OK I have never used these so I have a question. Are pulley handles really only effective when used with a harness/strop? I have a set of PL longs that I converted and gave them a rip, but they didn't work so well. Any thoughts?

I tried pulley handles, made a couple in fact, but they did not work out for me flying static without a strop. with a strop they worked a lot better, but for me strops and jumping don't go together. In a buggy on a strop I think they'd be great.

I ended up going without the pulleys, instead tightening up on the brakes so I had the maximum amount of brake movement available. I like flying my kites on looser brakes than most, so I had to change my flying style a bit.

But in the end that's how I got what I wanted: enough turning speed on my biggest kite (ace 8) so I could jump well with it.

Pulley handles are beneficial for big kites. They make a big lumbering kite much more agile by increasing the brake travel. As a result, you have to put on more effort to pull in the brakes, but it allows you to turn it faster and to release the brakes further. Personally, I like to use them on kites bigger than 7m, but I know many that use them for 10m and up. I turned my 10m rm+ from a lumbering beast into a fast agile race kite. I would not consider flying anything bigger than 10m without pulley handles. If you want to fly without a strop/harness, it would be a lot of work on a big kite, but without pulley handles the kit will not perform as well.

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Originally posted by centex_buggier Pulley handles are beneficial for big kites. They make a big lumbering kite much more agile by increasing the brake travel. As a result, you have to put on more effort to pull in the brakes, but it allows you to turn it faster and to release the brakes further. Personally, I like to use them on kites bigger than 7m, but I know many that use them for 10m and up. I turned my 10m rm+ from a lumbering beast into a fast agile race kite. I would not consider flying anything bigger than 10m without pulley handles. If you want to fly without a strop/harness, it would be a lot of work on a big kite, but without pulley handles the kit will not perform as well.

Yeah I looked at your set up at SOBB (what got me moving to convert these handles.) I would like to use them on my 7.5 cent and the 11m raptor that's on it's way, but I really wasn't too sure about the way to implement them correctly. Well, next is static, with the harness. Thanks for the info 'yall.

Just remember to get maximum throw, attach the brake to the power line so that the handle can be pushed up parallel with the power line and the pulley is level with the knot. Your Raptor will fly far better with pulley handles. The 7.5m is right on the edge of the size where you should use pulleys. Try it with regular long handles first and see if you like how it flies.

Don't forget to use a good quality pulley. I use Harken.

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Originally posted by heliboy50 Yeah I looked at your set up at SOBB (what got me moving to convert these handles.) I would like to use them on my 7.5 cent and the 11m raptor that's on it's way, but I really wasn't too sure about the way to implement them correctly. Well, next is static, with the harness. Thanks for the info 'yall.

cool, you got that raptor.... whether I qualify or not, I would like to fly that.... I have a 2 and a 3 raptor and I don't see myself ever letting go of those.

Sir yes sir Might be a couple of weeks before it gets here, but I'll find ya' out there when it does. Should have a 6m access to play with soon also.

heliboy50, you should do your own Hooj Ballz vid when you get your Raptor. Show off yer kiwi's!

I gotta' wait until centex_buggier is about again so I can screw up in front of a bunch of good riders and gift wrap his car again. Actually I am working over some ideas in my head involving buggies and fruit stands.

Heliboy50, You'll have to come down to Dead Bird for that. Come on down... Perfect place for that 11m raptor.