genesant

I'm not sure at what point in my developing skills that I added the music but it was pretty early in the process.  I do know that I fly to/with the music and it is boring to me without.  On my last trip to the coast I forgot my mp3 player and was willing to pay my son 3 hours labor to deliver it to me.  Fortunately he suggested streaming Pandora with my new smart phone and that got me through the weekend.  With music I can fly 3-6 hours and the time just flys by.  Try it with music - you won't likely go without it afterwards.

I have to agree with Rob.  The Rev II is a kick in the pants.  When there is enough wind that I don't have to baby it, it flys to faster music and is more fun than the 1.5 series.  I'll pull it out before my 1.5 vented.

Do you prefer or mostly fly standing still or do you move around with the kite? Do you fly using the full 360 X 180 window when the wind is down under 2 mph?

With low wind I move a-lot but since I mostly fly 120's I don't try 360's or up and overs. I've only done a 360 once and it did not agree with my knee which has a broken acl. To me the fun wind speed is 3-5 mph. The energy in most of my music matches that speed the best. I can readily fly lower wind than that with my 1.5 standard sail but a fair amount of time is involved in gaining ground after doing some moves. Kinda takes me out of the music which is when I switch to the Rev I . It does not require as much effort to keep aloft in low winds but as we all decided earlier it is a sloooooow mellow kite. Maybe mellow will be easier to take as I get older.

I do have four 1.5's and that is the style I fly mostly. One of them is a Ninja Eyes standard sail and songs have a real special feel with it looking back at me. I very seldom pull out the mid vent or the vented Barresi's since the winds here don't allow it often. Usually 1 to 5mph. When the standard sails get to be to much effort to keep in the air the Rev I fills the gap nicely. Just too boring. So if as I suspected the Zen is similiar to the Rev I for mellowness I definitly should not get one. Thanks to all of you for the information and ideas and for saving me the money of getting a Zen. Maybe the mentioned SUL 1.5 with lighter lines is worth a look.

You could also try getting a race frame (or green race frame for stiffness) for the rev 1. That should lighten things up a bit.

I originally ordered it with a two wrap 1/4" frame in it and that is the way I flew it for a couple years. I recently changed the middle rod to a 3 wrap and I like that combo a little better and it flys fine in low winds. Do you think the other rods you mentioned will change its personality much? I fly to Hard Rock or Heavy metal usually and the Rev I is just a lot mellower than my mood most of the time. I have a feeling that is probably true of the Zen but I havn't had a chance to find out.

I like my Rev II's more than I like the Supersonic. I like my 2-4 a lot and the Supersonic has similiar flight characteristics but the SS also does not fit my mood most of the time.