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Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

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OceanAdventures
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Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby OceanAdventures » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:47 pm

Hey everyone. Just finished the Video and written review. Enjoy... We hope anyway



Battle of the Light Wind Kites

Well, we finally finished up testing the kites and have gathered some observations together for you. Not only did we test them in light wind (11 mph w/2 mph downwind current), but higher wind (15-20 mph) as well. After all, we all know that sometimes a light wind session turns into something a little more and I was curious to see how they’d perform. Now, one of the great takeaways from this is that there really weren’t any dogs in this test. All of them performed well and didn’t really leave us disappointed. The video testimonials do a little better at describing the individual thoughts of each tester, whereas most of the observations below are my own. As the heaviest rider, I was certainly impressed by how well they worked in so little wind. For the light wind riding, I used a Spleene Door 159, for the stronger wind I used a Cabrinha Prodigy 144. For our light wind testing, we rotated through kites at the same time, coming in, trading off, and going right back out.
So, in alphabetical order, here we go:

Cabrinha Contra 17m
January 15, 2014; 15-20 mph

-Nice and stable, constant pull, easy to jump
-Easy to drive out of the window when overpowered
-Felt confident the entire time, even though everyone else had shifted down to 12’s
-Jumps were nice and floaty without overpowering before takeoff

January 20, 2014; 11 mph w/2 mph downwind current

-Good pull, feels a little slow to turn, very similar to the Turbine
-Very stable, no back-stalling
-Light bar pressure, but not so much that you feel like you need to look at the kite much
-The Cabrinha bar is the most comfortable of them all

Core XR3 19m
January 15, 2014; 15-20 mph

-Nicely powered, sometimes a little overpowered in gusts, a little difficult to edge out of the window
-Light bar pressure, very responsive
-Fun to jump

January 20, 2014; 11 mph w/2 mph downwind current

-Again, nice pull w/ plenty of power and turns well. I was actually pulling kite loop/back rolls in this light wind!
-Seems like a little more low end grunt than the previous version (XR2)
-How does this big kite turn so fast with this little bar?!
-The Core’s quick release is requires a twist, versus the “industry standard” of push away. As a safety issue, I’d prefer to see them all the same.

Ocean Rodeo Flite 17m
January 15, 2014; 15-20 mph

-Flew well, easy to surge to the edge of the window when overpowered
-Above the bar depower works well, very easy to operate
-Nice re-launch, on par with the Turbine (or maybe better)
-Very fun to jump in strong wind

January 20, 2014; 11 mph w/2 mph downwind current

-Fast and pulls well
-Fun to fly
-Makes you forget that you’re flying a big kite
-Somehow, the Ocean Rodeo Flite bag doesn’t have a place to store the pump on the outside of the bag. The bag is roomy enough to stuff it in there, but I don’t want to cram that in there with the kite.
-The Flite has a reinforced grab handle sewn part way down the wing tip for self-rescue. Most others seem to be an afterthought.

Slingshot Turbine 17m
January 15, 2014; 15-20 mph

-Pulls hard, but still easy to edge it and push it out of the window when overpowered
-Below the bar depower is still the same and not very user friendly when you NEED it
-If you can hold your edge long enough to get the kite high in the window, you will be rewarded with some pretty amazing hangtime in strong winds, but it isn’t easy

January 20, 2014; 11 mph w/2 mph downwind current

-As always, this kite just pulls from the get go. No need to work it for a while…turn it and it’s a static pull
-One of the best light wind re-launches, so easy a caveman can do it. ;)
-Medium bar pressure; you really don’t ever have to look at the kite to know where it is
-Super stable
-Continued remarks from everyone are that Slingshot needs to make the bar’s grip out of something less like a cheese grater!

So, there it is. A mash-up of some of the best light wind kites that we’ve found, reviewed by average guys like you, not superstars that are pulling mega loops on trainer kites. Now, get out there and ride!

Tiago1973
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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby Tiago1973 » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:09 pm

thanks for this

as a non native english speaker got some difficulties in getting what the guys are saying with all the back-ground noise, maybe some subtitles would help.. and imperial system?

also you mention that the vector is a bit slow turning while the core is a fast turning kite - this is not perceived in the video, maybe next time you could try and show in the water what you are then saying in the comments

don´t take this wrongly, just a couple of thoughts

:thumb:

PS
from those i think i would pick the core!
Last edited by Tiago1973 on Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

OceanAdventures
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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby OceanAdventures » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:11 pm

Tiago1973 wrote:thanks for this

as a non native english speaker got some difficulties in getting what the guys are saying with all the back-ground noise, maybe some subtitles would help..

also you mention that the vector is a bit slow turning while the core is a fast turning kite - this is not perceived in the video, maybe next time you could try and show in the water what you are then saying in the comments

don´t take this wrongly, just a couple of thoughts

:thumb:
Very good input. Yeah we didn't notice till after that some of the testers were very light speakers.

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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby SENDIT! » Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:19 pm

And to be fair, the fat guy that wrote those notes is me, not OceanAdventures. Unless you don't like them, and then it was DEFINITELY him. :wink:

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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby UKSurf » Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:02 pm

Nice to see reviews from independent people on the kites. I am sure there is going to be some trolling regarding the Epic Infinity and that you thought there was something wrong with it and couldnt review it :wink:

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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby Dr Makani » Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:53 pm

:thumb: awesome! Great effort and big thumbs up for the riders and local action stars. As with everything in our kite life they came in all sizes and shapes :lol:

peace

OceanAdventures
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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby OceanAdventures » Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:10 pm

UKSurf wrote:Nice to see reviews from independent people on the kites. I am sure there is going to be some trolling regarding the Epic Infinity and that you thought there was something wrong with it and couldnt review it :wink:
We honestly didn't want to put a bad review out if there was something wrong with this specific kite, and the reviews would have probably made the trolling worse if we included them. We are working with Dimitri and hopefully will have it done very soon.

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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby jespin4845 » Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:31 pm

Can anyone compre the flite to the blade fat lady v2, i had that kite for a short time and the difference between it and my 12 on a wide surfboard werent worth me keeping it, fun kite to jump in hig winds thou, thinking of a cloud or flite now

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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby awo » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:07 pm

Would it be possible to someone compare the flysurfer 21m to these kites? It would really help me make up my mind, where I live winds are fickle.

OceanAdventures
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Re: Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

Postby OceanAdventures » Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:39 pm

awo wrote:Would it be possible to someone compare the flysurfer 21m to these kites? It would really help me make up my mind, where I live winds are fickle.
Our motto has been if you can't float back on it, we're not going out on it.

We have had foils out here in our fickle wind before, they weren't riding when we couldn't be out on inflatables, and the turning speed for me just made me want to mow the lawn.

A faster low aspect kite has been for us more fun in the light wind then the slower high ar kites, and we are all riding in about the same amount of wind.


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