thanks for all the replies guys.

finally i bought the vegases; my 9m and 12m are 2008s - my 7m is 2009.

i ve riden them all and i m happy with their performance (maybe i am a little bit more to the 2008 side)

however, yesterday i was very sad to find out that the rumors about the 2008 inverting and getting tangled on it's 5th line is a true story. i was kind of far inside the sea and my 12m kite fell from the sky due to bad handling after a high hooked in front roll. it was kinda windy but definitely not overpowered. i tried pulling the back lines a little bit, then a lot; didn't work. then i released for a while hoping it will rotate back to normal (somehow..), but again nothing worked. i was lucky enough to be in a well organized beach and finally get rescued. maybe i was also very lucky the 5th line didn't tear the kite in half; i have also heard that this happens..

i don't want to say that no other kites invert and get tangled on their 5th line; this happens from times to times. i just hope it doesn't happen many times as people say.

a wave grenade system (as slingshot names it, i.e. releasing the 5th line) wouldn't be a bad idea for all 5th line kites out there.

so now, i have two other questions to make:

1 - does anybody know a way to reduce the possibilities of inverting this kite?? (i.e. trimming, or any actions when the kite starts falling)
2 - in case it gets tangled again, is there a way to re-invert it and get it back to normal??

would really appreciate your feedback.

ps: kiteloops are great, no problem at all, they just need to be quick i think..
ps: kobrin, it was just not easy to find them, and it seemed like all were sold out (where i asked of course and at e-bay)

>> let there always be wind

I meant that the kites are so hard to find because the shops are sold out and the owners won't sell them...

Inverting happens sometimes, try not to slacken the lines and don't swim towards the kite if you want to relaunch, use the 5th line a little bit, not to much.

I had 105 hours off kiting this year so far and 1 inverted kite.

And yes i crash a lot, because I'm an intermediate trying to progress...

More advanced riders can give you better advice i think.

Have fun!

thanks a lot kobrin, will keep your advice in mind. i love the kites even if i have to swim from time to time!

>> let there always be wind

My two cents...
On the following thread, Jomoj and Jan seem to have nice solutions. It is true that the 5th wraps when the kite tumbles down or hits the water, not when you release the safety. So releasing the safety will prevent the 5th from wrapping.
viewtopic.php?t=2358626&p=607742
I ave about 150 outings with the 5th element bar and no real wraps. I had the kite passing through the lines with a 5th caught with a steering line. this happened a few times. For some reason I never flew the kite that way, I just wrapped up and let myself drift to shore (5-10 minutes) or walked back (shalow water or frozen lake)

4 line kites are not fool proof, the bandit isin't either. I launched a buch of them and saw many tangled pulleys... The metal pullies are heavy and swing and wrap around the lines and get stuck together.

SCBkiteboard mentionned in its test that leashing the kite on the mini 5th may end up in an unridable mess-Cannot comment on this personnaly, this should be true for any kite leashing on both front lines but I have not ridden anny except the Evo, but the evo does not fully flag out.

I think the best way is to keep tention in the lines, if you screw up then activate the QR so it will not wrap, if too late and wrapped, then the pressure has to be removed from the 5th so you don't tear the kite so pull a back line real hard so you hold the kite by a tip.

Your only problem your going to come across if finding a Bandit Dos. They are almost sold out. but if your interested in the bandit 3 it has some sweeeet refinements this year including the new bridals witch are smaller and stop any bridal tangles during self launch or relaunch.

For more information visit http://f-onebandit3.com/"