Its new season time here and i,ve narrowed it down to these two kites, just the rebel is second hand and has 4 repairs, small but obvious , where as the trigger is brand new! for the same price.
my budget unfortunatly only means i can have 1 kite, but thats all i need here winds 15-25kn.

I know the rebels well, but what i want to know is, without pimps, is although the trigger gets rave reviews is there any bad points?

Trigger and rebel riders, i await your replies

I use a surf board and some times a tt

I currently fly Epic kites.
But, I had 2010 Triggers 9M & 12M, great kites.
Then 2012 Triggers 7M, 10M, 14M, really great kites.
Good power, very stable, great in gusty wind, easy jumping with very good boost and float.
Fast turning, no backstall at all.
Will do freeride and surf as well.
Nothing bad at all to report.
And Triggers are four line kites, which makes them better than the Rebels.
The 10M is also the best size of all the Triggers!
BUY THE TRIGGER

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I always prefer new to second hand kites because you don't know exactly how much the used kite has been thrashed but I personally disagree completely with this statement. I much much prefer the 5 line safety on the Rebel....particularly the loaded 5th line. I've flown a lot of different kites recently and I'd be very surprised if the Trigger feels as solid as the Rebel. If you can organize it...demo them back to back.

Ever have a kite roll over with a fifth line and have the fifth wrap the kite up into two halves?
James surfs most of the time, the Rebel is not a surf kite, ...unless he has never dropped a kite in the surf.
The Trigger is new, the Rebel has FOUR repairs on it.
This one is a no brainer.
In my opinion (which is just my opinion) there is no need for five line kites in 2012, I feel that if you can't make a four line kite perform the way you want it to, then you should go back to the drawing board. The most well respected C kite in the world is four line, the best surf kites are four line, lots and lots of great freeride kites that are four line, the best race kites are four line.
Even the North lineup (finally) has more four line kites than five line kites.
I always hear the safety reason in defense of five line kites, safety systems on four line kites are just fine.

I think it's a no brainier also.. But I would go rebel cuz it flys so well compared to so many other kites . I have not flown the trigger so I can't compare the two. 5 line kites have a feel unlike any 4 line kite out. If I only had one kiteitwould be 11m rebel for sure.

I ride surf and have a big beach when I do, so I will let any kite (4 or 5 liner) go to the beach if it is getting worked. I probably need to go get my board anyway ....I have had and seen couple of 4 line kites destroys in surf also...

I also ride tt, race board,boots, skim, snow, and some time land board. I know the rebel will do everything.

I don't know the price of the kites u want but just the fact that a used rebel with 4 repairs cost the same as a new trigger says something about value of the kites....I bet u should be able to get more resale out of the rebel, if it is the same price already used what's a used trigger worth??

Just a disclaimer a am a north athlete but I choose north because of their amazing products I also fly evos, Vegas, dynos. So 4 and 5 line kites. I never mind the 5 th line cuz it makes the rebel and Vegas so solid. I never consider the 5th line a deal breaker it is just a characteristic of the kite. If the surf is super big, then really focus on not dropping ur kite, but if the surfs really big that should be your goal anyhow, right. Airton won the kspt (surf tour)on rebels, how can it not be a good surf kite?? Guys n girls were flying it at the north amercian coarse racing champinships, my friend jason just went 44ish knots on a 10 rebel setting the north amercian GPS speed record, I do well at snow kite contest on one... it is so good at everything...

Good luck I hope you enjoy what ever kite you get!

Resale value of a kite with four repairs?
ikitesurf has gobs of 2010, 2011, 2012 kites with no repairs selling cheap.
Anything posted there with even one repair gets sold suuuuuuper cheap.
North is one of the big five brands, so resale is better than non big five brands, for no good reason, it's nothing to do with how they fly.
The three strut, medium aspect Trigger (that has a surf specific setting) drifts better, will relaunch faster in the surf and will not get cut in half if tumbled.
I am not a North athlete or a Blade athlete, no brand affiliations to either kite model.

It is not the 'safety' of the 5th line that is the selling point for me with the Rebel it is the fact that there's no bridle...and the 5th carries some of that load. The Trigger may be a cracking kite...that's why you should demo them (back to back if possible). Buy the one you get on with best...and if it's the repaired Rebel haggle on the price as damage is damage no matter how good the fixes are.

You just said safety! Now it is load bearing, Okaaay.
A bridle is an airframe support that comes off the front two of four lines, and it supports the LE in several places on both sides leading up to center.
Your fifth line is an airframe support that comes from adding an additional fifth line, and supports only the very center.
One requires 4 lines from your bar to the kite.
One requires 5 lines from your bar to the kite.
Four lines just seems to make so much more sense these days, in my opinion.
Back when I (and everybody else) was flying four line C kites, and a sheetable fifth got added to help increase depower range and for airframe support, they made some sense to me.
But since SLE (bridled) became an acceptable choice now (in people minds) for single skin inflatable kites, the fifth line became obsolete.....in my opinion.

My point was, that a used 2012 rebel with four repair is going for the same price as a brand new trigger in James area, if that is not a indicator of north verses blade value and you feel differently fine.

I love the big five,(as you called them) bashing and discounting that goes down on this forum...

There is reason they are popular brands that sell a ton of gear and have proven their commitment to the sport. They Make products that people want and use. When you say the resale value has nothing to do with how they fly we're does that info come from? I am assuming its just your personal take? Kite mags constantly review the big 5 kites as supiorior gear. The retail on the big five is higher and that's still the kites that get bought....it is simple because these company's have established them selves as providing all the gear and survices necessary to charge these premium prices.

Plus last I checked it's the big five bringing the sport into the now, it's the big five that r inventing new tech, and bank rolling contest, and the athletes that push the sport to higher levels that then gets copied by the bottom feeders with substandard, manufacturing, at lower cost factories, (isn't the switch bar a north copy?) then the bottom feeders bitch and moan that there product is just as good and why isn't it selling better...all while they contribute nothing to the sport, while advertising for team rider, and reps via the Internet to anyone who is willing to buy gear at a reduced rate just so they can try And get more product out there because it doesn't have the quality to stand alone and sell its self??

I have ridden a ton of kites and the best ones were from company's that are common names, sure there have been a few smaller company kites that I enjoyed Even some dogs from the big five, but I have yet to see a product that comes close, to the quality, of the big fives best gear... In my opinion.

I hope the OP enjoys what ever kite he chooses, I can go out on vintage gear and still have fun. There were some switch kite around my scene for a little while but they failed to impress us, perhaps the trigger is the best kite on the planet and I need to be educated, but when it comes to rolling the dice to a kite you know well or gambling on a different kite, I personally have seen lots of disappointed kiters with the non big five brands....hopefully that is not the case with the trigger..

I prefer the bomber construction, and bad ass r&d and contribution to contest and progression of the big five brands, and like many other kiters will pay more for something like that.

The no pulley direct feel of the rebel is really un matched, the loaded fith line is part of the magic, I fly fuses also which is the four line rebel and it feels so different...

if that trashed rabel is sold for more than a new trigger, it only means the buyer is going to get royally f**** in the a**.

and no buying from top five brand doesn't mean you get a any better build quality than than buying from blade, epic, core, .......