Sport, Trick and Freestyle Kite Flying Forum

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jared
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Thu May 21, 2009 6:46 pm

I use mine as an airline carry-on and it's pretty near perfect. I have to fly cross country every couple of months on business, and it's just right to bring a couple of kites + lines and not have to worry about checked baggage.
 
damp_weather
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Fri May 22, 2009 8:38 pm

Fiction wrote:
damp_weather wrote:
Fiction wrote:
damp_weather wrote:
It is very good at tricks


or...no it's not

...Well it goes into deep back flips, and wraps easily...
When the wind is right, I feel that this is the most easy to trick of the current (E3 not included) Prism line-up.
.....


You see I don't have a problem with that statement now that you've qualified it by saying it's better at certain tricks than other Prisms.

:D

Saying it's good at tricks when at that price range there are some pretty awesome trick machines available is a bit misleading.

Hmmm, it sees a bit tricky writing anything short like "it's good as tricks" to truly convey a meaning. I'll say a little more of what was in my mind when I wrote it. (But I fear that it is an awful lot of words.)
Before the Zephyr came out, my partner and I had already bought a Deep Space and also a Fury 0.85 UL AS. The Deep Space is roughly the same price as Zephyr, and of course is legendary as a trick machine. Lots of good flyers love the DS, and it regularly appears in trick-outs. For us, it was for about 18 months our goto kite. This was mainly because that in those days, it was the kite that could cope with a range of winds, and it never broke. - Even used it to share with beginners.
However, for us, beyond the basics, it was not that easy to trick.
The Fury 0.85 UL AS is way over the Zephyr's price, a touch of luxury, and very precise for its size. Also very sharp in some manoevres (e.g half axels).
Don't know what the Skyshark Fury 0.85 is like, which would be about the same price as the Zephyr.
Both Deep Space and Fury seem much better constructed than the Zephyr. But, and this is the big but, for me, neither is as easy to control in tricks as the Zephyr. Indeed for comparative beginners like us, the Zephyr practically does back flips and roll-ups by itself.
Now I haven't flown more than perhaps dual-line 25 different sport kites in all. Of those I have only tried for 10 minutes or so, the two that stick out in my mind are: the Widow Maker - sheer magic, and was doing tricks with that that I couldn't often do with any other kite - but then current UK prices are much more than £200, and the Airdynamics Insider - felt instantly at home with that, but just with my standard set of tricks. Would love to try lots of others, particularly: standard Fury 0.85s and any modern Kitehouse. I would especially like to try the Nirvana, as from watching you and others fly it, suspect that it would feel very nice for us - similar to our QPros but perhaps even nicer, and certainly a bit more tricky.

Anyway, of the say 25 different sport kites I have tried, the Zephyr stands out as, in the right winds, as an easy kite to trick, as, compared to others, it does some of the work for you in the pitch tricks, and the tricks can be done relatively slowly. - Because of the pace of the tricks, it won't come first in many trick-outs, but it can very good for those who don't take naturally to a Deep Space, and can't thrash a Fury.

I didn't go to Blackheath but so long as you were enjoying yourself that's all that matters.

Sorry. Last night I reviewed Popeye's video, and can see that with the passage of time, I mistook someone else for you.
 
sprdbryj
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Mon May 25, 2009 9:52 pm

If it flies anything like cdc it will make a great trainer, comparatively slow in flight and precise which makes learning easier. If I want to learn a new trick (and I've still got plenty to learn) its my cdc's I turn to.

Just been flying my STX 2.1 SUL in circa 1 mph wind and its still the best SUL I've ever flown.

For a trick kite, the new stuff has definitely moved things on, but for learning tricks, cdc's are the business.
 
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Zippy8
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Tue May 26, 2009 6:27 am

sprdbryj wrote:
If it flies anything like cdc.......

I think that the only link to CdC is the visual one. And it's not like it's a copy of any CdC sail, it just constantly reminds me of their style.

Having now flown the Zephyr quite a bit more it still strikes me as a more-than-just-OK kite. It's still a bit eager to rotate so I've had to tone down the inputs but doing this has made the kite work well. Those overcooked Snap Lazies disappeared when I just eased off (a lot !). This kite drops quickly and easily onto its back and rotates very reliably once there - Multis, repetitions and reversals are all there for the taking. For a big-ish kite (2.35m) it's nimble enough to play well on 10m lines but doesn't look small on 35m.

Precision isn't a particular strong point as the light framing means a bit of wobble coming out of turns. Nothing major and probably not something the kite will be used for most of the time.

Compared to the QPro, which it trails in Prism's hierarchy, it goes a lot more out of its way to help you (possibly even a it too much). It's a lot more user friendly and playful.

Edit: there are a handful of construction issues though. The bridle lines are all lumpy which looks like the inner core and outer sheath have moved relative to each other, the sail standoff fittings have this odd Lego™-bowler-hat look that doesn't sit flush and I've caught 50# and 80# lines in there and finally the sail reinforcement between the standoffs is a soft and flexible fabric (like a low weight dacron perhaps) that looks like it might work but just seems a strange choice. Overall though I'd probably call this the best made kite coming out of China that I've seen, possibly even the best non-boutique kite. But I'd still rather have a kitemaker made kite.

However.... even if I like the kite, and I do, I just don't want to buy what Prism want to sell me. So far the case is completely unused by me. When the kite isn't in use it sits in a sleeve with the LEs still in one piece as I wish them to be. The case might well be precisely what I need for one or two situations but for everyday use, it's daft. Two more sets of lines and straps I can do without too. So who is going to spend £200 when (presumably) a chunk of that is going on stuff that they just don't want to buy ?

I dunno the answer to that one.

Mike.
 
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Zippy8
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Tue May 26, 2009 7:53 pm

damp_weather wrote:
I suspect that P300 was chosen as it was strong enough to be used as a single unmodified piece of Skyshark P series.

I hadn't noticed this before but.... the spine on mine isn't "a single unmodified piece of Skyshark P series" because there is a 6½cm bit glued and ferruled onto the top of a regular 82½cm spar. So the spine is too long for Px00 series spars.

I think I'll add that to the things I don't especially like section. Unless the Prism explanation is that the added weight of the ferrule and glue perfectly reposition the centre of gravity for blah blah blah.

I'd have thought it better to incorporate this extension into the base of the spine with the weight kit, no ?

Mike.
 
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Dave A
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Wed May 27, 2009 4:35 am

Zippy8 wrote:
Having now flown the Zephyr quite a bit more it still strikes me as a more-than-just-OK kite.

It's a lot more user friendly and playful.

You realise any praise for Prism is strictly frowned upon on this forum don’t you.
But I see you managed to reference “boutique” kites, so you’ll be excused
:-)
 
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Zippy8
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Wed May 27, 2009 4:59 am

Dave A wrote:
You realise any praise for Prism is strictly frowned upon on this forum don’t you.

It's OK; I can frown right back :evil:

But I see you managed to reference “boutique” kites, so you’ll be excused :-)

With a price tag of £200~$250 that's what it's up against so it seems fair.

Mike.
 
damp_weather
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Wed May 27, 2009 11:17 pm

Zippy8 wrote:
damp_weather wrote:
I suspect that P300 was chosen as it was strong enough to be used as a single unmodified piece of Skyshark P series.

I hadn't noticed this before but.... the spine on mine isn't "a single unmodified piece of Skyshark P series" because there is a 6½cm bit glued and ferruled onto the top of a regular 82½cm spar. So the spine is too long for Px00 series spars.
....
Mike.

:!: I see what you mean. - A short piece of probably P200 stuck on at the nose end of the spine. - I had completely overlooked this as I had checked for ferrules by removing the end cap and looking through the middle of the spine tube (from the tail end). - The walls of the tubular internal ferrule used must be quite thin for me to have not noticed it before..
The dimensions you give apply to the spine supplied in my Zephyr. But with the Prism spare spine, while overall the same ~89cm overall length (endcap removed), uses a 81.3cm P300 spar with an 7.8cm bit glued and ferruled on the end. 'Suppose the difference doesn't matter much.
 
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Ian Newham
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Thu May 28, 2009 8:14 am

I wonder why they stuck it on the nose end? On lots of older kites the off cut from the top spreader was added below the T to give a > 82.5 spine.

I wonder if a good nose plant might lead to a break at the ferrule?
 
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Mark E Mark
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Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:49 am

I had a short fly of a Zephyr the other day - As is forum policy (;)) I didn't much like it; it just felt heavy and unresponsive to me - I just flew it briefly and was happy to give it back to the owner. The owner of this particular Zephyr has just ordered another kite - I confidently predict he will never fly it again once his new toy arrives.
 
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Finklius Munkum
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Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:48 pm

Hey all, I have to add my brief comments as I am the owner of the particular Zephyr Mark mentions :-)

I kinda like it. I'm no expert yet, this is my 2nd trick kite and for me it seems "nice". I'm interested by the comments that it's a little slower than other kites and therefore perhaps easier to learn with, it'll be interesting to compare it to the Talon which'll arrive soonish :-D

So I guess I'm in a different position to the other reviews above, I don't yet have any experience of better/newer kites to compare to, therefore I feel I can't really comment. ](*,) But I like it. Build quality seems ok but it's still fairly early days (had it around 6 months now). Some stitching does look a little dodgy.

What I must say though is that the case for me is great: I'm not a car owner so when travelling by bus :!: it's great, gives me a bit of confidence that it'll be ok, and is nice and easy to carry on your back. Also I fly to Spain several times a year, the case provides the only way of taking 2 kites with me, other than a big cardboard tube I guess.

So I love the case, but, why package it with a kite?? If available to buy separately that would make a lot more sense? Would anyone here think about buying the case for £20? Maybe something the UK kite makers might want to think about. And maybe not ;)
I wanna go flying!
 
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Mark E Mark
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Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:47 pm

The Talon is going to feel VERY different.........
 
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Zippy8
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Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:50 pm

Finklius Munkum wrote:
I don't yet have any experience of better/newer kites to compare to, therefore I feel I can't really comment.

Of course you can. TBH it's more aimed at you than it is at those of us who have had experience of more exotic fare. I'd be very interested to hear what you think of the shift from the Zephyr to the Talon; not necessarily in flight but in terms of build, detail, etc. You're moving from "best manufactured kite" to "best made kite" territory.

But I like it.

A reasonable enough comment. I like mine too, in its own way.

Also I fly to Spain several times a year, the case provides the only way of taking 2 kites with me, other than a big cardboard tube I guess.

Spookily enough I used the case for that very purpose recently. And very fit for that purpose it was too. But unless Prism are really targeting this extreme niche market (infrequent kite flyers, frequent flyers) then the case is redundant most of the time.

Mike.
 
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Mark E Mark
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Mon Jun 29, 2009 10:05 am

I must be tired as I read "shift from the Zephyr" quite differently at first.........:).


I used to fly to Portugal quite often (well, inside an aeroplane) and I took my kites inside one of those expanding plastic tubes that are sold to carry graphics work within - looks a bit like a bazooka :).
 
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Zippy8
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Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:00 pm

Mark E Mark wrote:
one of those expanding plastic tubes that are sold to carry graphics work within - looks a bit like a bazooka :).

The style of which the first run of Nirvanas came with. Mine got about as much use as the Zephyr case has had to put up with.

Mike.