Kwat (Custom)

Kwat (Custom)

This is a design from the book Stunt Kite I that caught my eye for my third trip into kite making. The idea of 2 overlapping hexagon looks quite striking, and given (according to the authors) it flies like a Revolution, I thought this would be an ideal kite for me.

The basic construction wasn't too bad - simply 12 triangles stitched together to form the hexagons - but I found the bridle more difficut to get right.

I prefer flying it on the Synergy Deca (straight) rather than the Revolution (bent) handles, but that might be a personal preference thing.

Made: April 2003

Details

Width : 150 cm Height : 67 cm Depth : - Weight : 170 g

Spars : 4 & 6mm Carbon Sail : Ripstop Nylon

Wind Range : Medium

Pack up size : 87cm x 8cm

Cost : Not much - used left over material from the Papillon, and spent about £15 (I think) at Decathlon for the carbon fibre & bridle lines.

Good Things

Nice design.
Equally fast in forward and reverse flight (like the Papillon in fact).
Spins well and controllably.
Flies surprising well in lowish wind (with some of the 6mm Carbon replaced by 4mm).

Bad Things

Somewhat difficult to control in flight.
Can fall from the sky when caught by wind gusts.
Prone to line wraps around the spar tips.
Relatively heavy - lots of spars.
Quite small.
Limited wind window - doesn't like the extreme left & right - more prone to falling due to gusts.
Construction instructions vague regarding the bridle and occasionally downright misleading!

Final Thoughts

Difficult to say! Not as good as the Revolution, Papillon, or Synergy - but does deserve a place in my kite bag. Once the bridle had been sorted out it worked much better, and now that I have replaced one of the 6mm carbon spars from each side with 4mm it flies in less wind.

I've flown it at a couple of festivals (most recently at Morecambe 2007) and enjoyed flying it to a point.

Bottom line? Not brilliant but is fun to fly sometimes.

Kwat (Custom)

Details

Good Things

Bad Things

Final Thoughts

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