Warning: Safe Use is YOUR Responsibility

Hey, Dude, who loves ya? Here's the text from the review page. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes, okay? ---

Basic Comments

 I've shared my Stylus 2.8 with several people and the end result is that each of them goes out to buy one. As far as I'm concerned, this is the kite to start people on if they've never flown a performance kite, whether dual- or quad-line. It is forgiving, can't be broken (no struts or spars), is crashable and gets right back up, is easily launchable, and yet demonstrates power and tricks with the best of them.

Getting the Stylus airborne

 Getting the Stylus airborne demonstrates the basics of dual- or quad-line kite launching. In a light wind (5mph or so), you can lay the kite out downwind with the airfoils facing away from the wind, run out your lines, and then get it airborne with a quick tug. The Stylus'll inflate and climb slowly but surely and give you a gentle ride to the top of the evelope.
 Once up and in this amount of wind you'll find the kite sluggish but steady and a great training vehicle.
 One thing to watch out for is flying too close to the edges of the envelope, and this includes the zenith.
 This light a wind and the Stylus'll fold and deflate fairly easily.
 Once it folds and is out of the wind, it'll come down unless you get a gust to fill it and straighten it out.

Getting the Stylus airborne in a stronger wind (5-10mph)

 You can get the Stylus up in this level wind easily and very easily if you use a few tricks, although as you're approaching 10mph you're getting into dangerous ground. In this level winds I start to use my tent pegs (which I've mentioned in several reviews) and garden gloves. You don't need to take these suggestions and I'll bet things'll go easier for you if you do. Just my guess.  Drive the tent pegs into the ground about 2-3 feet apart. Attach the lines to the straps, guides or handles and place the straps (or whatever) over the pegs so that they'll hold the kite should it start to lift. Walk the lines downwind to where you're going to be setting up the kite. Make sure the lines are untangled and untwisted. Unfold the kite enough so that you can get to the lines and attach them. Don't unfold the kite completely because it'll catch a 5-10mph wind easily and start to climb. In this way the Stylus is different than a quad-line kite. You have no breaking ability because you have no rear lines. If you let the kite open while it's on the ground and a wind comes along, off it goes. Now that the kite is set walk back to the straps. I usually walk between the lines so I can step on them if the kite begins to get uppity. Back at the straps, stand with the lines and straps straight out in front of you. Now pull the lines down and to your sides quickly. One or two sharp tugs'll open the kite and it'll climb quickly. Unlike the lighter winds, you're going to feel that this kite'll generate some power and want to give you a ride.  One thing to be aware of when launching in this and stronger winds is that you probably want to launch directly into the wind. You can launch offwind, but you run the risk of the kite spinning end over end until both wings catch the wind evenly to get even lift. If you want to launch offwind, make sure you keep your windward line (the line closest to the direction the wind is coming from) slack and the downwind line tight. This will cause the downwind wing to catch the wind first and you'll have a better chance for an even climb, rather than a spinning walk along the ground until both wings can catch the wind evenly.

Getting the Stylus airborne in even stronger winds (10+ mph)

I'm going to start this section by telling you that, in this level wind, the Stylus is going to generate considerable pull. I mean, considerable pull, especially for a dual-line kite.
 My Stylus 2.8 has never lifted me but it has dragged me (for those who don't know me, I weigh about 240) when I didn't want it to. In this level wind, you'll need your Stylus, the lines, the straps, the lawn&garden gloves and the tent pegs.
 Drive the tent pegs into the ground upwind of where you'll lay out the kite and about 2-3 feet apart from each other.
 Use the lawn&garden gloves to drive the pegs in deep and at an angle (leave 4" showing above the ground at a 30° angle). String up the straps (but not the kite yet) and place the straps securely around the pegs as if they were horseshoes and you'd just scored a ringer. Now walk your lines out to where you'll launch the kite. Make sure your lines are straight and untwisted. Keep the kite in a ball or folded but keep it under one of your arms. Just get the lines out of it. Attach the right and left lines. If you've taken off your gloves, put them back on. You're about to go for a ride. Now, open the Stylus flat on the ground as described for light winds (yeah, I know these aren't light winds, just go with me a bit), with the airfoils downwind. Make sure you have one line securely wrapped around each glove.

The Stylus will open. Trust me, it'll open no matter what you do unless you sit on it or have someone else sit on it. Let it climb because that's what it's going to want to do. Here's the trick; use your gloves as if they were straps to fly the kite while you walk back to the pegs. Make sure you keep the line tension on your gloves and not going back to the pegs. Too much pull (which this kite'll have in these winds) may pull the pegs out and you'll feel it when they smack you in the back.
You can get away without tent pegs in the above, but if you lose control of the lines you may end up losing the kite. Without tent pegs, you do pretty much the same. You can either run the lines out and walk them back or leave the lines curled in two separate coils, 2-3ft apart, on either side of you. As the Stylus climbs the line's pay out until the straps are in your hands. You hope.

Characteristics/Dynamics/Responses:

 As mentioned above, this kite likes to pull. It is a foil kite and hence sensitive to wind direction in ways that a strutted kite isn't. You'll want to keep it facing into the wind for maximum lift, although you can have some fun flying it at the edges of the envelope to the point where just one wing (one side) wants to carry the wind.  Usually a gentle tug on the inflated wing will bring the Stylus back into the wind and it'll climb once again. Be advised that, because this is a foil design, flying it too far on the edge or when there's a strong crosswind means it might crumple and deflate if the wind catches it right. I don't know if the Stylus was designed with acrobatics in mind but I can tell you that in a light wind you'll be able to do some very lazy but beautiful rolls, dives, strafes, and so on.  In a stronger wind, you up the ante and the speed and power begin to affect control but not necessarily negatively.  You just need to appreciate that things are going to happen faster, including folding and crumpling if you fly too close to the edge of the envelope.   The difference between lighter winds and stronger winds is that, in a stronger wind, the Stylus will probably catch the wind and reinflate more easily. When it does, be prepared for the pull.   In the strongest winds the Stylus becomes highly maneuverable.  The stronger the wind the more response it'll give you, and with too much wind you'll be responding to it rather than vice-versa.
Bringing the Stylus down Although this kite'll fly like most other dual-line kites, it's worth mentioning a safe way to bring such a beast down should the winds be very strong or at least too strong for a gentle, in-the-wind, glide to the earth. I fly the kite in decreasing arcs (not spirals and not circles, but arcs, like an "S" repeated over and over), closer and closer to the edge of the envelope. As I'm flying the kite closer and closer to the edge, I'm also bringing it closer and closer to the ground. If I do things correctly, the final arc will have the kite just hovering at the very edge of the envelope about 5-7ft off the ground. Releasing any remaining tension on the downwind line will bring the kite to the ground. What might be tricky about this is that leaving the kite anywhere inside the envelope on the ground runs the risk of it starting to climb again, so the closer to the edge the better. Put the straps back around the pegs and put on your gloves again in case the kite starts to climb while you walk to get it.

Some more fun, Stacked Stylus kites

 One of the fun things the Stylus series is designed to do is fly in stacked formation.  The most I've done is two but I know people who've flown six stacked.  I can tell you that two Stylus 2.8s stacked requires slightly more wind (what you could do in 5mph now requires 7mph) but once you get above 9-10mph you're talking a true power kite.  Again, I haven't been lifted but I was seriously pulled.  In winds above 10mph you'll find the stacked kites less forgiving and much more demanding of your attention.  You now have 5.6sqm of sail. The reason the stacked confirmation doesn't work well in lighter winds is because the rear Stylus is being effectively denied wind energy by the leading wing and won't inflate very well.  This problem ends about 6-7mph.   Winds above that and both wings inflate and climb without a problem.  You should also be aware that the maneuverability suffers a bit when flying stacked. It's a situation of you flying the leading wing and the leading wing flying the trailing wing. But for what it's worth, what it loses in maneuverability it makes up for in pull.

Final Notes

 This is an excellent starter kite and training kite.
 It has a remarkable wind range and is pretty indestructable throughout.
 This is a decent power kite with considerable pull in winds over 10mph.
 The Stylus can be a very forgiving kite although it will fold and fall if flown too close to the edge of the envelope.
 You can utilitize several safe launching methods should you want to fly in stronger winds

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