North Vegas 06- Excellent Kite

[KidKiteRock]

Had a chance to ride the 12 vegas 06 today.

Just having a session in February is reason enough to be happy, but the Vegas 06 made it even better.

I was ready to be dissapointed as I always am with a new kite.
I am a bow guy so I was doubly ready to not be impressed.

Took it to the beach and set it up right out of the box, actually the only thing I changed was the turning speed settings. (from slowest to fastest).

Inlflation was very easy, Self closing valves on the struts.
The Struts are VERY small in diameter as kinda odd looking with a radical bend in them like an elbow.

the leading edge does a partial turn around the wing tips and then stops.

I have set up 5th lines before so there was no problem here.

-----------------------

Riding- To set this up, when I arived at the beach is was moderate to light for what I normally would rig a 12 but it was to pick up.

There was one Bigger guy on a 16 rhino and two others setting up a 12 Crossbow and a 12 Switchblade.

When i first went out I felt a little underpowered but I was going up wind and jumping with out much trouble. Same witht he Bows.

I felt right at home on the Vegas 06 and very confident. The kite is quick and always where I though it would be. I started pushing my backs and forwards with more speed and felt great. The Vegas is very rider friendly.
The bar feels great in the hand, there is more bar pressure than with the rhinos and previous Vegas kites, but nothing big. I like the pressure as it tells me where the kite is.

Then the wind came like a train! Dude came of the 16 in a hurry and rigged smaller.

Now I could send it hard and see how the air was comparred to my Bow and shockwave. It took me a few to get reaclimated to a "C" kite but once I did it had great jumping ability and hangtime.

The wind kept coming stronger. Now Im adjsuting the front lines, which is super easy, one of the best things north did with the bar set up.

bigger and Bigger jumps with lots of control as the wind comes up.
I am really liking this kite!

Now I am nerlly maxed out, winds near 30 and I have the center lines sheeted in hard. what amazed me was the amount of depowe the kite had even this maxed out! Maybe not quite like the crossbow, but plenty!

A few more runs in the flats for big air and man does this kite jump! It like to get you up and keep you there (insert joke here)

I would have tested the self landing, but it was really windy and I didnt want to screw around especially with people to help land the kite.

Guys on the Swtich and Crossbow came in right after me saying they were maxed as well.

Overall a great session on a very impressive kite.--

Summary-

It does have huge depower.

It is always where you think it is.

It Jumps high and stays there.

Love the new bar

This is a very nice kite and lives up to everything I was told it would do.

Ah yeah, large dump valve at one wingtip for the leading edge is sweet for take down, especially when is blowing close to 30 and its february on Cape Cod

Kudos to Ken Winner and the north Team, they have done it again in my opinion.

Kid.

[KidKiteRock]

Oh and it relaunched very easily according to by bud who smashed it into the water.

Dont know what happed, all I heard was the THUD.

[smokey]

Interesting first impresions, I'm very interested in this kite, an curious of how well it works in the 4 line setup, have you tried that? is there a longer chicken loop line lenght than normal ?

I like to use four lines and suicied leash but, was wondering If a suicied leash would depower the kite enough to use as safety?Simular to sonic style.

Smokey

[Sake]

Thx for sharing. Especially from a bow rider's perspective.
Will surely check the Vegas06 when possible.

[jkrug]

the only reason your Vegas crashed into the water was cuz of user error. after having some difficulty on my Sonic 11, KIdKiteRock lent me his new Vegas, and i just completely blew a jump attempt (not quite sure what i did, but i'm a relative beginner) and ended up under water wih my back to the kite, and i apparently steered it right into the water. chilly. anyway, being a newbie, it didn't take much for me to relaunch using the 5th line. sorry i got it wet, man.

I did feel more comfortable on the Vegas 12 than on the Sonic 11, but this is not to bash the Sonic...I learned on a Rhino and this was my first time out on the Sonic. The depower system on the Vegas is clearly more user friendly than the Sonic bar. Adjusting the depower on the Sonic was downright impossible while the kite was up fully powered, and neither I nor another rider could successfully adjust it while airborne. (yes, i've read other threads on supposedly how to do this, but there was no way i could pull UP on the center line with kite powered above me). anyway, its a Vegas thread; I liked it and will seriously consider the Vegas 16M to replace my 04 Rhino 16M.

[lesbian horse]

The depower system on the Vegas is clearly more user friendly than the Sonic bar. Adjusting the depower on the Sonic was downright impossible while the kite was up fully powered, and neither I nor another rider could successfully adjust it while airborne. (yes, i've read other threads on supposedly how to do this, but there was no way i could pull UP on the center line with kite powered above me). anyway, its a Vegas thread; I liked it and will seriously consider the Vegas 16M to replace my 04 Rhino 16M.

The sonic doesnt really have a depower system. The kite doesn't need to be constantly trimmed like a C kite. Infact I havent touched it in 2 months.

[KGN]

So what if you want to unhook in more wind?Dont you need to pull the trim strap?
Slingshot Diesel has the same cleat system for depower,but it has a double line so its easy to pull.

[jkrug]

lesbo horse wrote:

"The sonic doesnt really have a depower system. The kite doesn't need to be constantly trimmed like a C kite. Infact I havent touched it in 2 months"


i agree you don't have to 'constantly' trim this, or any, kite. the Sonic bar itself allows for alot range, but even more-experienced Sonic folks on this forum says a bit of trim (5-10 cm) can be needed here and there. i hope i do find that perfect length for me (like you have) so trimming is rarely needed. But I think it would be nice if I were able to do this while the kite is in the air to figure out what that length is?

ugh, this thread is supposed to be about Vegas, not Sonics...sorry i brought it up. The Vegas was nice, I'm sure the Sonic will be too once i figure it out.

[Diego K]

We received the vegas 06 3 week a go, but theres no wind here, i cnat wait to tray it. But this kite is everything they say, North does whats North says.
Some other brands should learn about that.

[KidKiteRock]

Interesting first impresions, I'm very interested in this kite, an curious of how well it works in the 4 line setup, have you tried that? is there a longer chicken loop line lenght than normal ?

I like to use four lines and suicied leash but, was wondering If a suicied leash would depower the kite enough to use as safety?Simular to sonic style.

Smokey

This was the first time I had it out so I only tried it in the 5 line mode.
Since the 5th line has very little tension on it. I would think the characteristics would be very similar, I dont want to speculate too much.

I am not sure if there is a larger chicken loop available, But the one that is on there is easy to unhook from.

As for the suicide leash, I didnt try that either.