We sell the wind
Virtus Supply Co began the way most small outfits do — badly, and on a beach. Our founder spent a February afternoon on the Oregon coast trying to fly a supermarket kite with a spar that had already snapped once and been taped. It flew for about nine seconds. The line, which was really just string, cut a groove into his hand. He drove home irritated and started reading, and what he found was that the good stuff exists, it is simply not sold anywhere a normal person shops.
So that is what we do. We keep a short, deliberate range of kites, lines and open-air gear: things that are made properly, that survive a season on the coast, and that a beginner can pick up without a lecture. Nothing here is chosen because it has a wide margin. Everything here is chosen because we fly it ourselves and would be annoyed if it broke.
What we actually care about
- Ripstop that ripstops. Our sails are 40-denier ripstop nylon with bound edges, not heat-cut polyester that frays the first time it catches a bush.
- Line you can trust. Braided Dyneema with a published test rating and a low stretch figure, wound on a core that will not warp. Line is the part people cheap out on and the part that actually fails.
- Spars that are replaceable. Every framed kite we sell has ferrules and spars you can buy separately, from us, for years. A kite should not be disposable because one tube cracked.
- Instructions written by people who fly. Short, honest, no clip art.
Where we are
We pack and ship from Las Vegas, Nevada. It is not a coastal town, which our friends find funny, but the warehouse is dry and the shipping lanes are good. Our address is 1810 E Sahara Ave, Suite 212, Las Vegas, NV 89104. There is a real person at support@virtuskites.store on weekdays.
How we think about price
A first kite should cost less than a tank of fuel. A kite you will still be flying in ten years costs more, and we will tell you plainly which is which. We would rather sell you the fifteen-dollar ground stake you actually need than the three-hundred-dollar case you do not.
The quiet part
Kite flying is one of the last hobbies with no screen in it. You cannot check anything while you are doing it. That is most of the point, and it is why we keep the shop small enough to answer every email ourselves.