Stealth Retractor by John Kennedy

I am intrigued by this item.
Obviously this can be used as an ITR in the "locked" position. And a controlled retractor, in the "unlocked" position.

Is Kevlar of acceptable "invisibility" close up?
How silent is the reel?
What is the reel length?
Where would you keep the reel whilst in operation?
Is the speed variable?
The switch has to be operated by hand so at sometime one hand has to come to the reel itself to "switch it off"?

I am about to purchase this item so your recommendations, advice, and input is greatly appreciated

wulfie

You can ask John Kennedy personally, I was also considering the Stealth Retractor but I emailed him first with some questions. It turned out it didn't meet my requirments but from what I understand its a good reel and John stands by his products. His website is http://www.johnkennedymagic.com. Good luck, hope this helps.

MIKE

I have one, and to answer your questions directly:
Kevlar is a thicker thread than some of the others, but it can be used close-up, you just have to be more careful.
The reel is silent enough to be be masked by talking, a dog could probably hear it, a spec could hear it close to the ear.
The length is as long as you wind it, I believe about 10 feet come on it.
In operation, I would keep it palmed, speed is not variable, and it requres you to activate it to work, however, there is not a large motion that requires activation, thus the stealth aspect. The activation is a button, it will work when the button is pressed, when released it stops working.
It is a fine well made piece of equipment. However, it is a specialized piece of equipment - if you have a need that it can fill then by all means go get one. I have found that a Thread Boss works better for me.
This is a motorized reel, not a instant hands off retractor.

I hate the fact that you have to palm the device. Isn't there a reel device that activates by just a tiny movement of your body? I swear I read it somewhere but I forgot what it's called.

The one you probably read somewhere that you can turn on by "minimal body movement" is the U.F.C. 3D System. That phrase is kinda misleading to me at least, since you still have to turn it on manually and physically with your hand while "fixing your jacket" or something of the kind. I have only got it recently so I can't say if I recommend it or not since I haven't got to try it yet. From what I got and watching the video though so far, I can say I'm pretty satisfied with it(the U.F.C. 3D System).
Just my 2 cents..
Mack Magic

>I hate the fact that you have to palm the
>device. Isn't there a reel device that
>activates by just a tiny movement of your
>body? I swear I read it somewhere but I
>forgot what it's called.

The Stealth Retractor is good in certain circumstances. It's better for animation. The palming is practically invisible.

In addition to the U.F.C., there's the E.S.R. I can't remember the link to it for details. Do a search for ESR. They sell it at Hank Lee's but I don't think it's in their online database yet. As MackMagic said, the UFC may require you to actually turn it on. The ESR is a bit more controllable.

One last remote-controlled reel is Jump!, also by John Kennedy. But you're very limited to what kind of things you can do because of the speed of the retraction. It's also more visible and noisier.


Brian

I love the Stealth Retractor. I used to use it for the 'card that falls' up. Later, JK actually released the effect. I would ditch the SR by using a large padded magnet in my right back pocket. It was a great way to grab & then ditch the device. After the fx, just let your right arm rest a bit and swing, it will kling to the magnet. Perfect solution to ditch it!