Alternatives to the Revolution

[Paul LaMasters]

many of us have kites that aren't used, heck they aren't even accounted for in our homes! I try to prevent people for uses their funds too hurriedly. Know what you're after, plan for what location, any specific conditions and wind range(s).

I'd rather endure the newbies' abuse on my own stuff, rather see another poor soul buy a bunch of cheap stuff/crap on their way to "the promised land". I apologize for not getting around more of the world to share my passion. To me, there's nothing more rewarding then seeing that newbie smile when you know you have 'em hooked-up so sweet. My most recent example are a couple of folks named Melissa and Fletch, totally engrossed with the addiction, in which I play some minor role. We still state that the "weakest flyer gets their choice" from all the kites flying when we are assembled as a club. I want their confidence up and also I'm looking for them to establish their own personality with a kite. An extension of your arm, ultimately of your brain. A magical experience,.... know what? That doesn't happen for possibly years when going it alone! Go meet up with some other fliers, go introduce yourself, ASK for assistance. I'd be amazed if none of them offered you their handles and lesson, in fact I'd be downright outraged. Almost none of us were hooked HARD flying alone, it's so much easier to "drink the cool-Aid" in an assembly/group fly/or at a competition.

I learned alone, flew for a couple of years determined to tame this beast by myself, .... then I met up with some other pilots in club, Heck I bribed one of 'em (Jeff Burka) for a private lesson! I waited 7 years before competing for the first time. Still flying/competing now but without choreography or music selected in advance, despite being in masters for more than a decade (Know why? 'cause it's still fun to just wing it!, no expectations, no disappointment, entertaining for the crowd, judges and my fellow competitors, I don't know what's coming next either <HA>!)

Honestly? I'm trying to prevent you from following my bad examples, see I'm like the Charles Barkley of kiting. I'm everything you don't want to be, a negative role model. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Wait until you have had wet dreams about a kite and find out it doesn't cost a tenth of the amount of pleasure it provides back after acquisition. If a $400 kite last for three thousand hours of my hard abuse, put away wet and rolled tight,.... that's 13 cents an hour! Show me another smile-maker that's this cheap. The biggest expense of being a kite flyer is the travel costs. See after you fly with a group just once, you want to do it again and again. Now nobody can do 'em all, so which kite flying activities are getting your funds this year? Was it so good you want to go again next, or do you risk your funds on a new experience?

I can't even remember the last time I took a vacation that wasn't kite related and my bride doesn't even like sport kites! If there are a hundred beauty custom SLKs in the air and one of is simply outstanding, follow that line back to the ground and Barbara's over there talking to the flier. At the end of the day we didn't even see the same stuff!

So yes there are alternatives to the Rev, but nothing that compares to it's flight dynamics when using four lines. It doesn't take hundreds of hours to hold an inverted hover. It takes the proper wind conditions and a few minutes of private instruction, on a kite tuned perfectly. A carefully choreographed routine will hundreds of hours, many just learning the music. A coach or better yet a group environment can teach you one new thing and you're probably going to want to return for more.

If you're a family you should be on the dining room table making kites out of trash bags and wooden dowels TOGETHER. forget all about sport kites or your kids will not be going on to higher education! I'd have a real nice nest-egg for retirement by now, if I was a health-nut instead of quad-head

-sir charles

[makatakam]

I'm trying to prevent you from following my bad examples, see I'm like the Charles Barkley of kiting.

That means I must be the Jerry Lewis of kiting.

[Reef Runner]

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 agree that YES, many people here, are somewhat devoted to Revolution kites. And yes, there are some that are "semi-pros", and yes, there are even a few genuine "pros" here - no doubt. As for me, I don't fit into either of the "pro" categories, for sure; however, when it comes to quad line kites, I am somewhat devoted to the Rev.

I suppose I was lucky. A friend gave me my first Revolution kite, a used 1.5 SLE. I didn't want it. I didn't want anything to do with it, or any other quad-line kite. I was perfectly happy dogging around with my single and dual line kites, out on the beach. You know, that Rev traveled around in my kite bag for a good 6 - 8 months, un-flown and untouched, until finally, the pressure and constant nagging from my friend, got to me. Eventually, I gave in, and decided to give it a try. Talk about a "wreck" happening fast, well it did - over and over again, and frustration finally set in, and then, there was the line problem, but after a bit of reflection (later in the evening), and after watching a few online videos, and after doing a little reading, and somehow getting into my head, the concept of quad-line flight, I headed back out the next day. The number of crashes was reduced tremendously, and by the end of the session, I was nearly able to keep the kite in the air, more than on the ground. Yes, during those first few sessions, the kite was probably flying me, more than I was flying it, but together, we were eventually able to stay aloft, most of the time. Finally, I began to take control of the kite, and from that point on, I never looked back. I honestly don't believe that an inferior clone would have made it through all of that. It would have been destroyed the very first day, and I would have probably thrown it away, and that would have been the end of my quad line flying. After all, I really wasn't all that proficient with the dual line kites, so moving to a quad line was quite a transition for me. But that first Rev, the 1.5 SLE, which admittedly, is a bit of a tank, really took a licking those first few days, and I drove that tank into the ground, time after time, but nothing ever broke, and that old kite is just as good today, as it was the day I got it. I never had a problem with it, and I still fly that very 1st Rev, from time to time, even today. Since my introduction to Rev flight, I have owned some 15 - 20 different Revs, (not all that many, by some's standards). I have cut that number down a bit, in recent years, and I actually have a brand new Rev in the bag, right now, that is still waiting to see air for the first time.

Oh, and yes, I know your next question.......Yes, I have tried a few (other peoples), non-Rev brand, quad line kites, and yes they all fly, some better than others, some quit well. However, I'm not so sure that some of them would have survived my learning curve, but now I'll never know, because today, encounters with the ground are planned events, and much more gentle. Maybe it's just me, but also, yes, I sense there is a difference, maybe real, maybe perceived, maybe it's just because that's where I started (?). Some how, though, I really hope you can experience some of the differences, before you make your decision, and your purchase.... Good Luck

[Tmadz]

I don't blame you for following a budget. My reason for Rev's is just loyalty. While there are other designs out there, I would never buy a knockoff. Someone did the work to design, prototype, refine and create a new kite. I cannot, in good conscience, buy something from a mass market manufacturer who merely reverse engineered a copy that is more than likely to have inferior craftsmanship and materials.

I am willing to buy quads from other manufacturers, but haven't felt the need to do so. I will never buy an unlicensed knockoff and take away money from the few designers doing business.