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Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

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fernmanus
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Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby fernmanus » Sat Mar 21, 2020 5:57 am

After a couple weeks with the Sonic 3, it is easy to say that some of the features of this kite would be great on the Soul:

1. Thinner profile - reduces drag, improves inflation, and improves setup and pack up.
2. Replace tiny white lines with the stiffer gray lines in the bridle.
3. One inflation valve, since two would no longer be necessary.
4. If possible extend the wind range.

Those 4 changes alone would make the kite so much better.

What would you like to see?

evan
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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby evan » Sat Mar 21, 2020 12:43 pm

I bet it has roughly the same percentage of profile thickness to cord length. Just reducing the aspect ratio makes a foilkite having a higher volume due to the longer center cord length. Reducing the volume a lot while maintaining the same aspect ratio would mean they have to choose an extremely thin suboptimal profile.

kiteykitekite
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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby kiteykitekite » Sat Mar 21, 2020 1:51 pm

Extremely thin sub optimal profile? What like a tube kite?

Please do explain this because it will be entertaining.

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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby Flag53 » Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:03 pm

Hey fernmanus, how about a review of the Sonic 3 ? .

I have the soul 12m and would like to see it in even lighter cloth and would love it if it was quicker turning.

PullStrings
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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby PullStrings » Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:43 pm

Nice plastic zipper like we had on the Silverarrow and Speed 2 central backside
The two Velcro trailing edge vents are way too slow to dump air on big kites
Real PIA

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Adventure Logs
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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby Adventure Logs » Sat Mar 21, 2020 4:38 pm

PullStrings wrote:
Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:43 pm
Nice plastic zipper like we had on the Silverarrow and Speed 2 central backside
The two Velcro trailing edge vents are way too slow to dump air on big kites
Real PIA
Zippers do not belong on kites. Don’t you remember them freezing up all the time?

I doubt they’ll go to single butthole since they could have done this before. They may go thinner profile but the kite was designed with a thicker profile to reduce overflying.

What I expect is a lighter but just as strong fabric, bridle optimization with improved bridle materials. Perhaps a smoother profile.

I don’t expect a new model though until roughly 3 years after the 7/9 sizes were released. FS isn’t like most brands that put something out every year or so. Look how long it took them to release the Sonic3.

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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby PullStrings » Sat Mar 21, 2020 7:32 pm

Adventure Logs wrote:
Sat Mar 21, 2020 4:38 pm
PullStrings wrote:
Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:43 pm
Nice plastic zipper like we had on the Silverarrow and Speed 2 central backside
Zippers do not belong on kites. Don’t you remember them freezing up all the time?


Not sure what you did to make them freeze
In my years of ram airs at the beach salt air 200+ sesh / year there was zero issues
Plastic zipper never jammed or froze up
big ram airs 18 sqm and up should have zipper on the back
Trying to squeeze all that air out in a hurry is a pain when the weather turns bad quickly
3 times faster for sure with zipper....big LEI's with big deflate valves always beat those big rams with their two little velcro flaps
if big rams had zippers they could be just as fast as LEI's and that could be a nice feature
of course nowadays with foilboards most people use small ram airs so not much of an issue

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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby 14ToeSide » Sat Mar 21, 2020 7:39 pm

I have had several Flysurfer’s with Zippers and ZERO issues with zipper problems.

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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby kiteykitekite » Sat Mar 21, 2020 11:48 pm

Flysurfer zippers were too big and heavy. The metal head would corrode and get stuck. The Pansh zipper works really well, it's small and light. I think the problem is with the placement of the deflates, they need to be near the LE where the structure is thick and air can flow out quick. You can even stick the deflate on the LE intake, so if it leaks or you forget to close it there is no real issue. Another option is an air intake you can reverse. On small kites you don't really need anything as you can just stick your hand in the intake or invert or roll it on itself to open it.

I think they should release a new version as soon as they can improve it. Releasing new models at fixed intervals is soooo pre 1990's. On demand production with continual improvements is the now.

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Re: Soul 2 - what Would you like to see?

Postby jakemoore » Sun Mar 22, 2020 1:03 am

Long live the Velcro Butthole!!!
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