New kite opinions

[Hiett_431]

Hi,. Another newbie post about which kite to buy.  Currently have a Prism Quantum, Prism 4D, and Rev EXP and would like to get something more advanced, precise, and more versatile.  Typically dealing with inconsistent inland winds in 4-12 mph.  If it's blowing harder than that here it's gusty and on verge of a storm.   Currently enjoy the precision side of flying but really want to get moving on learning tricks.  I've done searches on here for people's previous reviews or experience but no direct comparisons.

Looking at the Kymera or Widow NG.  Both of which seem to be a good price.  

Kymera definitely has plenty of trick ability and seems like it would be a hard kite to outgrow.

Widow NG has some reviews that it's nearly the same as Skyburner Widow Maker.  Anyone able to confirm?  I like the reviews of the low wind ability of the actual Widow Maker and am not opposed to spending the money on it if it's going to be worth it in the long run but ultimately would rather get another quad with my money if the lesser priced kite will be comparable. (Especially with new release of Fulcrum and Djinn just around the corner!)

Appreciate any input and I'm certainly open to other kite suggestions outside what I've listed as well.   I know festivals and OPK is the absolute best way but I don't really have that option here as I've had some difficulty finding anyone in my area and only a couple Colorado festivals each year, both in April.  I do see that there is an upcoming festival near Cheyenne, WY at end of September which will be great as it's only about 1.5hr drive for me but I'm skeptical of how many seasoned fliers may be there.  

[Exult]

Though not an answer to your question of which kite to buy (to my understanding to start tricking) – start now and don’t wait. Though the 4D is not very tricky you can certainly start practising: barely flying/stalls, snap stalls, side slides, axels and fade launches (4D is rather stable in a fade if you scale the size of the inputs to fit the 4D).

With the 4D I like the flat axels you get when set up correctly. This is how I manage it: fly horizontally to the edge of the wind window, turn downwards so that the nose ends up pointing upwards (just as you would initiate a side slide) and then let the outer hand extend a bit so that the outer (hand) wing tip sinks back (and the nose lowers somewhat). Then you make the outer hand axel pull.

I have never seen Quantum (only heard that it demands some wind), but I know that at least one person ( https://kitelife.com/forum/blogs/blog/17-learning-to-fly-dual-lines/ ) progressed quite rapidly on that one.

Though I think you shouldn’t wait to begin to learn tricks, I do think it is a good idea to use (and get) several kites for the never ending learning. There is always a first kite you learn a trick on, because that kite is less difficult to do that certain trick on - then translate/transfer the trick to other kites (and one day you can actually claim the trick).

Also, if we speak DLKs, it would be good to cover the optimal wind range between a 4D and a Quantum.

 

[Breezin]

 I'm an hour east of Colorado Springs. Teach me to fly my 1.5 Rev and you can fly my Widow Maker Pro. Only flyable precision kite I got is a TOTL Hawaiian. You can fly that too. Built for precision. I'm not sure if I'll be able to  find a trick in it.Just got this one and it needs some work . Going to keep the one stock . This one I'll repair and re frame. Sails pretty rough. Thinking about venting for 30+ winds. Can I get a 45 here. 45,45, anyone 45 ? Frame can handle it but can I ? Sold my Widow ng to get a Widow Maker Pro. I think they're quite different. Look into the RTF Prism Zephyr. More slower and methodical than my other kites.Above 12 mph it'll get some zippy zip going though. Very easy and rewarding to fly. Like mine a lot.As I'm learning it's the kite I can follow the most. Flying Wings Soul blemished on Ebay for $130.00 could very well be what you're looking for right now. You'd have to get a line set though.Went on a 20 minute rant from here but deleted it. Ya'll are welcome .

[makatakam]

Where are you? Maybe we can guide you to someone who can help. Get out to some kite festivals and try other people's kites. That's the best way to find what suits you best. Don't be afraid to ask to try one of our kites. We don't bite and 99.9% of us will be happy to let you. Go to a brick and mortar kite shop and talk to the pilots you meet there. Ask questions here. There is no perfect kite. Only the ones that are right for you. You can only find the one for you by trying many.

[Exult]

@Breezin there is absolutely no reason to delete aaany rant. Just put the rant between the rant start tag ( <rant> ) and the rant end tag ( </rant> ). Then it is automatically forgiven by eeveryone 🙂! Now if you wrote your deleted rant offline in a local saved file before the copy paste into KL, try the Testdisk program to recover a deleted file. I did this a rather long time ago when I discovered that some ordinary vacation photos just seemed to be missing. Proudly I showed the recovered files to my wife, who went “Nnnnnnooooooo, all my work to tidy up in that mess is lost!”.

15 hours ago, Breezin said:

Teach me to fly my 1.5 Rev and you can fly my Widow Maker Pro

Especially since I try to get in contact with the (somewhat) local kite people during my Devon (UK) vacation trip, I appreciate or can relate to the meeting attempts/arrangements with increased understanding. Hope that it works out!

Yes @Hiett_431 , another thing to practice while waiting for the new kites is (in low wind): the fly away, i.e. recover ground by pointing the nose down and run forward. Ideally you flare the DLK somewhat when doing this (perhaps you are already doing this?).

[Hiett_431]

Thanks for the responses. 

@Exult, good advice, I'll definitely work on those things with the 4D while I'm still debating on new kites. Thanks for the quick tutorial too!  I really like the quick response i get when flying the 4D.  Its night and day how fast the kite reacts compared to the prism quantum, which a lot of the time is a struggle to keep it in the air.

@Breezin, I'd be more than happy to trade some tips sometime and share kites although I'm up in Greeley and don't get that far south very often.  100+ mile drive is a lot to fly kites..haha.  I have a much easier time flying the Rev than the Prism and honestly enjoy the quad more but the trick list of duals is so intriguing to me.  I did see those Soul kites on ebay, hadn't really thought about one before but the wind range looks good and they certainly sound like a very capable and well built kite.  May have to put in an offer on one.

@makatakam, I'm located in Greeley, CO.  Its an hour north of Denver, fairly populated area here on the front range with others cities around.  Closest local shop is ITW in Boulder, I've only been there on a Saturday though and its so busy that you can't get any time to just chat or talk with the pros there.  Someday I may be able to get in there on a weekday but work interferes with that.  I tried to look into the Rocky Mountain Kite Association but I couldn't find much from their website or any meets/events they have anymore.  Most of what I could find was posted from quite a few years ago.  I really would enjoy meeting some other fliers and trying new setups.

[Exult]

If you most of the time got problems keeping the Quantum in the air you seem to live in a low wind area (you already are doing your kiting in good quality wind on a large field I suppose, with no large objects upwind for several hundred meters or perhaps at a beach with the wind coming in from the sea?). My DLK “chain-of-kites” (i.e. what I currently most likely would chose for tricking/mixed flying in different wind ranges starting from low wind to high): Prism 4D (not for its trickability, but because it is the most low wind kite I got), HQ Shadow, ITW Kymera, ITW Hydra, HQ Infinity, HQ Maestro3 (bit smaller than the Infinity) and Rev 1.5 B-series full vent (wait that is a QLK, not a DLK, but I don’t have any vented DLKs).

Funny that you mentioned the(/a?) ITW shop, they now have a very good price on the Kymera and the Hydra (used to be around USD200 or more?). Of the two the Kymera got the larger wind window and requires a bit less wind. The Hydra is especially fun when provokingly trying newish things, very little input is required to end a turtle or a fade and the Hydra was the kite that got me into axel cascading). Both kites are certainly trickable however. They will both meet a harder winds with slightly humming trailing edges. Out of the two I’d expect that the Kymera would feel most "sensible"/predictable and be easier for a beginner.

[Breezin]

Exults description of the Hydra is spot on for me too. When trying new things it and the Prism Zephyr are what I usually turn too. From a practical sense I probably got to many kites. In reality though I don't have enough. A hard thing for me is not buying something similar to one I already got. Been successful so far and all are pretty different from each other. It's the reason I haven't got a Soul std and ul. My Black Dog and Nighthawk are my 3/4 kites. Both are very capable tricksters but very different in flight and construction. The simplistic design of the Black Dog is pretty amazing. All 6 mm carbon frame. Heavy on the lines in a good way, tough and will fly in a wide wind range.Nighthawk is framed in P300 and P200 Sky Shark. Lighter on the lines and not quite as tough of a frame. Main difference for me is the Black Dog tip wraps easier and has a bit more precision. Tip wraps are not a good thing when learning. Last couple times out those are the kites I've been flying. Mainly trying to discern the differences and why. Sold both to get my Widow Maker but replaced them recently.Both kites are a blast. Most of my ground work and 1 to 2 feet acrobatics I've learned on the 3/4 size kites. Once you get it the 3/4 is funner but the bigger kites are more rewarding. The excitement of not crashing LOL. Have to agree that the bigger sails would be best for a newbie. The smaller kites are quicker and you can over steer real easy. Last time I went to ITW on a weekday I was stunned at the crowd. Really like those people. If you want we could meet up there, get some advice and go fly where they do. I'll pull the trigger and get their quad handle and line set. Wayne seems pretty happy with that OSK line.Do some research on the Blue Moon Mamba. That's Brandons 1st kite 😮. The guy who built that kite shows up here now and again. A MASTER!!! I believe he's the one sewing the Fulcrum. Look at his past builds and you'll be blown away. You'll learn something too.