12m Aluula Flite

[ShaveTheWhales]

a few questions..
Does anyone know whether it has a bladder zipper on it ?
I vaguely remember someone saying they might be getting a heavy duty bladder material ? has this happened or is it the thin standard one ?

[Greenturtle]

[leeuwen]

Cool to see that Ocean Rodeo certainly had some challenges along the way that needed new solutions.
That would maybe also partly explain that we are still not seeing other brands with aluula kites (assuming there is actually enough aluula available for other brands)
They needed new ways of stitching, new needles, and also this bladder construction.

Although other brands have it a bit easier with examples out there I guess it will take a significant effort to get into this new material.

[HurlyBurly]

And did you all notice that the kite he was using for this demo was a 10m Rise Aluula (5 strut). Appears to perhaps be a test model as it looked to have about 5 attachment options for each of the front lines.

[droffats]

To put it to bed:

1. No zipper
2. Standard bladders
3. The Rise is the 5 strut open C-ish kite seen in other videos doing kite loops too. It's a long way off though as they are still prototyping and refining
4. Don't know if there is enough Aluula to get to other brands, but companies are having a harder time prototyping, building, and testing kites as the supply chain and travel restrictions are still slower than before the rona.

[ShaveTheWhales]

Well for the price - I was expecting the bladder - if no Zipper - to be 1st class Strong like some other brands, not standard thin weight saving, after all its not a race kite..
I'll pass until it gets beefed up or come with an Option for one.

[droffats]

Hey Shave, what brands have 1st class strong bladders?

[BrunoC]

Well for the price - I was expecting the bladder - if no Zipper - to be 1st class Strong like some other brands, not standard thin weight saving, after all its not a race kite..
I'll pass until it gets beefed up or come with an Option for one.

I’ve never had an OR bladder fail except for the one time I self launched right through broken glass. That put a 3” cut through the leading edge so it wasn’t really a bladder problem.

[ShaveTheWhales]

People who dont know what strong bladders look and feel like - as well as another never heard of an OR kite leak air - and you guys know about kiting huh.
Its all about the PRICE - Regardless of brand, if im paying top dollar - I expect the complete package !
f I want standard - Ill spend half that amount on a brand new Standard kite..

[Greenturtle]

Huh.
The ocean rodeo bladders/valves/onepump-bits that I have experience with on the 2016,2017 kites at least, are as good as you will find imo. Certainly better than some others that regularly make the headlines on here with onepump nipple connections that crack, or valves that delam way before their time. The lighter-than-average bladders in my standard (dacron le) flites have been great, a selling point for me. no way would I want to add weight to them

No idea what thickness they are using for these bladders in the aluula kites, and no idea how you can tell either, but, I personally would choose the lightest offered, if given choice, considering weight savings is the entire point of paying up for aluula, and since bladders are a significant portion of the overall weight. (Don’t get me wrong, the price is um, yeah, high. Would be nice to see revolutionary bladder material that is both indestructible and super light, but, maybe next time).

As far as a zipper...not sure what to make of that, not as convenient, but apparently its not necessary if your kite uses a big inflate valve, and one less potential failure point- may make that a fair trade. A 2012 rally I had did eject its zipper car somehow without being tomahawked or anything, leaving me without my midsize kite for a bit which was, somewhat annoying.