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fworley
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David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:15 pm

Another great review from Karloh with insights from the designer, David Ruger.

http://v2.1.kiteclique.com/wordpress-3. ... w-by-carlo

Thanks fellas :D

-Frazer
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:27 pm

Looking good!
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:30 am

And just to momentarily divert attention away from Tim, Chris and the SuperFly, here is a further review of the Magnet, another 'cutting edge' freestyle kite.

David has very kindly sent over his personal Magnet to the UK so that it could be trialled by Mike Fogg, Yan Spooner and myself.

The comments below should be read in conjunction with Carlo's excellent review and are the observations of a much less skilled flyer.

Flight Characteristics

The first and most important thing to say is that this is one FUN kite.

It’s certainly different from my other kites and it took a few flights to tune into it.
One thing that’s for sure: the Magnet’s capabilities far exceed mine.

It has a huge wind range going from 4 mph up to whatever wind you can manage to trick in (and Mike and I had it out in winds gusting to at least 20 mph).

It has a light presence on the lines, providing sufficient feedback in low winds and without excessive pull on the lines at the top end of the wind range.

I had no problem doing all the tricks in my repertoire, although some needed a bit more tuning into the timing than others. Details below:

  • Axels – Small inputs required.
  • HAs and Cascades – Nose goes high very quickly so doesn't need any slack in the flare. Almost a continual ‘roll’ inputs from one hand to the other to lift it out. Stunning when you get the timing right.
  • Tazes – Because the nose goes high very quickly, it doesn't need any real slack before the pull for the rotation. Happiest almost flat when it almost spins round on itself.
  • 540s – No issues, but not as flat as some.
  • Slots and Multislots – Slightly timing critical, but very reliable once I’d sorted out the timing.
  • Single pop yoyo – Pitches forward nice and easily. Rotation fairly quick.
  • Snap Lazies & Multilazies- Easy snaps into a nice deep turtle. Timing for the multi easy as well. Really like the way it does these.
  • Flic-flacs – Manageable, but need to pull back early to avoid the dead spot in the flare.
  • JLs – JLs like a dream. Very easy and rises in height very quickly when you get the timing right.
  • BSs and BS Cascades – Reasonably easy. Small kite, so rotates easily.
    Insanes – Really easy to catch
  • Crazy Copters and Wap-do-Waps – Not tricks I can do, but the pitchiness of the Magnet means it would only be a matter of time before I crack them.
  • Combos – transitions fairly nicely from one trick to the next. Managed a Cascade to Taz combo, which is the first time I've managed that combination on any kite.

Build Quality

David developed the kite for his own use as the sort of kite he wanted to fly and to develop his own understanding of kite design.

Although he is happy to make the odd kite for friends, he is not setting up to be a commercial kite manufacturer and some of the construction details reflect this. (Please note that I only have Benson and JoE kites in my bag at the moment, so my expectations may be unreasonably high here. ;)

The good:
  • The stitching is excellent – nice and straight
  • Bisonyl nose and US wear patch – should prove bullet proof
  • The framing is the well proven P200 LE / 5PT Black Diamond lower spreader combination – more than adequately responsive for a kite of this size and very resilient to any bangs and crashes.

The not so good:
  • The stand off reinforcement is Dacron rather than mylar. Is this a problem? Certainly not for now and I’ve no idea whether it would be later on in the kite’s life. Only making the comment as it is different from all the other kites I’ve owned.
  • The sail attachment to the spine is by a simple loop of bridle line. A simple and cost effective solution, but does it result in the lines getting caught on the spine more than with a velcro tail? Not sure.
  • On our first flight in very gusty 10-20mph conditions, both Mike Fogg and I had the lines catch under the Dacron reinforcement at the spine. This seemed like a major issue at the time, but the problem all but disappeared when flying in better conditions and having got more accustomed to the kite.
  • The addition of a mylar reinforcement along the spine would provide additional protection against general wear and tear and help prevent sail damage from a spine failure.
  • Leach protection. There is no additional dacron or cordura to protect against excessive wear of the leach when doing roll ups or JLs. The addition of such protection would in my view significantly extend the life of the sail.

Conclusion

The Magnet is definitely a fun kite. It does have a tendency to do unexpected things if you get the inputs wrong. However, it behaves very predictably when the inputs are right. You just needs a couple sessions to start feeling you are in control of it, rather than the other way around!

The most fun I've had flying a kite in a long, long while.

Definitely a thumbs up from me.
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:06 am

Thanks for the review, Jon.

If anyone is seriously interested in getting a Magnet, just let me know. I built them custom colored and the mentioned areas of improvement are all thought about carefully. If you want to discuss them, just PM me :)

David
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:47 pm

David has now made the plans for the Magnet available here.
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Sat Oct 24, 2015 12:50 pm

Time to bring life back to an old thread.

Back in 2012, David Ruger kindly lent me his kite (the one in Magnetizing sunset), which I flew for a couple of months.

I really liked the kite and it could certainly do all the tricks I could do at the time. It did however have a tendency to do the slightly unexpected if you got the inputs wrong.

I ended up going down the SuperFly route, as it seemed to make more economic sense in terms of a guaranteed resale value if I didn't like it.

I've found the SuperFly a mixture of challenging and rewarding and still struggle to do some tricks in my repertoire with it because of the locked in turtle.

I've always had a slight hankering about trying the Magnet again and after having missed David's kite when he sold it in 2013, I took the opportunity to buy one of Knut Lorenz's Magnets when he put it up for sale last year.

This kite was originally build by David as a UL at Knud's request, but later reframed as a standard, but with a more radical frame than on David's plans (3PT ULE, 5PT LLE, Nitro LS).

Whether the revised framing or my flying has improved as a result of flying the SF has made the difference I'm not sure, but this particular Magnet exhibits all the great flight properties that was evident in David's kite, but without the slightly unpredictable behaviour I had witnessed before.

This has become my 'go to' standard and meshes very nicely with the SF UL. I also think flying the Magnet has provided a positive benefit to my abilities with the SF standard, so it's been a bit of a win-win all round.

The bottom line is that this is a great freestyle kite and if you get chance to fly one, please take the opportunity.

I am also feeling very tempted to try the Magnet XL version. Just ned to find someone that wants to sell one or make me one. ;)
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:53 pm

jaydub wrote:
I am also feeling very tempted to try the Magnet XL version. Just ned to find someone that wants to (...) make me one. ;)


:wink:
 
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Re: David Ruger "Magnet" Review by Carlo

Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:45 pm

The M112 is a great kite as well and i'm almost sure you'll like it a lot. I flew the SUL this morning in next to no wind and it's soooo slow and controllable. Execute a Taz and grab a coffee while it goes round. ;)

The 112 STD is a bit faster in tricks due to the extra mass but will fly in a small breeze as wel. It's less radical as it's smaller brother but the same tricks are present. It's loves longer lines though.