So after having the new kite for about a week and a half, the stars aligned and I was able to carve out about an hour and a half to give my brand new 6.8m Viper S a try...

As you know, this kite has been discontinued (who knows why?????), but I was able to secure one of the last ones available from Big Mike,... He's always a pleasure to deal with.

I have the good fortune of working in a church with huge open indoor areas which are ideal for setting up new kites (attaching lines etc) which I do on my lunch break when applicable. So I set the kite up on Monday, and its just been waiting for me and the wind to be available.

So the wind was only blowing about 3 or 4 mph(though i didn't have an anemometer) and I headed out toward the field,... I thought the new kite curse was going to bite me again because as I was no more than 1/4 mile away, it started to sprinkle rain,... Darn,... But I waited a few minutes and it passed over leaving a really nice day. 40 degrees is cold for Atlanta, but after some vigorous kiting I warmed up.

AnnieO reviewed this kite a little while back, and she was right,... It's pretty dang awesome.

Until recently I have not flown anything over 5m and was a little anxious and a little excited, but with the very light wind I felt everything would be good... So what I found was that this is just an awesome kite,... Very responsive, great pull even in the light wind. It pulls consistently throughout the window, .... And it's just pretty cool. As the wind picked up a little it was probably gusting around 5-8 mph, and boy howdy what fun. As my time was ending I was thinking about how awesome it will be when I get this kite up in the bug.

This is one of my favorites. I don't know why they retired it. There is a gap now where this used to be.

I agree Mike,...

I was out with the bug this weekend and had the opportunity to ride with this kite,... And my initial assessment stands up... Awesome kite. The wind was a little too much at first and I had to put it away,... But I pulled him back out when it died down later in the day. It's VERY easy to control, and link turns,... Super responsive to brake input, and in spite of it being very tame, it pulled like a Mac truck when the wind was likely between 6 and 10 mph. I can still feel it in my forearms 2 days later.

Merry Christmas!