Epic Renegade 13M vs Wainman Big Mama 15M

[L0KI]

I've owned a Big Mama 15M for some time now.
It has not turned out to be a stellar lightwind kite for me, it's great at the coast in their super steady winds but...
in our crappy lake winds it is quite a grunt bucket in the gusts and hard to manage
...while not that great at keeping me going in the lulls.

So, a buddy and I went out Sunday for a cold water ride before the Superbowl.
Wind was pretty light from the west and we were waiting for it to turn north and come on a bit.
He got impatient and put up his Big Mama 14.5M and I put up a 4G Epic Renegade 13M that Dimitri sent me.
My buddy weighs 150 pounds and I weigh 190 pounds and we were both riding Shinnster Paipo directionals.
I was surprised that I was able to go upwind and hang with him (being 40 pounds heavier and on a 1.5 meter smaller kite) in that wind, but the Renegade turned fast enough to keep me going in the lulls and has great power for a 13M.
It is the smallest kite I've flown that will actually work for light wind and be any fun.
When the wind finally clocked around and started blowing from the north pretty good, my pal had to go in and put down his Mama 14.5 and size down to a Punch 10.5M.
I kept riding the Renegade 13 the rest of our session because I hate coming back in to re-rig, and am willing to ride lit.
The Renegade 13M worked fine in 20+ with a strapless surfboard and I had a great time with it.
I'm too lazy to check wind stats but another group of friends were over at another lake about 50 miles away and my buddy over there who is closer to my weight told me he was on his 8M at the end, and still I was fine on the R13.
.
I was very impressed with the Epic Renegade 13M LTD (4G) and how much usable range it had in our gusty lake conditions.....
.

...so I bought it.
.

bye bye Big Mama

[Dimitri M]

Well I guess the price on the RENEGADE 13 LTD (4G) just went up

[L0KI]

Oh Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! ....

[Olivier D]

Hello from France!

I will not talk about the EPIC RENEGADE 13m but the RENEGADE 4G 9M I bought last week. I couldn't wait to try that kite as I normally ride with SCREAMERS. I wanted to try something else!

First of all I would like to mention the fact that the bag is awsome. Nice, clean, functionnal and hudge space! Enough to put in 2 kites. I wasn't really convinced about the mesh bag but it's pretty practical. If you want to save space in your car, it's perfect!

When I started to unfold the kite, I immediately noticed something about the graphics: they are everywhere! On the struts, the LE... so nice!!!

The conditions were quite tough: 20 knots with gusts up to 30/35 knots. Riding with these conditions are quite hard to manage with the SCREAMER so I was curious about how different it will be with the RENEGADE.

Plug&play. That's all I can say to begin with. Gust eater, that's what I noticed straight from the begining just after I launched my kite.

On the water, the kite is responsive, bar pressure is just what I need: enough to know where the kite is and no pain in the arms once you finish your session. The kite is real fun to play with. This kite is so different from the SCREAMER! I usually love to boost high but here it's nice to attempt anything you want knowing that the kite won't rip you off too roughly if you do something badly...

Gusts didn't allow me to jump too much but from what I've experienced it's okay. I can't compare with the SCREAMER but it's nice and floatty.

I even crashed the kite to see how it relaunches... I know EPIC says "nearly auto relaunch", I have to say it's true

To recap: if you want a safe, responsive, fun and gust eater kite, get a chance to demo a RENEGADE, I'm sure you will love it! I did!

BTW, you must try the EPIC neoprene jacket, awsome to ride with it! 9°C sea temp and 6°C air temp. No gloves and no hood, I was fine!

[L0KI]

All the Renegades are very forgiving like you said.
My favorites are the 13M and the 7M but they are all very good.

[Dimitri M]

Hello from France!
I will not talk about the EPIC RENEGADE 13m but the RENEGADE 4G 9M I bought last week. I couldn't wait to try that kite as I normally ride with SCREAMERS. I wanted to try something else........

tomtombreizh, so you like the RENEGADE 9 (4G)

Concerning the NEOPRENE JACKET we have....This Neoprene jacket was designed to be used once you get out of the water to keep you warm. We also sell a lot of this type of jacket to fisherman surfers, and sail boat guys. So it's not only kiters.
But 99% of the kiters use this jacket after getting out of the water not while kiting but again it all up to you because it will keep you warm. And it also has a hole in the jacket so you can use your harness hook in case.

[nothing2seehere]

Never considered wearing the neoprene jacket in the water before. How long does it take to dry out after use? Does it get heavy when wet?

Sounds like an interesting idea for the cold.

[Dimitri M]

Never considered wearing the neoprene jacket in the water before. How long does it take to dry out after use? Does it get heavy when wet?
Sounds like an interesting idea for the cold.

The jacket is like a wet suit. The inside and outside of the jacket is what most wet suits are made of. So it won't get heavy because it doesn't become like a sponge.
Then once you get out of the water you will need to take the jacket and pull it inside out so the inside dries. Same thing like a wet suit when you come out of the water.

Now concerning kiting with it, I can't tell you more because I never did it. Hopefully tomtombreizh can respond to your question.

[Olivier D]

Never considered wearing the neoprene jacket in the water before. How long does it take to dry out after use? Does it get heavy when wet?
Sounds like an interesting idea for the cold.

The jacket is like a wet suit. The inside and outside of the jacket is what most wet suits are made of. So it won't get heavy because it doesn't become like a sponge.
Then once you get out of the water you will need to take the jacket and pull it inside out so the inside dries. Same thing like a wet suit when you come out of the water.

Now concerning kiting with it, I can't tell you more because I never did it. Hopefully tomtombreizh can respond to your question.

Yes, the neoprene jacket is like a wetsuit. It doesn't get heavy at all when wet, that's a least what I've noticed after my session. The wind was freezing cold so when I saw the jacket in my car, I decided to have a try with it while on the water. Great windstopper and it keeps you warm . I'm sure it helped me not having cold.

I'm sure I will use it next time. And I won't forget to use the hole to put my harness under!!! Great thing I didn't notice!