Jason go Green man go Green!

Quote: Originally posted by TEDWESLEY

Jason go Green man go Green!

I really did try to win the powerball..

I've recently realized why FS has set exact limits for the maximum wind speed for the Peak2: When used (way) overpowered, the hefty fluttering will wear out the coating.

Last winter I used a 6m and 12m Peak2 extensively. The 6m sometimes to get back home in situations where I probably shouldn't be kiting at all, and the kite ended up with several patches where the coating delaminated. Primarily at the trailing edge but also a bit along stitches from Z to B.

The 12m only got tiny signs of delamination, but I usually packed down the 12m and launched the 6m as soon as the wind picked up.

I don't feel like the performance of the 6m changed however. This could be because any change happened gradually over a long time, or it could be because there's no delamination around the A lines which takes most of the pull. It would be interesting to compare with a brand new 6m to see if there's a noticable difference, but I really think it's only a visual change. It might affect the warranty though, but if FS doesn't want people to fly it above their wind speed limits, they shouldn't have made the depower so good...

This is a question that has been around since the original Peak. The original had areas that lost coating quickly in some areas. We found that a little reinforcement resovled the problem well.

http://www.hardwaterkiter.com/peak-1-resource-page.html

The Peak 2 does not have the same high wear points but still dumps power with the flutter. The assumption is over time the coating will eventually breakdown. In cases where the kites are subjected to conditions beyond the recommended wind ranges, where the kite will be in heavy depower and subjected to aggressive flutter the life cycle of the coating will be accelerated.

So far we haven't seen or heard of anyone losing flight quality due to coating loss. Even after a season of heavy use in our school/demo quiver or kites that we've sold have held up well. Happy to see that they hold up as well as they do and that under "normal' use they will likely last a long time. Also good to see after heavy depower use and the resulting coating breakdown, that the flight quality doesnt suffer in any noticeable way.

And I agree, its hard to hold one responsible for flying a Peak beyond its factory wind range when they depower so well.

Speaking of wear. An issue with the Peak 1 was the potential for the leading edge fabric to suffer burn through on the stiffeners if the kite was dragged or subjected to abrasive action leading edge down. An extra layer of fabric in the form of sail tape has been the most common means of protecting the leading edge. It's a PITA to cover those areas well with tape. I've been experimenting with using Nikwax seam seal and it seems to being doing a good job. Basically gives the fabric a hard but pliable armor coating. Applies easily. Wonder if it can be used to refresh areas of coating loss or if it would be too thick.

my peak 1 6m coating was / is seriously delaminated before I even got it and it has always flown great. I've got a black roll of sail tape that I've used to reinforce areas that were getting almost worn through. Feyd, do you use ripstop nylon tape or dacron tape? I ordered the nylon tape but wasn't sure which one is recommended.

on the p1 9m, I noticed a piece of the bright orange mono filament hanging out the trailing edge when I was on the buggy. It fell out and I kept going. I didn't notice any performance issues. Then, when I got home and examined the kite, I noticed I had lost 2 others on the trailing edge from previous sessions I've bought some smooth round trimmer string to replace, but I might hold off and see how many I can lose before I can tell a difference

I like Feyd's Cadillac / Jeep comparison. Whether I bash them on asphalt, snow, or grass, they still report for duty the next time out.

I used ripstop. In part because its what I had but also it tends to be more pliable IMO.

Weed whacker filament is perfect. It will do the job just fine.

Got a great Snowkite session in today with the venerable 9m P2. Winds were strong, ranging between 15-20 mph with some higher gusts. This was my first flight with the 9m since November when I did some damage to it on the Playa.

The 9m is such a great size for the Peaks. If I had to own only one Peak this would be it. With the brake line pigtails set up to come out on the wide side of the bar ends this kite turns nearly as quickly as the 6m P2 but it has a ton more grunt.

One of the things I really appreciated about this kite today is how well I could get up wind. Where I wanted to do laps was a couple of hundred downwind. Coming back really wasn't difficult at all, just about a half dozen zig zags and I'd eaten up all that distance.

The one thing negative I have now with the Peaks is the absence of the Ozone Re-Ride system. Now that I've had a chance to use this system on my Access and Summit I want it on all of my snowkites! What's a girl to do? :D

I know. Blah static pics. I mainly went out this eve to add my reconfigured landing/anchor strap. Works perfect now! Besides, our Flysurfer thread was sinking to the bottom and needed a bump .There was baseball and soccer practice tonight, so I had to take what I could get. Buggy is pretty much done at my local fields because of sports now. Except for Sundays. Then I have to hope the wind gods listen for WSW prayers. Usually not answered lol. Always a good wife that knows I wont crash her for pics :D.







Ahhhh.... Peak 1s :D:D:D:evil:

Nice shots! That pink and black beauty makes me smile every time I launch.

I do so love that color combination on the P1. My Peaks are of course the uniform red, yellow, blue, and green fabrics. Each nice in their own right but not as pretty as the Pink and Black IMHO. Now those new multi-colored 6m and 9m P2s look SWEET in photos - yet to see one in the flesh! IBX is around the corner, so who knows? This could be like mullet sighting! :D

I must say, I dig the new multi color scheme too Steve.
I flew until the last gnat farted tonight. That sun setting on the black and hot pink kite was pretty sweet. Wife was shooting towards the sun. But at my back it was awesome looking.

I lengthened my landing strap, and changed my loops on the end. With a smaller larks head, I'm able to slide the landing ball over it, and on to the factory leaders knot. Basically, you can't see the straps larks head because its up under the landing ball now. Sandwiched. I didn't like adding additional knots to the brake line leaders to hold the original strap in place. Problem solved now. Not that is was a big problem anyway.

A couple pics riding my 12m Peak2 on a LOW wind day at the Mille lacs Lake kite crossing event. Most of us were grounded on Saturday due to no wind, but my Peak with 5m extensions was just enough to get going for some slow cruising. They had to postpone the race to the next day. One day out of three with no wind isn't too bad. Weather was fantastic for March 5th. That kite is a definite day saver!

More Peak porn!!!! I like it Cheddar! Great pics. Sean, time to get those line extensions out...

3shot can you share some more detail and pics of how you did your landing strap please!? I need to do me one of those.....!

I sure will this evening when I get back in.

Cheddar! Outstanding pics. Good thinking with the extensions to tweak a bit more power out of your rig. I've done that a few times myself. When there isn't enough wind with that set up there's really just no wind at all!

Quote: Originally posted by 3shot

I must say, I dig the new multi color scheme too Steve.

It's okay I guess. I don't know though, if it's not pink or blue I'm not sure I could fly it :D

I do think the big green 12m would grow on me . Someday the 12 will be mine.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

I do think the big green 12m would grow on me . Someday the 12 will be mine.

Every man needs a dream! Session Saver remains the all time favorite kite in my quiver. Just sayin...

A few year or so ago, a custom hot pink and black 6m access popped up for sale. Man I would have gave a kidney for that one.

robinsonpr, sorry by bar is packed away. I posted a few pages back a picture of my landing/anchor strap. Still looks the same, but I reconfigured my loops on the end for the larks head. Some people add knots in the lines to keep it from sliding up or down. I slide the landing balls up, larks head my strap next to the factory knot, then slide the balls back down over both. Sandwiched so it doesn't move, and no loss of length in brake lines.

Thanks 3shot! Appreciate the help!

Fellow Peak fans - today for the first time ever I got to fly a Peak2 from handles, spurred on by the venerable fan boy, Ssayre. :D

In too much wind for comfort I launched my 6m cheeseburger wrapper from 20 meter lines and standard PL handles. My 4m is out for some repairs or I would have gladly flown it today instead. Even overpowered I was able to get a decent feel for things. Got to say, it was a little strange. I'm sure with repetition muscle memory would make things second nature, but the action felt sort of backwards to me. Strange to flex the handles in (pulling on the brake lines) only to have the kite increase power, not decrease. Sheeting out the kite to scrub power has you loosening the brake lines which again feels backwards.

If I were to make a habit of flying Peaks from handles I think I'd pick up some longer handles so I could get more DP action with less actual wrist flexing. As things were today with standard length handles the pivoting action of the handles felt exaggerated; certainly a lot more flexing and extending my wrists than I'd do flying a FB kite from the same handles.

A second thing to note is I had to tie shorter knots in my power line pigtails (about 3-4 inches) to get the handles to feel more or less vertical when in a neutral position. Also, things seemed to work better if I held the handles with my index fingers below the power lines not up above them as seems better with FB flying.

All in all a fun little experiment. I want to try this again with my 4m P2 as it is faster turning and needs less bar action to DP so I'm thinking it will behave better when flown off of standard length handles.

What length handles? Around 16-18 work decent. I found I had to tighten the brake lines up a fair amount for it to be responsive. Glad you got to try it out. Actually, I've never flown long lines on handles. Only 5m lines. Been wanting to try it though.

Tuning the set up is key. If you have the short 12" ish handles, longer handles would be better. Fun stuff.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

What length handles? Around 16-18 work decent. I found I had to tighten the brake lines up a fair amount for it to be responsive. Glad you got to try it out. Actually, I've never flown long lines on handles. Only 5m lines. Been wanting to try it though. Tuning the set up is key. If you have the short 12" ish handles, longer handles would be better. Fun stuff.

Yup, about 12". Thinking about getting the long ones and stringing them with 5m lines. Good tip.

On a lark I typed www.bigmikeskites.com into my header and up popped a nicely refined and completely reworked website! I was able to buy a pair of long PL handles in his accessory section. I plan to use these longer handles with a 5m lineset that I normally keep in waiting for extra light wind days when I use them as line extenders for Session Saver, my 12m Peak2.

Dual post here: First, to announce that Big Mike appears to be back in business. Ordering seemed to go smoother than before and the email generation after the sale was swift and complete, right down to a click-and-ship tracking notice from the USPS. Nicely done Mike! Second: Following Sean's lead, I'm going to use these longer handles and shorter lines to try some more handle flying of my Peaks. Whupp! :D

Just went to his site. Looks like PL has updated the twister or at least the graphics!! Looks cool. I've always had a soft spot for that kite.

Maybe Mike was just tired of selling so many kites so he told us all he was going out of business. Dang pesky customers. I feel his pain

Got my 6m P2 out on 5m lines today flown off of PL "Long" handles. The longer handles made all the difference in the world. Top to bottom balance felt just right with the brake lines on the final (longest) pigtail knot and my hands a few inches below the top pigtails, not one finger over the top pigtails as would normally feel right with a FB kite.

I think this will be a fun way to fly the Peaks! Once the fields dry out around my way I think I'll give this set up a whirl with my Wheels of Doom skates! Thanks to ssayre for motivating me to try the Peaks this way. Fun. :D

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

Got my 6m P2 out on 5m lines today flown off of PL "Long" handles. The longer handles made all the difference in the word. Top to bottom balance felt just right with the brake lines on the final (longest) pigtail knot and my hands a few inches below the top pigtails, not one finger over the top pigtails as would normally feel right with a FB kite. I think this will be a fun way to fly the Peaks! Once the fields dry out around my way I think I'll give this set up a whirl with my Wheels of Doom skates! Thanks to ssayre for motivating me to try the Peaks this way. Fun. :D

Nice! It's another fun way to fly for sure. Riding toeside on a board is a little challenging for me on handles but you won't have that problem. Hopefully the new big wheels work well. On grass, you might have to hang on to a fair amount of power at times. I've only used the handles on asphalt where resistance is light.

In the gusts on a wet and slippery field today, I lost control.



What a way to end todays session Hopefully it's not the end of the kite, but I had to climb the tree by the left wingtip almost to the top and cut all bridles I could reach, then I could pull it off on the right hand side, didn't damage too much tree.



Poor tree. Crappy #@%$#!ty tree with super-gnarly small branches growing in every direction. Kite got really well stuck really fast, couldn't pull it down no way. I had to go climbing and cutting lines first, which was quite dangerous and really exhaustive. Poor tree.

But the tree lives on, I'll just have to see with the kite, if there's many rifts or not. If I should send it to Flysurfer for a full refitting of bridles (costly much?).

I love this beautiful blue baby do-everything super wind-machine (got 6m extensions for 27m lines). We've been on skis, in buggies and on ATB. Just love it too bits ('cept for those days where the tangle-factor becomes just too much). Hopefully it will have a life after this too. I haven't dared look at it yet, just rolled into a ball and stuffed into bag.

I've been thinking much about getting a 12m Peak also, now it's maybe gonna be a 6 / 12 combination (Peak2 6m most recent purchase) ... But the 9m is just a perfect size for so many days (big range). I have to fix it, I think I have to.

Ouch, this makes me sad..hop you don't fare to bad