Caution Answer 12m Review

[kitenb]

Got to demo the new Caution 12m Bow kite. One day blowing 10-15mph, the other day in the morning blowing 15-25mph, then in the afternoon blowing 20-35mph.. Here are some comments:

Bar setup: Like this a lot. Chicken loop covered in plastic coating, spinning chicken loop, nice leash attachment option(kind of like hooking into a 5th line leash setup). Looks and feels solid. Has two "slingshot style" locking balls on it. One above the bar, one below... very nice.

Kite looks: Looks good. Seems pretty solid. Some stitching a little off with the scuff guards, but other than that, looks good.

Speed: Good speed. Definitely faster than some of the other 12m Bow kites(turbo diesel, cabrinhas, liquid Force assault, Shockwave). About the same speed as the Waroo 12m.

Power through the turns: Good...lots of power through a bottom turn..one of the things I liked best about this kite

killing the power for riding waves, or safety: Not the best compared to the other Bow kites...probably the worst of them all, but I think they designed it like that. The chicken loop rope length is short..as short as any normal 4 or 5 line bar setup. When you push the bar all the way away from you(or let go of the bar) it doesn't kill all the power of the kite. Feels about the same as if you did that with a normal 4 or 5 line kite. I personally liked that alot about this kite, because I still prefer C shape kites.... for those who prefer the instant depower or power kill switch, they probably won't like it as much... all a personal preference thing. But, for dropping in on a wave where you want to push the bar out to kill most of the power...it wasn't that good...

Jumping: Very nice..super high jumps and holds you up there...very similar to a normal C-shape kite in terms of technique and how to jump it...

Bar Pressure: Very light..one of the lightest..probably about the same as the Sonic..maybe a little less than the Waroo...WAY less than the Crossbow, Shockwave, etc...

Low End: Seemed pretty good...I rode the 12m Switchblade and 12m Waroo right after this one, and they definitely fealt more powerful than this kite. Still more power than a normal 12m C shape, but not as much as some of the other 12m bows...

High End: Pretty good. Again, not as much total range due to the shorter chicken loop rope. More than a C Shape kite, but not more than other bows of equal size... We had a few stray strong gusts probably in the mid 30's if not stronger, and when I edged hard against them, the wing tips folded in a few times...I didn't like that, but when I brought the kite down, it was a little soft...may have had a slow leak, because it was rock hard when I took off earlier...so, not sure if that was due to it being soft, or if in extreme winds for that size, it will do that.... more to follow on that...

Overall: This kite was really fun to ride and I liked it a lot. Like any kite, there are positives and negatives. For those C shape guys/gals (like me) that have been holding back on getting a Bow kite because it feels totally different, this may be a good choice for you. For those who want complete depower with just a quick push of the bar away from you, you may not like this kite as much as some of the others. I would say this is very similar to the Waroo in terms of how it flew, fealt, etc.., but the Waroo has a little more depower because of the longer chicken loop rope. So all in all, closer to a C shape than the others, but with some of the advantages of a bow kite... A good mix in my opinion....

More info and pictures at: http://www.oceanextremesports.com/phpBB ... ?p=555#555

[Dr.Gonzo]

killing the power for riding waves, or safety: Not the best compared to the other Bow kites...probably the worst of them all, but I think they designed it like that. The chicken loop rope length is short..as short as any normal 4 or 5 line bar setup. When you push the bar all the way away from you(or let go of the bar) it doesn't kill all the power of the kite.

Curious about this one... I'll find out at the weekend with some wind on the way... and I know they did design the Answer with more agression, 'pop' and power through turns in mind but...

Can you not set the trim up to allow the kite to de-power a lot more when the bar is pushed away... simply by pulling in the trim strap all the way ?

Even more so by attaching the front lines to the knot closest to the de-power strap (out of the 3) ... so shortening the fronts even more.

I have already heard from 2 new Answer owners who have had a first session today and they both said that it flys and de-powers like a 'C' kite when the de-power strap is left open as in your photo ... but that if you pull in the strap to the max the kite hangs around airborne without any significant power.

It is suggested that you would trim in the de-power strap for waveriding and max 'let-go' safety and leave it out for 'c' style powered riding, freestyle and jumping etc.

That would seem to make sense to me.


BTW... really nice photo of the kite on the beach

[Petro9]

I am kind of surprised about this review.
If the kite feels like a C'shape, depowers and has the high end of a C shape...
Then what is the point of switching over to a flat kite....No safety.
DR Gonzo- If you depower the kite too much then, you will not have the grunt, and may not be able to use it in its sweet spot...

[kitenb]

I think it is kind of the best of both worlds. Kind of in between a C and a bow. It does have a good amount of safety in it, water relaunches with ease like the other bow kites(just grab an outside line and pull it in, and it is up and flying), has a good amount of range for one kite, etc..

Also, I did notice if you let go of the bar completely, the kite would just sit up above you for a while with a good amount of the power gone. It didn't lose all its power and fall out of the sky(like most of the other bow kites), it sat there for a while with a little power left in it. I can do that with my C shape kites, but they fall out of the sky relatively quickly. For me, that was pretty cool..because if you are into Handle passes, you can recover before it hits the water...or you can unspin your bar and not have to worry about killing all the power of the kite. I just didn't think it was ideal if you are into killing most of the power when you drop down on a wave or if you want that instant "kill the power" switch while just riding...We have a lot of riders around here that want that feature in their kite. For those riders, this probably isn't what they are looking for. We also have a lot that don't want the extreme on and off switch(I am one of those riders)...for those, this could be your kite.

I only have had the two days on it...so, hopefully I can get out more and test changing the front line attachment points, more depower strap pulled, etc..

[Petter]

How about that leash and self landing?

[Dr.Gonzo]

How about that leash and self landing?

the leash is a short 5th line (that runs through the bar, through 2 guide loops in the de-power strap and then attaches to the fat front line pigtail just in front of the de-power strap. This line has a PU tube coating to prevent wear ( as does the de-power line of course, only fatter )

Self landing... you could pull on a front line to get it to drop LE down like a Sonic or other bows etc... there is also a back line oh-$hit.

[Dr.Gonzo]

thanks again kitenb ... for sure the trim strap and set up is key to any potential bar out de-power.


Heres a couple of first impression reviews from the UK (these are not trade or team rider related at all)...

Yep got the grey,red,yellow,black one.

Had a cold hour on it afterwork, and the best way to describe it as C kite crossed with a sonic. Lots of pull, fast in the turns, the depower is like a C kite until you pull the depower strap in and then it's more like a sonic.

Q: does it de-power like a bow?...

It depends on how much the depower strap is pulled in, Today when I was walking back up the beach with the strap pulled right in and the bar all the way out it just hovered above my head with very little pull with just enough tension in the lines to fly. But with the strap all the way out there is some pull there but not as much as a C kite. There are also 3 knots above the depower strap to further adjust where the depower kicks in.When you unhook or pull the QR it completly depowers and falls out of the sky.

Got my first session in on the 12m Answer yesterday.

Great kite - very stable, good jumps, fantastic for wave riding, good range. Wind was 16 - 20 to start with and finished 22-27 (kts) - mate was out on 10m Vegas.

Feels smooth compared to C kites - much more chilled out, hardly yanked about at all, which is great for surf. Enjoyed the wave riding on my surf board the most but think that the jumping could be awsome with a TT.

Need to take it out at the bottom of its range to see how that goes.

Hardly notice the bridle as there is very little of it - a big plus in my book.

No idea about relaunch as didn't need to and feel unsure about the leash, which I'm sure works fine, but would like to try it in light winds first!

Bar looks pretty much like any other bar and I think that any bar could in fact be used with the addition of a line to the top of the depower strap. The kite can either be flown with bar close for wave riding/depower or against the stopper for jumps depending on how the strap is set - at least thats my take on it. 50cm bar seemed fine and kite turned fast - would like to try 20m lines for that immediate turning ability although had no problems in the waves at all. Bar pressure was average - about the same as my Vegas kites.

Jumps similar to C kites but doesn't need as much redirection and seemed very floaty - looking forward to exploring this some more!

Only took me about 10 mins to adjust to the kite from C kites to so very easy to use.

Overall a great session and I'm well pleased with the kite. The 9m will be fantastic if its like this one.

thread link is here... http://www.kiteboarder.co.uk/kitesurfin ... sc&start=0

[kitenb]

Thanks Dr. Gonzo.... good feedback and reviews... can't wait to try the kite again soon...hopefully tomorrow if the winds come up...

[ZenWind]

It sounds like the Answer would have the same amount of "on-the-fly" depowering as all the other bows if you just setup a longer throw on the chicken loop line like the other bows have. Personally I would rather have both; the limitation of the stopper ball with the ability to limit the travel.

I still think the hot setup would be to have a long chicken loop line (16-20") with an adjustable stopper ball that can be moved and set with the push of a button. That way if you need the full "on-the-fly" depower ability that most of the bows offer, in real gusty conditions you can leave the stopper ball at the top of the line, so that you have the full 16-20" of throw. But when the conditions are steady you can grab the stopper ball with one hand, push the spring loaded button in to release it, then set it where you want to limit the travel, and let go of the button to set it.

Since most of the "newer" bow type designs have very light bar pressure, I think the spring loaded stopper ball idea could work well. It could also be a tapered shaft stopper ball instead of a spring loaded type; where there is a button that goes all the way through the ball with a tapered shaft that would bind against the line if pushed in from one side, and release from the line if pushed in from the other side.

[nyckiteboarder]

makes great sense. is any one doing such a bar (new flexi ion bar?)? if not are there any bars, including the 'answer' bar that can be modified this way?