Review by "randykato"
OK, I'm a stoked rider who switched. I decided to switch my whole quiver since I like to just have one bar/lines and I wanted to fully embrace the new system rather than risk having confusion about which system I'm on and where the release is when the sh*t hits the fan.
I rode Wipika and SlingShot mainly, but flew Naish, Flexifoil, Liquid Force, etc. in the past. So far I've received my 17 and 12 BT Nitros and I'm still waiting on my 8.5 CO2. I've flown the 17 3 times and flew the 12 for the first time yesterday.
The kites are great! The system is great! I am stoked. However, much of the stoke would probably be the same no matter what 2004 gear I switched to since it's all a step up from the 2002/01/earlier gear I've been using. I will say that it is the Recon system that made me take the leap and invest in a whole new quiver.
The kites fly really well and smooth, but they can jellyfish a bit in certain conditions (mostly the big 17 did this), but any big kite can be made to do that. The depower is excellent - I was riding the 12 in some of the most gusty conditions I've ever had (from below 10 to above 20 knots and on/off instantaneously) and it handled it all very well. I got some of the biggest jumps ever yesterday - so high and with so much hang time I didn't know what to do. I had to learn what to do with the kite all over again which was tough due to the funky wind conditions.
The Recon system is what I've wanted. The old Wipika reverse relaunch bridle was a good idea, but in practice didn't work as well or as easily as it should have and it detracted from the feel of the kite and the depower range. This system is great - the only time it didn't work was when there was barely enough wind to keep the kite in the air in the first place (which was also why it fell). Since local conditions mean flying the big kites most often, relaunching can be a real pain and sometimes isn't possible - especially with the very high aspect kites in light wind. Recon is a huge plus here and riding has become more fun now that I have more confidence that if I screw up a trick and drop the kite downwind, I can relaunch it. And I don't mind trying tricks farther out because of this. Spinning the bar without a 5th leash line is so nice. Just having a clean single attachment without any extra leash lines or extra loops feels so much nicer. The releases work very well and reliably. The depower strap is cool with the strap that powers up the kite incrementally.
As for the safety release, it works quite well. Once you see the system in person and have a chance to inspect it you can see how it works. It's really a great innovation. In the super gusty conditions yesterday it worked like a charm. It kills the kite with noticeably less power than the single line technique....and doesn't have the kite spinning like the single line technique. I would describe it as a kite depowered on a single line being still alive like an animal on a leash trying to get away, where the Recon-depowered kite just sort of sits there like a dog cowering at the end of a leash.
Re engaging the system once deployed on the water could be tough (I haven't tried it), but as it was said earlier, if you need to deploy the system I don't know that conditions would recommend relaunching. But if you were to try it, it would take some time and you would probably wind up quite far downwind since as you retrieve the front line attachment the kite will power up again and start pulling you downwind as you get it reset. Then there's the issue of making sure you don't get tangled in the rear lines as you do all of this. Well, I'm not planning on trying this and hope to never have to.
The accessories are great as well - very nice bags for the kites that are super expandable backpacks with pockets for the pump (which is extra tall for higher volume) and other stuff as well as straps to carry your board. Even the bars come with a nice bar bag.
So, in a nutshell, it's 2004 gear that comes with all that you'd expect of it, plus a really nice safety/relaunch system that I find fixes/eliminates so many of the little pet peeves I had with my old custom setup.