rhino 5 16-18

[snitkjaer]

so fare i only read reviews on the mid size kite 10-14 how does the big ones work?(especialy 18) if anyone has a comment on the 9 aswell it would be nice

[Trant]

I bought a Rhino V 16m on Saturday

My abilities = Been kiting for nearly 2 years and I'm just learning double front rolls (i.e. I'm pretty bad ;o) )
I'm 200-210lbs (90-95 kgs)

Over the last few weeks I've tried (all 2005 models and all loaners from various shops)
Cabrinha 16.5m Contra
Slingshot Fuel 17m
Naish Torch 16m
J & N Wild Thing 17m
North Rhino 16m

Each time I'd take out 2 or more kites at a time and try them one after another to try and eliminate the problem of different riding conditions affecting judgement.

For me the pick of the bunch was the Rhino V as it suited my style (fast and old school) down to the ground. I also love the 5th line idea, particularly as a workable and safe spinning leash.

I don't pretend to know about kite construction so I'll just write a comparison to each of the other kites I tried and why I preferred the Rhino.

vs Contra : Rhino turns far quicker and propels the rider faster through the water. Contra "feels" like a much bigger kite but generates nice jumps which are much more floaty.

vs Fuel : Rhino turns faster again and is much easier to depower in the gusts. Fuel rides quite fast but is definitely set up for "New School" which is just not what I'm doing.

vs Torch : About the only large kite to turn as fast as the Rhino. (It was on shorter lines though) Torch seems to generate power later in the power stroke so I had to move the Torch far more than the Rhino. (Problem because of short lines maybe?) Conditions were admittedly light, but Torch definitely didn't generate as much lift for jumping. Again, a new school kite that just didn't suit me.

vs Wild Thing : Wild Thing looked very high aspect and generated some power but seemed to have some sort of "kink" in the middle strut as soon as any pressure was put on it, this made the kite turn to the left. (I put it down, pumped up the strut so it was rock hard but still had the same problem) Kite obviously needed some tuning and I wasn't prepared to mess around with it. Sorry to J & N, I didn't give it a real go, probably a great kite when it's working.

To me the Rhino is just a sweet kite that fulfills nealry all of my expectations of a kite.
(Super fast, high jumps, quick turning, good depower)
My one wish would be to have a one-pump system though, I quite often ride with Slingshot riders and that means I'm the slowest to set up. Quite content without it though

Thanks to Steve at Kitepower, Andrius at Balmoral Boards and Andrew Reagen for the loans of the kites.


J

[Wawando]

Hi Trant!

Why shouldn't r05 suit new school? It seems perfect to me. I am not a newschool performer but the required characteristics are all there, no?
- 5thE is PERFECT to re-hook (grab 5thE & hook at the same time) or for when you missed a handlepass
- Turns on a dime
- Depowers as hell
What is missing? Jumps too high? I can live with that

Maybe it depowers too much so hasn't enough constant pull? You can adjust that by trimming.

See you!

[Trant]

You're right mate. Sorry, I was looking at it solely for my style of kiting.

I'm sure it suits plenty of styles.

[snurfer69]

I was interested to read about the Contra comment as if their marketing is to be believed the contra 16.5 should get you going the same as a 18m or bigger , whats the deal, is it hype?

[Trant]

The Contra 16.5 does pull slightly more but I could do 2 strokes with the Rhino to every 1 with the Contra because the Rhino turns that much faster. Hence I was able to go better on the Rhino than the Contra

You'd probably be able to stop 'sining' with the Contra before you did with the Rhino, but to my mind the Rhino wins the low end battle.

I did like the Cross-span lines on the Contra though and the kite was incredibly stable, much like the Rhino. Holding the 2 kites together in the air though, you could really see that the Contra certainly looked like a bigger kite because of the increased span and so I can well believe the claims that it pulls much like an 18m+

Apples and Oranges though. Contra has better low end assuming you don't work the kite.

[Foxi]

thanks for the comparison Trant - could you please get a bit more specific with regards to float on the Fuel 17 ? What´s the jumping process looking like on both kites ?

[Wingdude]

Trant,
I tried the Torch 16m and found it turned slowly. It has Octopus.
How did you find its turning speed compared to the Rhino 05?

[the doctor]

I bought a Rhino V 16m on Saturday

My abilities = Been kiting for nearly 2 years and I'm just learning double front rolls (i.e. I'm pretty bad ;o) )
I'm 200-210lbs (90-95 kgs)

Over the last few weeks I've tried (all 2005 models and all loaners from various shops)
Cabrinha 16.5m Contra
Slingshot Fuel 17m
Naish Torch 16m
J & N Wild Thing 17m
North Rhino 16m

Each time I'd take out 2 or more kites at a time and try them one after another to try and eliminate the problem of different riding conditions affecting judgement.

For me the pick of the bunch was the Rhino V as it suited my style (fast and old school) down to the ground. I also love the 5th line idea, particularly as a workable and safe spinning leash.

I don't pretend to know about kite construction so I'll just write a comparison to each of the other kites I tried and why I preferred the Rhino.

vs Contra : Rhino turns far quicker and propels the rider faster through the water. Contra "feels" like a much bigger kite but generates nice jumps which are much more floaty.

vs Fuel : Rhino turns faster again and is much easier to depower in the gusts. Fuel rides quite fast but is definitely set up for "New School" which is just not what I'm doing.

vs Torch : About the only large kite to turn as fast as the Rhino. (It was on shorter lines though) Torch seems to generate power later in the power stroke so I had to move the Torch far more than the Rhino. (Problem because of short lines maybe?) Conditions were admittedly light, but Torch definitely didn't generate as much lift for jumping. Again, a new school kite that just didn't suit me.

vs Wild Thing : Wild Thing looked very high aspect and generated some power but seemed to have some sort of "kink" in the middle strut as soon as any pressure was put on it, this made the kite turn to the left. (I put it down, pumped up the strut so it was rock hard but still had the same problem) Kite obviously needed some tuning and I wasn't prepared to mess around with it. Sorry to J & N, I didn't give it a real go, probably a great kite when it's working.

To me the Rhino is just a sweet kite that fulfills nealry all of my expectations of a kite.
(Super fast, high jumps, quick turning, good depower)
My one wish would be to have a one-pump system though, I quite often ride with Slingshot riders and that means I'm the slowest to set up. Quite content without it though

Thanks to Steve at Kitepower, Andrius at Balmoral Boards and Andrew Reagen for the loans of the kites.


J

Wind range of r5?

[Trant]

Sorry, should have checked this thread sooner.

Foxi : The Fuel felt so different to me that I didn't manage to dial in any jumps particularly well so I can't give you a decent reply to this question, sorry.

Wingdude : Surprised you found the turning speed of the Torch to be slow, I found otherwise and thought it to be around the same turning speed as the Rhino (Fastest turning of all the kites I tried). The Torch I was using did have short lines on it though (which I believe is the default), maybe yours had 27m lines on it?

the Doctor : To soon to say but I've been comfortable from 15knts up to 22knts so far. Haven't been overpowered on it yet. I'm hoping it'll take me to 25 knts before I'm start to become uncomfortable. (p.s. I'm 90-95kgs)