Newbie Journey, Rev learning tips

[happysuperbutton]

I got a chance to fly. It lasted a good 45mins or so.

im satisfied.

mm.

the tide went low and gave enough room.

How to stake the kite down during setup if I go into the water Mark? 

[makatakam]

2 hours ago, happysuperbutton said:

I got a chance to fly. It lasted a good 45mins or so.

im satisfied.

mm.

the tide went low and gave enough room.

How to stake the kite down during setup if I go into the water Mark? 

You don't. You set up the kite end first. Lay down the kite face up, leading edge towards you with the lines attached. Put some sand on the leading edge. Roll out the lines on the beach, zig-zag or back and forth. Grab the handles with the lines attached and tighten the lines as you walk into the water. The sand you put on the kite on the LE should allow to pick up the bottom tips without the kite sliding.

 

[John Barresi]

And be sure your bridles aren’t under the kite before you put tension in the lines.

[happysuperbutton]

Anyone can link me the guide to cutting own lines? I remember coming across a fairly detailed post here somewhere but can't seem to find it now, it had pictures and accounted for measurements to include extra lengths for knot tying and sleeving and how to do everything. Thanks in advance, miss everyone winter has been dull!

Is it better to purchase 120' lines, then cut down the older 120' to make a short set 30-50'? Can't determine what's the best route easiest on the wallet to get a set of shorties.

Winds have been picking up here again but still uncomfortably cold for me to fly, feeling like a sad puppy looking out the window!! Love this hobby 

 

[riffclown]

Honestly unless you are flying team, line lengths are entirely flexible..

 

You just need this

 

[khsidekick]

I buy 300 yard or 1000 ft spools of string and 20 feet of white sleeving and 20 feet of black sleeving material and make them from scratch. Buy the sleeving tool and it’s fairly easy from there. I made my own sleeving tool and struggled with it for a while until I broke dawn and spent the $4 for a nice one. I cut the sleeving at 16 inches and that seems to well for me. Roughly $125 and you can make several sets of strings and will have the tool to make broken strings into shorter ones easily.


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[happysuperbutton]

On 2/17/2018 at 5:12 PM, riffclown said:

Honestly unless you are flying team, line lengths are entirely flexible..

 

You just need this

 

Want short set to fly in not-enough-space patches of grass ^^ but thanks!

[SparkieRob]

The first time I cut down some lines, I made a 30 and 49ish set from my old 80's. It was really simple in the end. I decided not to sleeve the new loops but did put pull tabs on them.

I measured out 15 feet and makes them with 2 stakes, one at either end.
One at a time! I put the loop on one stake and went around and back to give me 30 feet. BUT. I went around and back where the stake that had the loops on and replicated the extra length that will form my "other" loop.
Applying some tension, I marked across both lines with a sharpie and then cut 1cm PASSED the mark. Repeat for the other 3.
When it came to tying the knot, I tied a figure 8 stopper on the very end but I found this not really needed.
Line the 2 marks up and tie the first overhand knot just on the loop side of the mark. Careful to keep the tension even.
Tie another overhand knot about 2cm closer to the new loop end from the one you just did.
Repeat for the others.
I put all 4 over the stake and ran them up and back again to check for even length. My first set only one was a bit off so I just tied another knot between the 2 overhand ones.

Give it a go. Still use that set but it's getting a little ratty now... 30 is my favourite length, I just love to intimacy of it.

Sent from a Galaxy 8 Far Far Down Under.

[SparkieRob]

Oh, it is ideal that lines be millimetre perfect but a little off and your hands will correct for your eyes.

Sent from a Galaxy 8 Far Far Down Under.

[dragonfish]

If you use SparkieRob's method of doubling back, you would be wise to do one line at a time. I tried to double back and lay out all 4 lines before cutting, on a set of 120's no less.  It seemed smart at the time to do all 4 together to get equal tension when stretching the line. Plus my (dad's) super long tape measure only went to 100'. 

A large, blunt tapestry needle works well as a sleeving tool too. 

Saturday was pretty nice for flying. I was at Shoreline for a couple hours. Now it's cold again. 

[SparkieRob]

A quick word on a 30 set.

You can fly a Standard into Vented winds quite easily. Quick to the edges but you are also under the strong stuff due to a 30 or do foot ceiling cap. I can take a Standard with Black Race on 30's from true zero all the way out to 20 mph. Rarely are my conditions THAT variable but can be done. Top end is a bit punishing on a Standard though.

 

For me, 30 feet is my happy zone. The length is super fun. Tight work in tight spaces.

 

Mark my words, there will be a competition category for 30 feet soon! Picture this, 3 or 4 competitors on the field at once battling! Giving the crowd a show up close and real personal.

 

Sent from a Galaxy 8 Far Far Down Under.

 

 

 

 

[khsidekick]

A quick word on a 30 set.
You can fly a Standard into Vented winds quite easily. Quick to the edges but you are also under the strong stuff due to a 30 or do foot ceiling cap. I can take a Standard with Black Race on 30's from true zero all the way out to 20 mph. Rarely are my conditions THAT variable but can be done. Top end is a bit punishing on a Standard though.
 
For me, 30 feet is my happy zone. The length is super fun. Tight work in tight spaces.
 
Mark my words, there will be a competition category for 30 feet soon! Picture this, 3 or 4 competitors on the field at once battling! Giving the crowd a show up close and real personal.
 
Sent from a Galaxy 8 Far Far Down Under.
 
 
 
 

That would be awesome to watch for sure. I’ve noticed I do more damage to my sails and spars on 30’s. Just part of the learning curve I guess. Usually I fly the mid vent on 30’s and it’s is definitely showing signs of ware. It needs to be sent of to JB before he quits doing mods to them.


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[Wayne Dowler]

Just remember the wind window is shorter, and therefore your reflexes need be faster! 

I remember a funny story: It was at Lincoln City years ago and I had a std on 50'x50#. Wind came up some, so I put a mid on. A  friend came over and asked what I was doing. I told him I was too lazy to wind up lines and go to another set, so I just swapped sails instead. He gave me a funny look, then asked to try - I still remember him laughing!!! 

Personally 50' seems to be my sweet spot in length, still short, but the window is just a touch wider. My Zen loves this length!

[happysuperbutton]

Thanks for all the input again guys. Miss chatting with all of you! Familiar names

While I've yet to fly any thing less than 80s, I've come to learn that i love the speed. So I'm okay with that.

I primarily want shorter lines to fly in more places where 80s would just be inconvenient and not ideal for the location (crowded, cramp)

But additionally having watched so much more kite videos now since I first discovered the hobby, I started recognizing that the most solo fun (combinations, tricks, variety) is performed while on a shorter set. The long sets show up more often in group flying.

And that's what I wanna try next  so looking to get a short set added to the bag. Probably end up buying a new one and cutting down the older set.

Still piecing together hours of flight video footage from last year season hahahaha it's embarrassing, but I also still am excited to share it soon. 

Love the hobby, still all wrapped up in that "new" novelty gonna make the best of it!

[John Barresi]

Ok, you've been talking about it for too long brother - pull the trigger already, it'll be worth it.  

If you can hover in most of the basic positions and control your speed most of the time, it won't be much of an added challenge but it will give you all the other fun dynamics previously discussed.

[happysuperbutton]

Was heading home over the weekend from a mini weekend getaway, when I realized we'd be going by the Berkeley Marina (Kite Festival grounds). Decided to stop by for the sunset, and felt so weird good being there. I met JB here for the first time along with a bunch if the other Rev/Kite community just some 9 months ago when I had just discovered the entirety of the sport of kites.

The park now is sprawling lush green, grass almost a foot tall, a complete contrast from that day when John handed me his kite with dry dusty grounds around us and me gleeming with all the excitement .

Just some months ago I was asking for so much help and this community so warmly welcomed all my questions, helped me find a starting kite. And now I have a bag of kites for myself, dual lines foils, my starter midvent, an Ash, and closer to my heart a rev2 and a loaner B2 with 80 & 120 sets. Hehehe. Am now a baby magnet (as the wife calls it) as I fly almost daily at the neighborhood park. I've taken the bag and flown everywhere I've been able to squeeze flying time in, including Singapore and Bali already. Looking forward to the new season and festival again already 😂😂

Just bought a bicycle with the wife so no chance to pick up a vented yet to complete the "wind range" collection.

-Feeling so thankful and blessed-

 

To anyone else interested in the hobby and on the fence about getting a kite and joining in, just do it. The amount of sheer fun you're gonna have will blind away everything else!

[dragonfish]

Awesome!

BASKL fun fly at Shoreline on April 14. Hope to see you there. This is also an open invite for anyone else who may be in the area. 

[makatakam]

On 4/4/2018 at 12:47 PM, happysuperbutton said:

Just bought a bicycle with the wife so no chance to pick up a vented yet to complete the "wind range" collection.

Consider getting a cheap "beater" and putting some holes in it by yourself. All you need is a piece of junk glass to work on and a five-dollar soldering iron. Voila, instant full-vent, or more. Flying something you created is twice the amount of fun.

[happysuperbutton]

19 hours ago, dragonfish said:

Awesome!

BASKL fun fly at Shoreline on April 14. Hope to see you there. This is also an open invite for anyone else who may be in the area. 

We'll be in Yosemite, I'll put my kite up there and join in spirit 😂

[happysuperbutton]

Threw this video together in a way to thank everyone that has replied here helping me along as I delved into kiting. I'm so so happy with how I'm able to control the kite today, 10 months ago I had not even heard of a Revolution kite. (*cough* need more marketing for a 30year old product)

I've clearly got plenty much more to learn and skills to hone, but I wouldn't be here today without the Kitelife tutorials and the countless priceless pointers that popped in here time and time again (and of course sensei Steve/Fred/Joanna) 

And no, this ain't any musical routine, just music overlayed for entertainment lol.

😁

Too many names to shout out, but you know who you are, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can't wait to learn even more.

[makatakam]

Well done. Now you may proceed to the advanced videos. Feels good to be in complete control and not crashing, doesn't it? You've come a long way since then, and there's so, so, so much more to go. This is the part where the real fun starts.

YEEHAW!

[happysuperbutton]

Ty Mark 😄 and all the valuable tidbits you've provided me with that I'd take out to the field with me!

I wanna figure out reversed flight now hehe. My kite keeps flipping over when I do at speed, like an unplanned craptastic flicflac.

[Paul LaMasters]

each direction of flight has a finite speed limit,... look at 'em as proportions of each other,... Remember the objective is to hide the differences in speed, generally and maximize the differences to certain aspects of your routine (precision) or music (ballet). These items are called opportunities!

1st is a side slide, inverted or upright, doesn't matter.  Call that speed "X"  Doing this same movement up and down instead of side to side will be slower still.  

The 2nd speed is reverse flight, or "X-2", it is a little bit faster than a slide.  Again going against gravity (like a reverse from the ground to the top of the window) will be slower than the other way towards the ground.  HIDE that difference with your handle control and foot movement.

The 3rd speed is forward, it's "X-4", Way faster than a slide, like 400% if you so desire.  If all you do is fly around in forward flight though you are missing out on the magic of a quad-lined kite's capabilities.

The kite will never go as fast sideways or backwards, as it will in forward flight,... so you control that forward speed and hide those differences, unless it really fits at the moment of your need.

I am offended when folks fly/demo a two stringed musical routine with a quad.  In my mind you aren't showing me what I want to see, SLOW precise control with bursts of power ONLY where they actually fit.  A good portion of that routine needs to be backwards, not 5% if you are knocking my socks off, the "quad-line effect"

So, don't worry about your reverse speed, just fly backwards like you own it.  Amaze folks such that they don't even understand what direction your kite can fly in naturally, then offer 'em the handles for a try themselves.

Practice an inch above the ground inverted until you are MORE comfortable in this orientation than upright.  Pretend you have to fly between my outstretched arms and the ground.  Less room than under soccer goal..... to execute this level of control you might very well be moving your feet all over god's green earth to make the kite appear stationary.

If you can stand in one place and fly all day, then you've got better wind conditions than I know locally here in the mid-atlantic states!  

[makatakam]

Once you get a bit more comfortable with reverse flight it's time to get really comfortable with it. Sit down. On the ground. Yup, plant your butt in the sand or on the grass and fly. It suddenly becomes an entirely different game. You'll feel as out of control as you were on day one two three. Yeah, definitely day three. Learn to fly well while sitting down and you will truly appreciate how easy it is when you're on your feet, and you will understand how moving your feet affects what you can do. It will force precision into your flying. Not only is it fun and like taking a break, but when you can do all the things you can do standing up, you will be well prepared for low wind. It teaches you fine control on inputs, and how important hand position really is.

[ACrop]

In short, while gliding downwards with the trailing edge pulled maximum towards you, jogging/running instead of walking is good way of increasing the wumpability of any low wind QLK session (that I just learned recently from here). ... Now over to the rest of the text that might be a bit talkative.
I was kind of concerned that starting with QLKing reduced my over all weekly physical exercise dose (1h of tennis + DLKing + garden/house work). This was particularly the case during my 2.5 months (ending 2.5 weeks ago) period during which I was on a strict QLK diet to see how much QLKing I could pick up during that period. Compared to DLKing I missed out on physical exercise, since you have to move quickly with the wind to do the DLK slack line tricks. Then a voice came to my rescue (at least for QLKs in low wind):
This is an excellent advice that I for some reason came to think of during the second half my QLK low wind session last week - the thought was so sudden that it was like it just came out of nothing or at least the evening sky. I must have missed it elsewhere (or could it be considered to be a well timed remainder?), this was the one post that made it stick in my head providing me with another piece of the puzzle. Sharing is good, keep on talking kiteish so certain isolated north European kiters might eventually learn.
Even though gaining ground is simple with a QLK in my experience, running with the wind made it much more efficient. I now had more room for powering up the sail (i.e. moving backwards in addition to the pulling) making it look much speedier and keen. It was like this second part followed by itself. I think creating the room for powering up (by running forward) it is one thing, but it also sets your feet in motion, once you start running you are in that mode and it is more likely that you continue moving your feet when backing. This active piloting noticeably raised my pulse. For the next low wind session I'm eager to try out how to make good use of this extra room for tensioning the lines, both when flying straight and also when doing turns/rotations. Low wind recently got more attractive both in performance and as a mean of physical exercise!
I had to verify a second time before posting - the improved performance during only half a session could just be coincidental (luck?). And after this second low wind pre-work session yesterday morning, the result was the same. I don't know if you gain more ground by running forward (but suppose so), but at least the "pauses" when you gain ground get much reduced and efficient - the session becomes more vivid. I still got started moving the feet quicker and can now chose the level of exercise I want to get during a low wind session. When trying this out I actually aimed for a time when the forecast said low wind, 1-2m/s mean wind speed - a wind speed that normally doesn't make me long for the field - especially not this field. Normally for this field when minimizing the effort when piloting DLK the forecast should say 4-5m/s mean speed. Another benefit of short intensive sessions is that it would fit other non-kite related life better than long marathon sessions and certainly would make the short (low wind) pre-work sessions more rewarding.
Now when the 2.5 months is over I should probably re-evaluate how quickly I can move forward while gaining ground with DLKs (without back flipping the DLK) as well.

If you are looking for higher heart rate you should try doing 360s. [emoji3]

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