is much slower (less work to keep up in the air) and I have heard it is harder to do tricks (Both in my price range)? (Please correct me if this is wrong information, this is just what I have gathered from the internet because we know how dependable it can be sometimes!)

One other thing I have to keep in mind are the limitations on the wind here. There are trees surrounding the fields (~only 100 feet of field), this is creating a swirling wind for me.

[audioRob]

Trees are bad for flying any kite, both for wind and giving the trees lunch

My personal suggestion is the wren, because it requires much less work to keep it in the air on zero wind days (indoor more or less). For that reason alone it will probably be a lot easier to learn to trick with.

I personally love the HQ breeze for very light wind days, it's a real workout keeping it up in 0-1mph but with around 3mph it's a very trickable kite and rather fun.

[monkey]

My indoor/ super low wind kite of choice :

[Donski]

Thanks for the pic. It looks like an amazing kite. I am not familliar with this style of kite. I have only flown the traditional stunt kites. Could you help me understand the difference between this type of kite and a traditional kite?

It looks somewhat complicated, but I bet it is a blast!!

-Ryan

[monkey]

Thats an Indoor Revolution, which is essentially a 4 line Rev which weighs about 4oz.

I prefer 4 lines kites for -everything-

And no, they are not that complicated. Promise!

[John Barresi]

Donski, here are a couple of articles which you might find to be of use... Sometimes there is no perfect kite, but technique will take you far.

Dual line - http://kitelife.com/archives/issue39/lightwind39/index.htm

Quad line - http://kitelife.com/archives/issue40/lightwind40/index.htm

[jaybett]

The dual line article is one of the best on flying in general. Practicing the controlled circle has helped to improve my flying skills. (I still suck though ) Alot of what I learned in light wind flying translates when the winds pick up.

I was on the field when the pictures were being taken for the quad line article. It was an absolute zero wind day. Even the SUL's were having trouble staying up. John Barresi was flying one handed 360's with a rev and doing all sorts of other cool stuff.

For those of lucky enough to be flying that day. We all got tips from John on how to fly in light wind. Which was a huge help to me.

[John Barresi]

Thanks for the pic. It looks like an amazing kite. I am not familliar with this style of kite. I have only flown the traditional stunt kites. Could you help me understand the difference between this type of kite and a traditional kite?

Hehehe... I can't resist.

Here is a prime example of quad line flying...

http://kitevideo.net/johnbarresi_com/jb-promo05_revplay.wmv

Here is a modern level of dual line flying...

http://kitevideo.net/johnbarresi_com/jb-pr...5_sea-devil.wmv

[Donski]

Monkey-

How much am I looking at to get into a good quad line kite for 0-10 mph winds? Which ones are good to start out with to learn some tricks?

-Donski

[monkey]

Well, i'm pretty quadline focussed myself, so, thats usually going to be my first recommendation. With that in mind, the Revolution EXP is an excellent first quad to get into. Its the low end model but, its capable of anything the more expensive ones are. Stores usually have these for about 180, complete with lines, handles and a DVD to get the basics down with.

If you want to jump right into it, the next one is the Revolution 1.5 SLE (Super Leading Edge, its thicker and stiffer). This is pretty much the "standard" Rev right now, at least as far as competition goes.

Their usual wind range is about 3 - 15 mph , but, once you get good at it, its not too tough to fly one in zero wind on short lines. Also, the SLE has an SUL (super ultralight) version as well)

Oh, I meant to link some of my own indoor footage, shot on Sunday (same session as the picture above)

General indoor fun

This one is specificallly the Revolution Indoor, but, its rating is 0 - 2mph and they are serious about that, its a VERY light kite.

[Donski]

Thanks so much for the great info on quad line kites. I think I might try both a quad and dual line. I was wondering anyones opinion about a dual line kite ~$80-100 that is a 0-10 mph kite. (I have researched the Prism 3D, Wren, and HQ Breeze) Any other favorites?

-Ryan

[audioRob]

Well, it seems not too many agree with me, but the breeze is my favorite low-wind kite. I have a wren pro, breeze, sweetie and Ive flown the desire, amazing, 3-d and ozone.

For me the breeze just behaves how I want it to, when I want it to. For a good starter though, probably the wren. You can get a killer deal on it at kiteshoppe.com

But I already said this above. Well, no use wasting the post

If you want a good quad 'power'kite to start with, I have a beamer 1.8 Ill gladly pass on at a fairly low price.

[Donski]

audiorob-

Thanks for the help again. I didn't know if you had flown a wide variety of kites and now I know what you think about all of the choices out there. I felt kinda confused because there are so many choices for lindoor and light wind dual-lines (0-10 mph). Thanks for the help!!! How was the ozone from Prism???

-Ryan

[audioRob]

The Ozone for me was a wee bit of a let down. Many tricks were a bit tough to pull off "at will". It may just be my style though. It certainly felt like a prism kite though... what that means is up to the individual, some love em, some dont, but you can tell a prism a mile away by look or feel. ymmv

[Donski]

I have it narrowed down to the Wren, but what about the beetle??? I came across it in a kite shop awhile ago. It is hard for me to pass up a $40 that will fly in 3mph if it is good. Any thoughts or experience with the Beetle? Is it a good kite to learn basic flip tricks?

[Backspin23]

the beetle is a very good kite, but only to learn basic flying, but from my experences with it the small surface area makes it too unstable to do many slack line tricks. It is however nearly perfect for someone who is totally new to flying and wants a great cheep nearly indestructable kite to learn to fly with. I haven't flown a wren before, however i tried a prism mirage a few weeks ago and it is very good with tricks, but it takes about 5 mph to fly good, and I think it runs about $120

JD

[Donski]

Thanks for the help... I will check out the prism mirage. I think I have advanced past the beetle from you discription. I am looking for slack line tricks!

[John Barresi]

I'll second the Mirage recommendation.

Good to see you on the forum JD, stick around!

See you in two weeks... Lincoln City!

[Donski]

I think the Mirage is the best option I have found so far, the DVD will help me out so much. Thanks for the help. I just found out that it has a 94 inch wing span!!!! Does anyone buy from a kite shop in Europe (Including this Prism Mirage)? This helps me keep the price of shipping down (I am located in Hungary).

[Tedrick]

My favorite affordable indoor kite is the Sweety from Wolfang Siebert. It's tunable, can be tweaked to be more tricky, and can also be flown outdoors as an SUL on those no-wind days. It's also well made with a very durable frame, making it an excellent choice for learning.

I much prefer the Sweety to the Indoor Wren. It flys nearly as easily, but has a stiffer frame with more mass which makes tricks much easier, and also means you can do more that just axels and 540s indoors.

[shopteacher]

Well, it seems not too many agree with me, but the breeze is my favorite low-wind kite. I have a wren pro, breeze, sweetie and Ive flown the desire, amazing, 3-d and ozone.

For me the breeze just behaves how I want it to, when I want it to. For a good starter though, probably the wren. You can get a killer deal on it at kiteshoppe.com

But I already said this above. Well, no use wasting the post

If you want a good quad 'power'kite to start with, I have a beamer 1.8 Ill gladly pass on at a fairly low price.

this is pretty much how I roll on flying

wren...indoors ONLY toowiggy if there isanything outside

in order of wind options

prism vapor, breeze (sometimes not even that), ozone, tramontana, tramonstana with windbreakers, vented tramontana

plus lines make a big difference in the agility and wind range of a kite

for quad

SUL rev, Rev I, vented Rev

[John Barresi]

I'm pretty fond of the Sweety myself, mainly because of the stiffer frame.

[shopteacher]

I flew a desire UL at up the river on 10 feet of 30# line and found it very floaty and trickable FYI

ALAN

[ant man]

Well, i'm pretty quadline focussed myself, so, thats usually going to be my first recommendation. With that in mind, the Revolution EXP is an excellent first quad to get into. Its the low end model but, its capable of anything the more expensive ones are. Stores usually have these for about 180, complete with lines, handles and a DVD to get the basics down with.

If you want to jump right into it, the next one is the Revolution 1.5 SLE (Super Leading Edge, its thicker and stiffer). This is pretty much the "standard" Rev right now, at least as far as competition goes.

Their usual wind range is about 3 - 15 mph , but, once you get good at it, its not too tough to fly one in zero wind on short lines. Also, the SLE has an SUL (super ultralight) version as well)

Oh, I meant to link some of my own indoor footage, shot on Sunday (same session as the picture above)

General indoor fun

This one is specificallly the Revolution Indoor, but, its rating is 0 - 2mph and they are serious about that, its a VERY light kite.

the prizm 3d has been good to me both indoor and outdoor and the rev indoor is a top choise another good 1 is the guide works deca

[The Kite Shoppe]

The Itrix seems to be the hottest new indoor / low wind outdoor kite for this year