I got my guerillas today, a 13m, a 15M, and a 18m. They all have the extra spar pocket with the extra spars. It should be fun testing how the preformance changes with or without the spars. The 13m is almost new. It is super crispy and and still has that new kite smell on the inside. The 15m is slightly more crisp than my venom and is awesome shape. The 18m, on the other hand, is fairly used. It's still crisp, though more like a walmart bag than a new kite. All of them have repairs because the owner bought and used them in Guam and there were sharp objects on the beach he was at. Today was the first day the 18m was opened since it left Guam and it scattered pretty white sand all over our garage.

The thing that puzzles me is that the 13m is grey instead of white and the tips are red. Right away before I opened it I thought it was a guerilla II because of the color. I read something on wayback machine that they ran out of fabric for the original guerilla so they used the fabric for the guerilla II instead. I am also wondering why the tips are red when they should be yellow. They might have ran out of yellow fabric too so they might have used red instead?

There also was a blue bag for the 13m. All the zippers are stuck from the corrosive salt water from Guam. I've tried vineger and have had no luck, so now it is taking a nice hot bath in some soapy water. Anyone know how to unstick zippers? After I saw the bag I paniced at the thought that the zippers on the kites may be stuck as well. Luckly they weren't although the 13m was a bit stiff.

I can't wait to fly them. My plan was to test all of them tomarrow in the morning but I don't know where I could dry 3 huge kites. I barely have room to dry my venom. I don't know how I would dry the 18m. I may test out the 13m or 15m to see how they preform compaired to my venom. The 18m will have to wait till the winds are too low for my venom, witch they be won't tomarrow.

The best thing about these kites was there price. The grand total with shipping comes to the whopping price of $0.00. Yup, thats right, they were 100% free. I made a deal with the seller that if he gave me these kites he was giving away with with the gear he was selling I would list his gear on some of the kiteing websites I am a member of. The deal couldn't have worked better. I got some free kites and his gear got sold. Shipping was free too as one of the truck drivers were my mother works just happened to be passing though the city in which the seller lived, so he picked them up for me. As a thank you gift for saving me the shipping charges, I made him a completely hand made led sign with his name on it. I'm sure he will love it.

Now enough of all this text, it's picture time!!!

Here's the kites as soon as I got home, At this time they had been rolled up for 8 years!!!


The moment of truth! The first to be unrolled was the 18m. If you look at the black arch you can see some of the sand from Guam.


The last to be unrolled was the 13m. I really liked the vibrant colors and the logo so I snaped a quick picture


After the 18m spilled sand all over our garage, I moved all the kites outside and I decided to stack them to compair the sizes.



Here is a picture of me snuggleing with some wild guerillas.


Here is the sign I made for the truck driver who was kind enought to pic these up for me.

Cool story, I hope you have a great time with the kites. Make sure you take your time setting them up. It can be exciting to get new kites, and rushing to get them in the air can cause mistakes in the setup. Take your time and double check everything.

Most of all, have fun!

By the way, you need to update your signature block to include the new beasts.

-Jason

Wow, you got a really nice deal! Enjoy

Tim

Major score !

Offering that one of a kind item to the driver adds the Karma !
You will want a fan now. My guerillas were a PITA to fill naturally.

like all kites the guerilas came in differant colours so no mystery about the red and grey

Congrats, Guerilla-brother! I can't wait to compare notes on the 18m.

Thanks guys! There probably not going to get tested today though. I slept-in and the winds are 22mph now. I could probably handle the 13m but I am not sure how it handles, how much depower, ect. I don't want to push my luck and get hurt. I'll just have to wait for a low wind day to fly them all and gradually try them in higher winds to find there "well powered" zone.

Carl- this link, http://www.chicagokitesurfing.com/kiteshop/guerilla.html , says that the colors where like phantoms where each size came in one color. The 10m and 15m came in red, and the 13m and 18m came in yellow. And I have never seen a picture of one in the grey color either. The belly is white to so I don't know whats up with this kite. It doesn't really matter, I like the red better that the yellow anyway.

Proletariat- does your 18m have the extra spars? It should be really fun to test whether they make a differance in the turning speed like they are supposed to. I'll probabely mess with some straps and see if I can squeeze some speed out of these beasts.

my 18m was red and grey

Let the good times roll! That was a huge score. I think you can consider yourself an ARCaholic now!

Heya Snake,
I'm not sure what you mean about extra spars. I got one set (blue, aluminum); they look like the originals. There are two rear sets of pigtails, though. I've only tried out the far pigtails thus far. Supposedly the nearer ones create more bar pressure and I suspect they might help turn a little faster (i.e. less throw, but bigger AoA change). I hadn't heard anything about extra spars, though. Are they a different length or something? Mine go right from the end of the pocket to the edge of the first velcro flap and it's a snug fit.

Also, did you ever buy that 13m Venom from Heliboy? I sent him a U2U to see if it was still available, but I haven't heard back yet. It'd be perfect for me to fill a giant gap (and have an arc that turns )

I bought that arc from heliboy a long time ago. It I'd recomend a venom I as you can customize it to your likeing. I didn't like the TET mod which was built in to the venom II. It took away the speed I gained from shortening the straps. I took it out after a few sessions and It lowered the topend more than I gained in bottom end.

Also towards the end of the production Guerillas Peter Lynn added a spar pocket on the 5th cell on each side to increase turning speed. All 3 of my guerillas have them, but the extra spars on the 15m were added by folding ove some of the kites fabric.

Here's a picture of what I am talking about. Notice the blue thing between 2 of the cells, that is the extra spar pocket.

I believe the extra spar pockets were an after market mod added on request by some shops. If Peter Lynn though they had any value it would have been incorprated into the GII's too (and possibly on other models). At the time, it was said to work better on the big kites. So, it might be of a bit of value on the 18?? maybe the 15??

I wasted a lot of time trying all the approved mods (individually and in combo) on my GII's. Most did as advertised, they improved bottom end and /or improved turning speed. However, it was always at the expense of gust absorbstion, lower top end, smaller sweetspot, and higher bar pressure. I removed all the mods except the TET and continued to enjoy the kites in their intended windrange where they felt the best.

A buddy had a quiver of G's and then GII's. He thought the G's had better bottom end.

More riding... Less tweeking.

Hey Snake,
Score bro! Super stoked for you!
Vinegar is a great trick, but if you find that doesn't do the job, then sewing in new zippers isn't as hard as it seems. I just took my time and thought it through.
Someone posted this website for zippers:
http://www.questoutfitters.com/zippers.htm#MAKE%20YOUR%20OWN...
Use the #5 waterproof zipper and don't forget to get a #5 slider also.
Have fun with your new toys!

I tried the 18m today in ~10mph winds. I got the kite decently filled and the lines layed out and was set to launch. Right before I launched I had to go help my dad with the snowmoblie for 10-15 minutes and I just let the kite lay on the ice. Well the ice was kindof wet and the kite absorbed alot of water while I was gone and started to deflate. After 2 collapses I finally got the kite in the air and boy is she stable. With no bar input she went to about 45 degrees vertical and then I made a few passes to fill her up. I got her to about 60 degrees and she collaped from all the water weight. I couldn't get her back in the air after that. When I was rolling up the kit I noticed the kite had a glossy layer of ice covering the entire top skin. The water had frozen to the kite, got wet again, and made another layer! The kite weighed atleast double if not tripple what it did when I went out. There was a large puddle in our laundry room from all the melted ice!

Lesson learned - don't fly a kite on wet ice when the air is below freezing.

Heh. That sounds like a pain in the ass.

Flew my 18m today and let a buddy fly it in ~5-10 mph (if even -- it inflated at like 12mph then it died down a LOT -- actually kinda nice). She filled nicely and flew predictably. She is VERY slow on diving loops, so I've found it necessary to pull whichever back line will make it turn faster. I still haven't tried the shorter pigtails. I'll do that next time.

Also, just for the sake of comparison, I'm on the last knot for both front and back pigtails and when I'm trimmed all the way out (fully powered) I still get full depower when I let go of the bar. I will probably shorten the rear lines about 1" soon so that I can trim a little better to EITHER power or depower.

Incidentally, my buddy did really well. I, however, accidentally clipped a buddy with one of my lines when I was trying to do a kite loop, which just really stupid (sorry again, J!). We were really lucky the winds were low. FYI, those 27m lines are MUCH longer than they appear (mine might even be 30m). Anyway, parks get a LOT smaller when you really start to move the Guerilla around. Even if you think you're clear, you might not be.

Sounds like a good session. What would you say would be the lowest wind it would fly in and and what wind speed would you start to be over powered? I am thinking about trying the king of the guerillas again tomarrow and want to make sure it's not spank me.:wee:

I went out (static) again today with the goal of a) trying out those shorter pigtails and b) comparing my 13m Waroo LEI to the 18m Guerilla. The wind went from 5-10 mph to 10-15mph to 15-20 mph to 20-25 mph in just a few hours. I put in a lot of time on the Waroo from 10-15 and had just pulled out the Guerilla for comparison when the wind picked up to 15-20. I put the Guerilla away, and I think that was the right decision. To date, I have 5 sessions on the Guerilla in basically 0 to 13 mph and I'm still figuring out how to not Superman with the Depowers.

So... to answer your question, I am very confident that I would've been fine up to 15 mph if a) I had been riding and b) I knew what the hell I was doing. I finally figured out today that depowers are a lot easier to handle if you don't accidentally *send* it all the time :o, which is very important.

Had I not been alone and also not been so worried about tangles, bowties, inverts and accidentally mitigating my safety mechanisms (thereby ruining my kite and my body), I would've considered flying today in 15-20. Of course, I would've been REALLY wide-eyed, focused and terrified, but I would've considered it. Now looking at this makes me wonder if I'm totally daft: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/mx5alan/arcs/wind_range.htm

For me, I'd say 15 is my comfortable ceiling for static flying. 13 guesting 18 was scary, but I get more comfortable with every outing.

For the floor, yesterday a buddy and I were flying the GI in basically 2-4 mph and it was really fun. It was his first time, and I was still doing all sorts of screwing up, so we flew across the power zone at speed a number of times. I wouldn't have done that today. Today was very focused practice on going from 9:00 to 10:00 and keeping it there, then 10:00 to 11:00 and keeping it there, keeping the lines taut for control and then trying to slowly move the kite around the window again. I felt much safer today

Are you still flying static, Snake, or are you riding something?

I see you are making the same mistake I did with my venom. I kept taking it out in higher and higher windsbecause the last sesion went smoothly. I took it out is 26 mph gusting to around 30mph. I was fine for a bit, did some mega jumps and some 50 foot skuds. The I got hit by one of those 30mph jumps and got lifted 5 feet or so and got dragged. Panicing I turned the kite back to zenith and got lifted and dragged again. I finally flagged the kite and packed up.

Anyway I had a good sesion today in 9 mph winds. I had to keep the kite moving to keep it in the air. It builds apparent wind very nicely. I was able to park the kite while running cross wind. Turns and flys alot slower than my venom. A bigger bar should speed up the turning. I am not impressed by its jumping preformance. I got a few floaty baby jumps, and one 10 foot jump in a gust. I was cranking the bar expecting another small jump and did 3/4 of a heli loop.

I might try the 15m tomarrow. The weather has been in the high 30's to low 40's all week so all the snow is gone. The lakes are getting sketchy so I'm going to have my first landboard session tomarrow! The wind will be 15-17mph gusting to 20mph, a bit low for my venom. The 15m should work nicely. I can't wait!

Edit gltch

It was the slowness + need for room to build on that power that wasn't working for me when I had my 13, 18 set. I drifted to Flysurfers and then back to arcs when the VPC came into play.

I find myself wondering if adding a VPC bridle to the Guerilla may speed up the turns ?

Good to here you got out for a session that went well for you Snake.

Hrm... I suspected that there may be some of that over-confidence effect going on . I'll be careful not to overdo it tomorrow.

Also, the two things I learned from my first day depower landboarding may be useful to you:

1) to stop, just turn the kite and board upwind, but keep the lines from going slack.

2) It's a lot easier to board on your weak side if you slowly move the kite from 12:00 to 11:00 (or 1:00, depending on goofy/regular). On your strong side, it's easy to generate power quickly, but on the weak side, you're just asking for trouble, so move it slowly until you get better on that side.

Can't wait to hear about your session.

Bladerunner - I was thinking about adding the venom bridle to the guerillas to see how much it affeted speed and power. I also have an idea for a bridle that uses a pully with only 2 conection points. I was also thinking about shortening some straps to add some speed.

Proletariat - Sometimes spankings are the only way to learn.:frog: And I don't really have a weak side. I skateboard alot and I skate regular but ride switch alot too. I can even do somethings better switch, like ollieing sets. Though I do feel more comfortable at speed rideing regular.

Wow, it must be nice to not have a weak side #jealous. I started snowboarding in '92 and have always been weak on switch. If anything can cure that, kite landboarding will.

Anyway, I have a confession to make:
So it turns out that I'm just really bad at estimating wind speeds (I took my anemonoemoneometer yesterday). There's no way I'd be flying the 18m G in anything over 15 for a while. The day I was calling 18 must've been more like 13 and me talking about 15-20 must've been 10-15. Sorry about that. I'll use the meter more until I get my internal wind meter calibrated

Here are some pics of the GI in roughly 3-5 mph (I think that's actually the right speed this time):




Me:

Are you flying on handels?!?!? And did you use a pump to inflate it? I love how this kite goes from barely flying with no pull to powered in an instant. The thing I don't like is the speed and turn rate. I am thinking of what mods would make faster. Vpc and some strap shortening should do the trick. If not I don't know what I will do. Will have to do some rideing with them to see how well they work in motion before I decide their fate.

I got my first landboard session yesterday and I'm a natural. The wind was a smooth 18 mph breeze so I chose my venom. I got going right away and did a few slow runs to get the feel for it. My skateboarding and windsurfing backround came in handy. As I predicted I don't have a weak side but each side is better at something than the other. When rideing switch (right foot forward) it is more difficult to get going but I can stop and switch sides better. When rideing regular (left foot forward) it is effort less to get going but harder to stop. I have regular powerslides down as I do them all the time when I skate. I haven't tried a switch powerslide yet as I have less experiace doing them and since I don't need to to stop. To bad it snowed again so no more land boarding for awhile.

That's awesome. Were you on the far rear pigtails or the ones nearer the front? I still haven't had a chance to mess with those, but I plan to tomorrow. I also noticed that the Guerilla really turns fast if you just reach up and grab one of those rear lines and yank on it. I realize that's not ideal, but it's good in a pinch.

Other than that, I think the Guerilla is a fantastic "park and ride" candidate, due to the slow turning and the low aspect ratio. Keep us updated.... I'm taking the GI out in a buggy tomorrow :o

That's awesome. Were you on the far rear pigtails or the ones nearer the front? I still haven't had a chance to mess with those, but I plan to tomorrow. I also noticed that the Guerilla really turns fast if you just reach up and grab one of those rear lines and yank on it. I realize that's not ideal, but it's good in a pinch.

Other than that, I think the Guerilla is a fantastic "park and ride" candidate, due to the slow turning and the high aspect ratio. Keep us updated.... I'm taking the GI out in a buggy tomorrow :o

Both of you need a really, really big bar for the 18. That thing is slooooow.

I fly it on the front pigtails to squeeze every bit of turn speed out if it.

Yesterday I finally flew it on the front pigtails. It definitely turned faster (if you can even include the word "fast" when referring to the way a GI turns), but the bar pressure was higher. Didn't seem like a big deal to me, but I'm sure after a while it could fatigue your hands or something.

I also accidentally brought my Best bar instead of my GI bar. The sucker is only like 45 cm, but it worked like a champ. I think one of my front lines is longer than the other so it turned great to one side and pretty darn slow and stall-y to the other. Kite loops are nigh impossible.

Anywhoo... here are a couple of vids of the GI and a little bit of my very first time buggying:

Just trying to get situated


First time rolling:


Need a helmet cam instead of an iPhone:


Actually moving, but garbage camera work

Great score and most truck drivers are nice like that



Now STACS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-em!